Arsenal’s injury hit season went from bad to worse at the Emirates this afternoon after Gabriel Jesus was stretchered off in the first half of the penalty shoot-out FA Cup defeat to Man Utd.
The Brazilian went down having landed awkwardly after Lisandro Martinez caught him in the face, but after treatment played on. A few minutes later, he chased back to close down Bruno Fernandes, and landed badly again, this time staying down before being taken off by medical staff.
Speaking after the game, Mikel Arteta admitted it’s a major concern, saying, “It’s a big worry, that’s my feeling.
“He had to come off with a stretcher. The impact, the feeling that he had.”
The 27 year old had his head in his hands as he was taken off, and it’s rarely a good sign when a player themselves understands the seriousness of the problem. Let’s hope for good news, but given the way this season has gone, we should be prepared for the worst.
Jesus’s injury was compounded by second half issues for Jurrien Timber (hamstring), and Jorginho, and with a North London derby on Wednesday, it’s another layer of complication for Arteta after two disheartening cup defeats inside a week.
Few of us expected him to last the season, but this injury was particularly cruel.
Don’t worry, no doubt Mikel’s lining up a defender to buy as a replacement.
Did we overuse our luck the last two seasons and it’s not coming back at us tenfold or something? This is just depressing..
I’d be worried if the only striker I’d signed in 5 years got injured aswell
I genuinely cannot remember a worse season than this one for injuries. And I’ve been supporting Arsenal since 1970.
I know that there’s a major downer among fans about how we’ve played this season but can you remember any season where we have been so royally fucked by injuries and piss poor refereeing decisions? I honestly feel at this stage if we qualify for next seasons CL with the luck we’ve had we’ll have done well. There are always things we could be doing better but for those fans calling for Arteta to go, remember where we were when he took over and the direction of travel since. He may not be the manager to take us where we… Read more »
Agree fully. He hasn’t managed to play his preferred starting eleven more than a couple if times this whole season for one reason or another. I feel for the guy and I feel for all the loyal fans, but Arteta out is not the solution.
Yeah a big worry……. Amongst others
I look forward to no signings in January.
Now that it’s a blow, what’s the quickest plan you’ve got coz with such mediocrity we are unlikely to catch up with Liverpool.
1.We just have to bring in a quality finisher.
2. The coaching staff must go very hard on Havertz.
Havertz getting loads of grief……he’s being asked to be a No9 and he never will be.
He’s has an excellent engine , he puts himself about very well, but he’s not a striker. Boom fucking boom…….. leave out the ridiculous criticisms.
Then wtf is he?!!! He sure as fck is no left 8! Playing him restricts this team so much.
What’s his position then?
His value is in his versatility and intelligence. It didn’t go well for him today but he has a more than decent record. Not saying we don’t need a striker but we have a fighter in Havertz that this team needs.
Excellent question Mick.
His best and most consistent performances have been in the offensive midfield area.
Mikel knows this but for one reason or the other ( prob because midfield is better stocked than upfront atm) hes up there where he shouldn’t be, and it’s not Kai’s fault.
He’s an excellent offensive midfield playmaker and has proven that
Arteta doubled down on Havertz as a striker by buying Merino in the summer rather than a number 9.
This is false. It is well known that Arteta was looking for a striker last summer but transfer did not materialise but feels free to spread false information if you wish
He was the main striker in the 2nd half of the season for the team that finished with more points and more goals than ANY OTHER team in Arsenal history, for fuck’s sake, and would’ve won the title if not for competing against a thing that really shouldn’t exist. And he’s got 12 goals already this season, which is far from piss poor. We should get another striker, I don’t think anyone is arguing against that, but the the fickleness of fan opinion about our players is absurd, how about just the tiniest bit of loyalty and appreciation for what… Read more »
Since Henry left, the club has actually had a history of dithering and not taking a risk on spending big money for an out and out natural striker
They scouted Luis Suarez for years in Holland and Liverpool snapped him up. They scouted Isak at Real Sociedad and dithered again letting Newcastle buy him and take the risk. Ultimately you won’t be guaranteed a 20 plus a season striker but just go for it and pay the money!
You can’t win every game by beautiful football. You need to score the scrappy and half chances.
giroud? podolski? lacazette? aubameyang?
bendtner? perez? chamakh? sanogo?
But were they the big money proven strikers or did the club think, we won’t risk money on those and buy others. With Rice we bought a proven player
But were they the big money proven strikers or did the club think, we won’t risk money on those and buy others. With Rice we bought a proven player
Jesus has had a patchy fitness record since before we signed him, including career-impacting serious knee injuries. We knew this in June, just as we knew Tomiyasu, Zinchenko, Partey and Tierney were unreliable. We knew White had been playing through injury for 6 months and Timber was in his first year back from an ACL. We then spent £40m on a player who had a serious knee injury 2 years ago and had completed one season in a top 5 league since. When you choose to go into a season with such a collection of players, I do not believe… Read more »
Same planning that looked at Kai Havertz’ body of work and said “he’ll keep banging them in for us at striker.”
Partey missed 7 games in 6 seasons at Madrid. He got more often injured because of the way the premier league is played and also because he played more minutes than in Madrid. Also, Calafiori’ knee injury was 5 years ago not 2.
Assuming this is as bad as it appeared, you’d think they will have to pony up for another attacker in the winter transfer period. Saka is likely out for a couple more months, and none of the other attackers are producing on anything near a consistent basis. We’ve basically got 4 options before we’re into playing juniors or others out of position.
Seems that without Saka and with Rice and Odegaard appearing less than 100%, we’re basically a mid-table team with a good defense.
That’s optimistic given the goals we are shipping
At this point we will be settling for Alexis Sanchez to return on loan.
he’s not only done at this club, he’s done as a football player. it’s happened too many times now. he comes, plays well a month, and then disappears for 9 months. well below the level of this football club (which he helped raise) at the moment. thanks for the title runs and goodbye, not what we need by a mile.
Well physioscout is almost certain Jesus tore his ACL so I guess we won’t see him before next season. The man can’t catch a fucking break..