Arsene Wenger has confirmed that Arsenal have no new injuries ahead of Manchester City’s visit to the Emirates, however, he also reasserted that none of the seven players currently sidelined will be available either.
Nacho Monreal (foot), Laurent Koscielny (calf), Aaron Ramsey (thigh), Mesut Ozil (hamstring) are all continuing their recovery with a view to playing in April, Jack Wilshere is stepping up his rehabiliation from the fractured bone in his foot while Abou Diaby (ACL) is hoping he could still play a part for the Gunners before the end of May. Theo Walcott, won’t be seen until next year as he recovers from his knee ligament injury.
Speaking to Arsenal.com about the fitness of his squad Wenger remarked, “Compared to Tuesday night, we have no new injuries and no-one coming back as well.
“Monreal should be the first one back in training because he is just starting to run in the next few days. After him, Ramsey is progressing well but we need to be patient for a few more weeks.”
There’s little option to rotate at the moment meaning the boss will have to hope his shattered-looking players are over Tuesday’s disappointment by the time we kick-off at 5.30pm on Saturday.
A FEW WEEKS????
With all the talk about referees having to justify their decisions post-match, I think I’d be more keen on having Wenger or our medical team explain why exactly these recurrent injuries keep happening. Obviously we’re going to lose players throughout the season, but it seems ridiculous that this can keep happening. Losing the league because we’re simply not good enough I can live with- losing it because we’ve played most of the season with at least two of our starting XI out is hard to accept.
What is hard to accept is how inadequate the replacements have been. Knowing Theo would be out for rest of the season should of at least lead to one signing in the January window and it has been obvious since the last summer window we needed cover for Girroud. Injures happen at all clubs but seem worse at ours, so you are right we need to examine where we are going wrong.
Spot on- we know that some of it is down to Wenger overplaying the same starting XI and making substitutions at 85 mins, some of it is down to brave Northern players doing the right thing for good ol’ Northern clubs and breaking some foreigner legs. But why are players announced “out for 2/3 weeks” when almost invariably, they suffer dozens of “setbacks” and end up out for 6 months? If they are already known to have a serious or difficult-to-heal injury to begin with, why spread misinformation? If they really are suffering constant setbacks, then the causes need to… Read more »
I never thought I would hate the word ‘setback’ so much!
Walcott out till next year? meaning 2015? or next season?
A tear of the cruciate ligament means that Theo will be out for a minimum of six months, so he should be fit for the beginning of the 2014-15 season (that is if there are no complications during the recovery).
See you next year Theo 🙁
.if there are no complications during the recovery.
Hurry up with that investigation, Arsene.
The club have been all ‘cloak and dagger’ about the Ramsay injury from day 1. Do the medical department know what they are doing?
A few weeks?!?!?!
I’m now officially mashing the ‘Panic Button’ so hard it doesn’t exist anymore, its just a fat f*cking hole in the desk.
I fear the worst, we could get absolutely buried on Saturday.
naah don’t worry about next saturday, if we DO get burried, it will just be an ‘accident’
I wasn’t particularly worried about City, as we have a pretty decent home record against them, I could be wrong but have they only beaten us once in the EPL since its inception, .. but they looked really sharp the other night against United. I know it was a derby, and form can be a temporary thing in those matches with so much at stake for the fans being a huge influence on the team.. but United were lucky it was only 3. They could of been 2 – 3 down in the first 10 minutes alone. If we start… Read more »
exasperating. Say bye to chances of seeing Diaby, Koscielny, and Ramsey as well this season. They lie to manage expectations, and its about team the medical side of the club got revamped.
Yay! Our four best players (Ramsey, Ozil, Walcott, Koscielny) are out for another month. Scraping fourth place and winning the FA cup would be a huge success considering, sad though I am to say that. Ah well. There’s always next year…..!
“Should be ready by April”. So all ok from next Tuesday? Don’t think so.
On 1st April reporter asks Arsene “so how are they looking now that its April”. AW replies “April Fool’s” with that poker face
Mummy….
STILL FEW MORE WEEKS….the season is gonna end in few more weeks….COME ON!!!!
Looks like once again the setbacks setback had a little setback.
We’re gonna win the league.
when?
Thanks for the reminder. I’d forgotten to change my Arseblog username.
You actually did it too, nice
Hopefully in my lifetime……..I’m 50 in May.
I turned 21 yesterday and i’m not so optimistic to see it in my lifetime… :/
The smallest injuries seem to take ages to recover from and the players ALWAYS get re injured in training. Hows that? This is always a major factor to our seasons.
Its come to me thinking “Please just don’t lose by more than 4”. That’s fuckin sad.
You are.
As I’ve said before, if you rip out same amount of top players of any of the other top teams and see how they cope. Whether it’s the footballing Gods, bad training methods, over playing, bad luck or poor rehab, I genuinely believe if we sorted this out we would be competing till the end! How many seasons now have we ended up playing top teams with half our first team?
Yeah, I bet liverpool would be battling for 7th if they were without suarez, sterling, gerrard, mignolet, and any of their in form players. This isn’t fair!
I definitely think not being in Europe has helped them a lot as we enter the end of the season. Legs and bodies a lot more fresher.
I think 7th with just Suarez out
I’ve closed my TV or live viewing of league matches for the rest of the season.
Ffs and for the 100TH time it seems, why do we suffer so many leg muscle injuries then take FOREVER to return?! It goes beyond bad luck, there is something fundamentally wrong in the med dept at the club.
Look on the bright side. As bad as the season looks to be ending, at least we get to look down on Van Cunt and Shrek.
And all of them are supposed to be in a first team
And 5 of them are supposed to be starters too. Almost 50% of the starting XI out injured.
Two weeks has now become a few weeks with Rambo. Well that’s absolute Bollocks for him, the club and us the fans. Hopefully a few weeks actually means that and not “yeah he’s not coming back until next season” type of few weeks.
He’s been saying 2 weeks since the first week and now months have passed he’s saying “a few weeks”
Wenger must be asking himself the same question. He relays what the medical team tells him. Maybe the set backs are as a result of the medical team not knowing when the players are ready to come back.
There does seem to be something seriously wrong in terms of injury occurrence. It could be because our squad is not big enough to cope with the fixture congestion and all the players are pushed into the “red zone”. Would Liverpool have had the same problem if they were in Europe this season I wonder? Instead they are pushing on strong at the end of the season.
It’s just bad luck exaggerated by most of these players being 1st choice in the 11, and the replacements not playing with much form or confidence. Liverpool have 1 player out and Chelsea and City 3.
There may be other reasons why our season has gone down the toilet but they are all as a direct result of these injuries, apart from one. We never signed a decent striker and a centre half last Summer.
ramsey was meant to be out for 3 weeks when he got injured on boxing day. if we are lucky he might play again this season after a 4 month absence. despite our injury record over the last decade or so our vain manager decided not to buy anyone in january. we should’ve bought draxler. he may not have won us the league but would would have given us the bounce fator just as ozil did for a while when we bought him. terrible decision making again from the manager.
I agree with the sentiment mate. Janurary signings have boosted us along in the past, even though the players didn’t last 2 more seasons with good form. Rayes, and Arshaven for example injected a bit of life into the teams when they signed. There could be an argunment for Diaby and Adebayor, but it can work. I don’t think Monreal and Kallstrom can inject that belief into the team. Not to say they are bad players, but you get the idea.
Can I make one request that Diaby be removed from the injury list. He actually needs to play in the first place before he can be considered an absentee! Hopefully there is a full review of our woeful injury management come seasons end. I wonder if it’s the same people who could not get to the bottom of rosicky’s problem for a couple of seasons?
Arsenal we have to look into our medical teams there something wrong which we hv not yet discover look at other teams when their player get injurd it 2 or 3 weeks their back but in own case it d other way round pls i m tird of all dis heartboken 4 years now
Awww mavis. (honestly I felt bad the way you said heartboken)
U tird of dis? Me tird too Mavis
Every single season for the past god knows how many years. It can’t be all bad luck! Did someone drop a mirror when leaving highbury?
I don’t understand how Arsenal as a football club can have so many injuries year in and year out, and no body questions the physio staff. EVERY SINGLE YEAR we have 2-4 high profile payers, difference makers, who are out with injury for 2 months minimum. It’s extremely frustrating, especially when you see other top contending teams healthy for long stretches of time. That’s the most frustrating part of being a gooner, because if our team was healthy week in and week out, I could see us running through the premier league
Perhaps it’s got something to do with the way refs allow open season on kicking our players…..
the answer is in an interview Arsene gave, where he said something like, we try to get the players to become lighter and leaner, take off weight, so they can move better …etc etc…. making them fluid and play the one touch pass and move football…. Arsenal players are usually lean and fit, but not stocky and chunky like a Rooney / Aguero …even though they may be of the same height. Since football is a physical sport, with contact, tackles and barges, specially in the premier league.. these players are vulnerable to physical attack as they are not chunky/rugged… Read more »
There is a lot of truth to this.
And some of the more recent additions have been Gnabry, Ox, Giroud, all stockier. Yaya is a big boy. Arteta has been a war horse. Theo, aside from the knee which can happen to any player, has bulked up significantly to solve the shoulder issues he had and as a result has been much stronger. Sagna v Gibbs.
Zelalem better get to the gym with his possession and passing game. He’s going to have a huge target painted on him every match.
Can someone please list a few things for me to defend my club with….the whole we are the Arsenal thing is going down the crapper.
Injuries, won’t spend money, always bottle it…I’ve no comeback to scousers! We do lose too many players to injury, we rarely spend the money, as for bottling it, I’m terrified of the fa cup now
Wishful thinking but hoping Arsen might be a doing a fergie before the City game and misleading us. Fingers crossed for a few surprises in the starting XV on Sat. I know it wont happen but i’m so depressed at the moment the thought of Rambo back is getting me through the week.
Starting XV? Are we allowed to do that? Maybe we can scrape a draw then.
If we had fifteen fit players.
Sorry I’m nearly as shit with Roman numerals as our midfielders at busting a gut to make a tackle when we lose the ball.
Players never seem to recover from muscle related injuries without having a few set backs adding weeks/months to there time out of the side, something arsenal is doing or not doing must be contributing to this
I just think that the team needs to be bigger.more players are needed.I’m sure in the summer wenger will get lots on money to buy BUT will he spend it.
Such a sad state of affairs. This Season promised so much.
Tactically Wenger needs to be astute against City. Disciplined and focused needs to be our approach.
I love Wenger always will but I hope he steps down this year. His legacy needs preserving.
I blame Gibbs for these injuries, … Sorry I meant the OX……
Come back Gary Lewin, your people need you
What are they doing to Ramsey?!? Making him run on glass in a piranha tank as rehabilitation?
It’s been a few weeks for over a month now! – I for one am looking forward to the ‘report’ Arsenal and Wenger and making on our injuries and the action taken.
no excuses
If you have a good squad you should be able to cope. I guess some players are getting injured because they are being rushed back e.g Walcott
Walcott did his knee ligament. Not an overuse injury. You mean Wilshere?
And now very possibly Ramsey.
I think the Wilshere experience was starting to repeat with Ramsey and now they are (about time) rethinking rushing him back.
Cope? Yes. Win the title? None of those above us would with this kind of injury list.
6 weeks ago I was offered a pair of tickets for this game at £100 a piece, at that moment in time I was expecting this be one of top games of the season/title decider and snapped them up. It just goes to highlight how quickly things change. So far I have seen Arsenal V Napoli (2-0), spuds FA Cup (2-0) & man u (0-0) I have not seen us a concede a goal in over 270+ minutes of football. I expect this to change at the weekend, but whatever will be, will be. I hope that my record of… Read more »
I’m shitting bricks. City are a scary proposition at the best of times
…please, it doesn’t have to be pretty, just don’t let “that” happen again. At all coats. We must take back our pride!
How many is all coats? :p
well there goes my pride…
One thing that occurs to me whenever we have players out for months with muscle strains is whether Wenger and his medical team have some kind of unattainable standard in assessing fitness to play. Is it possible that, rather than these ostensibly minor injuries being incapable of healing at Arsenal, they do heal but our staff are perpetually “a bit nervous” about reintroducing a previously injured player? Seems unlikely, I know, but then it also seems unlikely that so many players could be out for so long with such routine injuries (I’m not talking about the fractures and ruptured ligaments… Read more »
I’ve wondered about this too. As crazy as it may seem, our medical facilities are very highly regarded and institutions from lots of other sports have used/requested to use them. It all seems very odd. As for the reason for the injuries in the first place, I have a feeling that the pitch at Emirates (and exact replica at the training ground) are too hard, causing muscle problems. No evidence or science to back that up though. Just a hunch.
When has footbal become politics? It seems that way at Arsenal.
I love the club, I really do. Every weekend, Tue/Wed when UCL is on I’ve got the same amount of hope we’ll go out and do well. Every summer I hope for a new and fresh start only to realise in Feb/March we’ve been made look naive. The same story will start when the season is over in May. Is this trend ever going to change?
I actually think that the medical team is too good. We seem to be quick to pick up the minor niggles that once upon a time may have been overlooked and players would have just carried on. I think we are too quick to pull our players off the pitch and too conservative in our management of their injuries to return them to action. This, combined with the paper thin squad, meaning more games for players (and therefore more chance of injury), has compounded our inability to secure wins at the sharp end of the season in recent years.
Exactly my concern.
A few more weeks here and a few more weeks there….fuck sake, there isn’t that many more weeks to play for. Unbelievable that Ramsey is still out
Squad depth is not the issue. We will never have a Chelsea/Man City squad. We choose not to spend in that way. The reasons the injuries have had such a huge effect is due in my opinion to baffling decisions made due to the injuries. Why would you play Rosicky on the wing when hes been the only shot of energy from the central position countless times this season? We’ve got no Ramsey, Ozil, Jack…we have an accomplished CM on the bench so you play him on the right? WTF. Why would you put Chamberlain a natural winger in Central… Read more »
coz rosicky loses the ball….ditto podolski…ditto ox …. ditto cazorla…
Spot on, mate
Spot on, bb6*!
WTF
I may get ripped to shreds for this, but if Ramsey is going to be out for a ‘few more weeks’ that puts us into the final stretch with maybe 3/4 games of the season left to go. I’d rather we didn’t rush his recovery and risk damaging him anymore. Arsenal players returning from injury always seem to have an array of set backs when they return to the field. Take precaution; if the man is set to be out for a ‘few more weeks’, don’t rush his recovery but instead just make sure he’s in the best possible position… Read more »
We have the best pitch in the league – and by that definition it is the smoothest, hardest and zippiest surface. It is prepared in this way to suit our style of football. The training facilities will no doubt be prepared in the same way to match the Emirates environment. How long have we been top of the injury league? Perhaps seven years? The exact time when me moved to the Emirates. My case is this – if you have two people training daily, one runs on the hard road surface whilst the other runs on soft grass – then… Read more »
What your saying is true, however they do train mostly on Astro 4g turf indoors. That surface is pretty hard too, we also spend half the season playing away, so although I agree with your point. I dont think it is the main root.
For me it’s down to their body building regime, put them on a rugby diet and regime and lets see how they cope.
Why isit that Rugby is one of the safest sports?
Not true. They train on the outdoor pitches, although they do use the indoor arena sometimes.
No Its not wrong to be realistic. I think 4 nil to city this wkend. In my opinion I cant see us troubling man city with this current 11. I can tell you how its gonna go to save you the trouble of watching it. Were gonna have the ball, side to side it goes. Giroud man marked by kompany to snuff it out everytime it comes to his feet with back to goal. Because Bergkamp knows he cant run in behind.They will score on counter. Fullbacks will push up to high, we’ll lose it and be countered and they… Read more »
Quite
But is it useful? No. We all know it, but reading it is just plain depressing.
P.s I hope im very wrong. COYG
Ramsey won’t be back before the end of the season. Remember waiting for Wilshere to come back to salvage our season in 2012 and he wasn’t back until the following November!
Mancity…….. Strikers….Dzeko, Aguero, Negredo and Jovetic
Chelsea…….Strikers…. Eto, Torres and Ba
Man u…… Welback, RVP, Rooney
Liverpool…Suarez and sturridge
Arsenal.. Giroud
Wenger buy 2 good strikers.
Man City – Spent more money in 3 yaers than we spent in our entire history
Chelsea – Not dissimilar and if you think £50m for Torres is money well spent then you need medical help
Man U – Wellbeck……Really???? Rooney is playing attacking midfield
Liverpool – Nobody rated Sturridge at the beginning of the season…..or at Xmas for that matter
Arsenal – Poldoski plays as striker for Germany. Walcott began to be employed as a striker
Sure we could do with an improved strike force but don’t go making absurd comparisons
Had this fixture have come any later in the season we’d be doing a guard of honour at home for a second year running.. Every cloud!
Lol hereford gooner. Im feeling depressed lol
Me too old boy, me too
Rossi88, do you do “in-play” betting? Sounds like you could make a fortune on Saturday night 😉
So. If Diaby comes back, that would make him LANS?
We all know that an ‘investigation’ was mooted by Wenger. Hopefully, it’s already started but we won’t be told. The thing I worry about is that they don’t find any reason for the fact that our dressing room looks like a scene from M.A.S.H. It’s not bad luck. Or at least it’s very improbable. If that’s the case, there will be only three options. One or more could be used. 1. Sack all the medical staff. It may not be their fault and it could be unfair (and who knows, illegal?), but let’s see what happens with a totally new… Read more »
Time to start kallstrom for arteta? maybe he can show some physical strength to deal with toure and fernandinho? Kallstrom and Flamini to anchor.
Sagna, mert, verm, gibbs
Arteta, flamini
Kallstrom
Gnabry, ox, poldi
No striker, 3 dms, hit them on the counter with ox, gnab, and poldi running at pace, everyone else sits back
Conservative
We’d be sitting back even more with nobody up front to at least attempt to win clearances.
Not sure i would start Ox given his recent dip in form
When Ramsey was injured in December didn’t they just say it was a minor injury about three weeks out and now he’s been out like half a season. This is typical Arsenal, as with Rosicky injury, Vermealan, Wilshire, Diaby – how can our medical team be so rubbish that when a player gets a stubbed toe he’s out for the entire season. Something is wrong with Arsenal this has been going on too long.
How can people like you make medical judgements unless you’re a medical man yourself. Please enlighten us as to your qualifications doctor…………….
You don’t need to be a doctor or know an arsehole from an elbow to recognize a pattern of injuries that are announced as “2-3 weeks” and end up taking months, half seasons, and the like to actually heal. Maybe you can fault Darius for believing that the initial reports are accurate and truthful, but not for pointing out the obvious.
Diaby – 1 season Hamstring Strain
Rosicky – 18 months Hamstring Strain
Ramsey – 3 Months Hamstring Strain
Wilshire – 18 Months Hairline Ankle Fracture
Gibbs – 10 Months Metertarsel
Sanogo – 5 Months Back Strain
Judus van Cuntskunk – 4 Months ankle Strain*
Fabregas – 4 Months Hamstring
Vermaalan – 9 Months Ankle Ligement Strain
Djourou/Frimpong – 1 Season ACL
With the exception of Jack and Gibbs, all were caused by lack of proper conditioning training. At some point its not bad luck, its crappy methods. You don’t have to be head barman at Wetherspoons to grasp this…
Sorry, I don’t get your point…
That’s 4, if not 5, of our standard starting XI out for one of the biggest and most important games of the season. Combined with Wenger’s standard “big game” tactics that always fail it’s going to be a miracle if we even get a draw out of this match.
I think now that we are out of the title race, and everton breathing to our necks wenger will change that suicidal tactic that we took a humiliation vs city, liverpool and chelsea, he knows now that even a draw and a point of this game is vital for 4th place, if he was using the same tactics that wenger used last year of the last 10 games grinding results and taking 3 points with narrow 1-0 wins we would be fighting for the title till the end of the season, if we had the same mentality like last year… Read more »