Ahead of Sunday’s north London derby, Mikel Arteta wouldn’t confirm whether Martin Odegaard is facing a spell on the sidelines after sustaining an ankle injury during the international break.
Our midfielder was substituted in the 64th minute of Norway’s 2-1 win over Austria after twisting his ankle under pressure from Christoph Baumgartner. His opponent later apologised for the tackle even though there was nothing untoward about the contact.
Odegaard was pictured on crutches as he boarded a private jet bound for London on Tuesday and has reportedly had two MRI scans in the capital to assess the seriousness of the problem.
While his national team’s medics allayed fear of a fracture on Wednesday, Arteta told his pre-match press conference that the Gunners need to do more tests before putting a timeline in place for his recovery.
“We need some more tests so let’s see what happens day or so, this afternoon, probably. And then we’ll see what happens and the extent of the injury and how quickly we can get him back,” he said.
“He’s super positive about everything, we know Martin, he wants to be there every single day but we have to wait and see.
Asked about the seriousness of the injury, he continued: “I’ll leave that to the doctor. His will, there’s no question about that. He wants to be present every game and obviously for a big game like this one but we need to make sure that we know first of all, how good he can be or not.”
And pressed on whether Odegaard would be out for Sunday, he added: “Players with 48 hours [to go] are always available, but let’s see what happens.”
We’d take that with a hefty dollop of salt.
Having also lost Declan Rice to suspension and new signing Mikel Merino to a fractured shoulder, we wait with bated breath to see how Arteta solves an untimely personnel issue.
On Merino, Arteta said: “He’s better but it’s a slow process because it’s a bone and it takes a while to heal. He’s progressing well, he’s already doing some stuff, he’s working hard, we’re using this time as well to make sure he understands a lot of things that he has a lot of questions about and when he’s back, he’s ready to go and impact the team.
“We don’t know [when he’ll be back], it’s very difficult to know the healing of the bone. At the moment he doesn’t have a lot of symptoms, you can speed it up very quickly because he hasn’t lost anything else but we have to wait and see.
Judging by his comments about Riccardo Calafiori, you’d probably lay a bet that the Italian is not available for Sunday.
“He’s another one that we to wait another day or so,” said Arteta when asked about the player’s calf issue.”
After a miserable couple of weeks on the injury front, there was positive news about Gabriel Jesus. The Brazilian, out since the first week with a groin problem, has been out on the grass again.
“Gabi was out [in training], he’s got another session tomorrow,” said Arteta. “If everything goes well he will be ready to be selected in the squad which is great news for us.”
Well at least Jesus has risen again then so I suppose it’s not all bad
Only lasts for 40 days though.
And then He ascends to heaven and rules over all of creation at the right hand of the Father. That seems like it would be beneficial for the club.
Hope he stays fit, great player. Jesus and Zinchenko didn’t only change our style of play, they changed the whole culture of the team.
The good team abt this team is that they are so hard to beat. Our defence can stand up to pressure.
If we grab an early goal, we can trust the boys will be up for a good fight to keep the lead. While we have gaps to fill in attack, I don’t see us losing this one. Can’t lose if you don’t concede.
Let’s not forget our defence only became that impenetrable when Declan arrived on the scene, so without him we might be a bit more vulnerable. I’d much rather we get a two goal lead.
Not true we had the best defence the year before we signed Rice and probably would’ve gone all the way if Saliba hadn’t been injured.
Odegaard could have fully lost a leg and Mikel would still be coy on his availability for the NLD.
Or even in coma, Arteta will still give a sign that he has a chance to play the next 48 hours.
Why do they keep pressing him for answer regarding injuries? They should be familiar with his game by now! Mikel always keeps his injury news cards close to his chest.
I guess it will be Trossard as CF (Jesus sub), Saka as 10, Sterling at RW, Kai at 8 and #5 as MF at Toilet bowl
Tross will probably go 8. Kai 10 and jesus up top
When asked about the potential return date of a player who had been cut into two halves during a training session, Arteta was coy, refusing to give away any information:
“He is committed and he can’t wait to return and impact the team. We know the player, and his commitment to help the team is not in question. We have a few more scans and we will see”
Does anyone think there is a chance he will go to a back 3 with Timber and put Zinny on the left? Timber can cover the long ball and zinny can get forward. We know Arteta doesn’t like to disrupt so I doubt it ( and the thought of Zinny trying to cover Kulusevski is scary)
Technically we’ve been playing with a back three since the season started,while in possession of the ball. Usually White,Saliba and Gabriel at the back,with Partey and Timber/Zinchenko ahead of them.
Zinny on the left where? Left 8? Nope. KH will be left 8. Maybe stick Zinchenko at 10 to cover off MO absence…
Sterling will score as a sub.
With his experience, I would even be bold enough to play him as a No. 10.