Laurent Koscielny has returned to Arsenal from international duty so he can receive treatment on a long-standing Achilles complaint.
Although the reports this afternoon say the decision to let the defender return to the Gunners is ‘precautionary’, France Football says it’s because he’s suffering from ‘chronic tendinitis of both Achilles tendons’.
Koscielny has been nursed through a number of games this season already, but with a punishing schedule and only two senior central defenders, it can be no surprise that he’s not able to shake off what could become a very debilitating complaint.
Although Arsenal do have Calum Chambers to fill in, it leaves them short of a right back due to the injury to Mathieu Debuchy.
As we don’t play again until next weekend against Hull there may be hope in the short term that we can get him fit enough to play, but over the course of the season it’s hard not to see the lack of depth in this area proving costly.
Hopefully this will give him 2 good weeks to recover.
Chambers isn’t even available for the hull game or I’d have hoped for Bellerin at RB and the former in the middle. Rest is the only way to treat tendinitis(about 6 weeks of it too) and looks like we’ll play another of our best players through injury. I think the biggest causes for injuries are 1. Arsene’s reluctance to sub people at the 60th minute mark and 2. Rotate his midfield/forwards from game to game. How often do we see Podolski, Campbell and Cazorla start the mid-week games against lesser CL/lower league sides? We have a game against hull and… Read more »
ah, if only it were that simple. Whatever you think about Arsene, I dont see any top level team acroos the world doing what you are suggesting. Doesn’t this mean, the managers know what they are doing?
1. No top level team across the world has had injury problems like ours, and I don’t see why you want to equate our situation with theirs. Our situation demands rotation or you’ll have the perennial cycle of 2-3 players being out for a good part of the season. We also have enough midfielders to do what I’m suggesting. 2. I see a lot of managers sub 1-2 players at the hour mark. Arsene usually waits till the 70-75 minute mark ( I can remember times where he didn’t sub at all). Yet, I’m not saying he doesnt know what… Read more »
You’re forgetting that we’ve usually lost a couple through injury by half-time – makes the whole 60-minute thing a little academic…..
Rotation is a favourite topic for us Gooners, but I’ve never seen a study on this topic, so I reserve judgement. I don’t think Wenger is as bad as people claim. And if this was the problem, there are people behind the scenes who probably would have picked it up by now. Anyway, I don’t think changing from making substitutions at 70/75 min. to making them at 60 min. is going to make that much of a difference. As for your second point in your first post, two of our defenders are injured, so how exactly is rotating midifelders and… Read more »
Just noticed Monreal was on the bench against Chelsea, but on the website he’s still listed as having a back injury. Apparently Ospina is the one who’s injured.
See that’s what happens when you don’t play Ozil down the middle
This is a REAL joke!!
I knew we should have signed a fuckin striker
Well, I think Arsenal fans are due some good news, so you will have to make up something and post in the blog.
it would have been so if the bad news were all made up… Feels like we stole something from the injury God’s or we offended them somehow… perhaps by doing something so bizarre as going unbeaten a full season! Oh! Bergkamp, Oh! Welsh Jesus intercede for us and see us through our injury poo (10 times)
injury *gods
I liked it better the original way.
Don’t worry Diaby can play at CB or CDM that is why we didn’t sign any CB or CDM. If you go around the world and find a better CB or CDM than Diaby then you have a problem!!!!.
Oh wait, Daiby is out with a hip injury….
I’m so glad Mertesacker retired, hope Chambers comes through England duty.
And Jack, Ox, Danny, Santi, Gibbs, and Alexis. We can’t afford to lose any one of them right now.
Time to sign Cavani, and stick him right in at Center Back
Something to smile about – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1KiebGJxzwc
Atleast we have this guy
Sigh… Let’s hope the interlull is enough time for him to rest. I know he gets a lot of shtick from people cause of the penalties he gives away but he is one of the best defenders in the league and it would be a huge, huge blow if this problem became serious
We may need to play chambers at CB and have Bellerin cover RB for a couple games to give Kosch some recovery time. Our injury situation has become farcical, at this point i’m not angry anymore, just intrigued to see what we can actually achieve this season.
Isn’t Chambers suspended for the next game? I thought I read somewhere that he’s had five yellow cards. If he hasn’t reached five yet, with his inexperience and keenness it’s unfortunately only a matter of time.
Yep, one match suspension
Even with Chambers suspended, I’d really prefer Koscielny be rested against Hull City, Anderlecht and Sunderland. Diego Costa might be a ‘killer’ but can’t help thinking a fully-fit Koscielny might’ve smothered that Fabregas pass. So…
– Hull City at home (18th Oct)
Bellerin-Mertesacker-Monreal-Gibbs
– Anderlecht away (22nd Oct)
Bellerin-Mertesacker-Chambers-Gibbs
– Sunderland away (25th Oct)
Chambers-Mertesacker-Monreal-Flamini
(Gibbs is in the England squad now so his playing time needs to be managed)
Between now and 1st Nov when Burnley visit the Emirates, that should give Koscielny plenty of time to let his achillesses recover.
Monreal feels “strange” at CB
That’s a lot of rotation of your back four with untried/tested partnerships.
It will not happen.
Monreal is still out, isn’t he? Although he might be back in 10 days.
After considerable thought, I am ready for a change of manager. It just seems deja vu too much. Love Wenger but generally feel it may be time to evolve.
Sack Venga. FACT.
What? I’m sorry, what do the injury problems have to do with Wenger? I know he has a lot of responsibility at the club, but I doubt he’s in charge of fitness, medical, treatment and physio. Clubs generally have specialists to do those jobs.
He does have the responsibility of rotate the players tho
He does have the responsability of signing players to avoid problems with injures too, specially in the defense positions
AW has huge amounts of control within the club. Much more than any other manager of a top club. With so much control he must also assume responsibility for when things go so wrong. The high number of injuries has been a common factor over the last few years. I cannot believe it is just coincidence or bad luck. There is obviously something going wrong somewhere.
Players are being sent home without even playing a game …..whats it going to be like next week after the internationals are over we,ll be left wit no team to face hull
Being French and all, i think this might have been a move by AW to try and avoid exactly that. Kos doesn’t always start for Les Bleus anyway.
Which is simply bizarre by the way. Sakho ahead of Kos? Really?! I still can’t wrap my head around that.
I feel Kos’ last chance will be euro 2016. Sakho got subbed in the WC against Germany. He is so fucking slow on the ball compared to Kos whose passing is underrated in my opinion. Its not Sakho, its Varane and Mangala that will be given chances as they’re the future.
Yeah well, have you seen the state of some of these clouds?!
Now the shit has hit the fan
Oh no! A disaster waiting to happen. Yet another one. Heyden? Bellerin?
Well, it’s finally going to happen. We’re going to have a player whose technically not even injured suffer a setback.
Well no, not technically injured in the sense of being on crutches, but it’s a longstanding problem which only months ago was thought might need surgery to put right. And therein lies the reason we’ve been top of the injury table for over ten years. A niggle possibly needing surgery at the very least must need a long period of rest. Continue to ignore it in our usual fashion, continue to play Kos twice a week because the only other options are kids or suspended or injured as well, and sooner or later the inevitable will happen and we’ll lose… Read more »
Injury Gods out…
If you remember, Chambers will be suspended for the Hull game. So if Kos doesn’t make it, it leaves us short at RB & CB.
A very good point.
Either Flamini or Bellerin at RB (since Arteta’s supposed to be back for Hull), Hayden or Nacho at CB. Oh, and Arsene might also choose to whip out his Coq at some point.
Fucking hell, that just reeks of desperation.
Then, of course, this upcoming run of ‘easier’ ‘winnable’ games where we can ‘rack up a good haul of points’ will disappear like a castle made of sand.
*sigh*
Stop running him into the ground!
What we should be doing is nursing him through so he can play in the big games and playing one of the youngsters against shitty teams.
In games where we’ll have 70% possession and the opposition will be lucky to get 2 shots on goal will it really make much difference?
Eh yeaa, seeing as opponents kinda need only one shot one goal to do get a goal
Amazingly Wenger hasn’t been injured in 18 years at the club. Top athlete.
Hmm, you may be on to something.
Perhaps Wenger is actually very injury prone, but uses the squad like Dorian Grey’s picture in order to stay fit himself?
He is top top quality.
Oh ffs come on already. Not a single ball has been kicked this interlull and already Ozil and Koz knackered. Wonder how many will survive to face Hull.
Shad must be starting to think “I have made a huge mistake”.
Nah, Shad’s just thinking we should have signed all the German national team doctors and physios too; possibly even their manager would have been a useful addition.
And quite a few of their rather robust players.
Well he won’t have dislocated anything polishing the silverware in the last ten years will he ? And he won’t be called on much for the next three either, the way it’s going.
Shad’s thinking ‘guaranteed Job Security’ at this club.
@goonee1886 pretty much every game we have 70% possession and the opposition get only two shots away but more often than not they score from those.
A backfire of Mert, Gibbs, Bellerin and Monreal against Hull city. And then No substitute defender! Please Get Well soon Kos!
Since Hull are hardly the most dangerous threat in the Prem, I’d rather blood in Hayden a bit, keep Nacho on the bench. The way this is going we’ll probably be playing him and a fresh-out-of-retirement Sol Campbell by Christmas.
They’ve got some skilled players offensively though. Remember the stat from Arsecast about how they’ve spent more this summer than Inter, Milan and Juventus together.
I’m not the most regular listener of the Arsecast, I hadn’t heard about that. In all fairness, Serie A isn’t exactly rolling in money but I’d rather the guys like Menez, Osvaldo (especially if he finds his Roma form) and Morata than Hernandez and Jelavic. For the most part they’ve done some smart transfers. Just had a look at Hull’s squad, and yeah, they’ve got some nice attackers, but I thought the way Hayden and Chambers dealt with Pelle was very encouraging. At home especially, I think Hayden should be able to deal with Herandez/Jelavic especially with BFG giving him… Read more »
On the bright side: I believe we shall have zero injuries after Christmas, and with Costa, Cesc, Rooney’s niggles surfacing then, we’ll pip everyone to the title. #Shadyoulegend
Can I have some of your pills?, please…………
god of injury don’t you see other clubs in england or the rest of europe? Why always Arsenal season after season….. When will you loose your grip on the team… Itleaves me so uneterstellically….well don’t try to look for the meaning cos I don’t think it has any but Its a way to show how sad I am. Wenger pls do something fast
Well, Dortmund have some shitty luck too right now. At least we’re not alone.
I’m not so sure it’s shitty luck with Dortmund any more than it is with us. They’re a poor club compared to Bayern who poach all their best players, and they don’t have a huge expensive squad with two top-class choices for every position, but they do have to try to compete. Add to that Klopp’s high-energy pressing style, and injuries are pretty much inevitable. When were Chelsea or City ever top of the injury table, or for that matter clubs like Stoke or Hull where the expectations and number of games are much lower? It’s the poor but ambitious… Read more »
In hindsight maybe Arsene should have got in some defenders back in the Summer.
Hindsight is a truly wonderful thing
Any word on bringing Jenkinson back from WestHam?
We don’t have chambers for hull, he is suspended so that means monreal will fill in the cb if koscielny is not fit by then.
Won’t it be ironic if the 2014/15 season that Gazidis and Wenger pinned so much faith in us becoming competitive once again sees us dropping out of the top 4 due to inexplicably not strengthening the back line and DM position?
Umm… Man United still don’t have a defence (Seriously, Per and Gibbs together at the back would probably concede fewer shots than United’s lot), Liverpool are relying on Balotelli (haha) and a ridiculously injury-prone Sturridge, Everton are being quite shit, and Spurs are, well, Spurs. I honestly think we’re favourites for 3rd.
Here’s hoping Wenger finds the PIN to the bank account and buys us a CB or 10 (just in case) come january.
DM is explicable, we already have two of them and are looking to replace one of them in the next 6 months so it’s better to get the right guy than just waste money.
CB though, if we end up dropping points due to a dodgy defence, God help the Internet as it will be flooded with tears.
No, not ironic. Tragic, funny, painful, a slap in the face, pathetic. But not ironic.
Certainly a possibility
I’ve had 3 injuries keeping me out for most of this year, where’s my contract Arsene?
Seriously though, what next? I would say something comical but at this rate, it’d probably happen…
Not to worry lads, we could always bring back Bould, he’s only hanging around the club everyday.
I liked Isaac Hayden in the league cup game against Southampton. Might be time for him to step up. I have faith if he needs to.
Bad to worse. Whata dumb fuck not buying a cd in the window.
Don’t Worry Guys!Hayden Can Do The Job In Centre Back…And I Hope Koscielny Will Be Fit Though..COYG..!!!
If only we could bring back Jenko, this shitfest would’ve at least given him some game time.
I don’t see how the manager can avoid being held accountable if Kos is forced to sit out some games.
Embarrassing ineptitude in the transfer window for such an experienced coach.
Wenger’s been playing Kos despite this injury since the beginning of the season, & then people wonder why we have so many injuries.
An arsenal player getting injured…………………in other news water is wet
I’m going to just say it, and as always anything negative will get a lot of thumbs down’s, doesn’t mean this is any less through, Arsene Wenger is hopeless at building a squad. with the money available the last 3 windows we should have a much better squad, He has IGNORED the fact we needed a centre half, we went into this season with two senior centre backs, There isn’t a Sunday league team in Europe who would do that, that is nothing other than horrible horrible squad building, he chooses to ignore any player who is say, tall &… Read more »
Meant to say *any less true* at the start also…
was deeply upset at the time of writing haha
I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt until Hayden is proven to not be good enough, I doubt it’ll work out but it’s the only reason I can think of for not buying another CB.
I’d imagine he’d go with Monreal, but sure we’ll find out before long, its a ridiculous situation to be in when you have enough money to sign any centre half in the world, priorities I suppose
Gawd, if he was relying on Monreal playing at CB then maybe he really is going mad…
I really think he will, it’s devastating
It’s been pointed out before, but Chelsea are in exactly the same position. Two senior CBs, and their 3rd choice is their RB. Only difference is our 3rd choice CB is naturally our back-up RB, not first choice. So it’s not true to say ‘there isn’t a Sunday league team in Europe that would do that’.
Monreal is a suspect LB at the best of times, Ivanovic is one of the best right backs in the prem, I’d take Ivanovic as an out and out centre half any day of the week, he’s quality there two, Its not the same situation and your only kidding yourself saying it is…
Thumbs UP from me mate
cheers man
Señor Hector … GO!
At this rate, we may have to call upon Steve Bould to help bolster our centre back options!
The worrying thing here is that’s 2 players our medical team have deemed fit for international duty that were crocked. Utter incompetence.
Tbf, we told the Germans to look at Ozil as we thought there might be a problem.
How me missed tendonitis in both heels though, I don’t know.
Exactly, and the real worry is that he’s really properly injured. National teams aren’t renowned for being cautious. Although France are probably better stocked at the back than most countries and can afford to do without some players.
Jacks, that truly is what shocks me. IF Arsenal indeed did pre-emptively ask Germany to assess Ozil that’s one thing.
But this one with Koscielny. They knew the issue, they knew this would be one of the rare moments to rest him. It’s quite ridiculous.
Have to say I noticed him looking in some discomfort in the Chelsea game. Needs to be rested sooner rather than later, as if you bollocks up your Achilles, it’s a very long term injury (remember Vermaelen).
Glad France have done the sensible thing and given him the week off rather than giving him injections.
Amazed there’s no outcry. This is the worst season of injuries of all time even by our ridiculous standards.
Debuchy
It is really not funny!!!!
not funny at all
Could you give us some good news? I mean come on, make shit up, i don’t care, just give me something good
Has anyone got any cheese? Or horse placenta?
or probably we would just play without defenders seems thats what Wenger wants after all
Oh FFS.
By Jove!
Whilst managing to keep Diaby fit, the rest of our players have suffered.
What does anyone think of monreal playing right back? Or maybe even ox as a wing back?
Mr Wenger is on the case – and will buy another striker and attacking midfielder so no need for a defence at all
We were dangerously thin last year at back, and we let two International defenders slip away. If we had not let Sagna and Vermaelen go, we would not be arguing about which not-quite-ready-for-prime-time-kid gets a start in a league game. Granted there’s only so much that can be done to keep a player who’s contract is ending and wants to go, but when you factor in the $20mil or so it takes to buy a top defender, (and few are out there as good as those two,) they should have both been offered over-the-moon salaries. WAY cheaper to pay them… Read more »
In Sagna’s case, do you really think we could match the salary Man $ity was offering? Even if we did, Sagna would still get a signing on bonus from $ity, so it made sense for him to go there. So actually, it wasn’t “penny wise and pound foolish” as you describe it. As for Vermaelen, you don’t pay an ‘over-the-moon’ salary to your third choice CB. Unless you are Chel$ki, Man $ity, P$G, etc.
So, we can panic now, right?
AAAAAAARRRRRGH!!!!! WE’RE ALL GONNA DIE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Or lose a few games, or whatever.
Lucky Bellerin, I guess.
Holy crap this is getting ridiculous!!
Another day, another injury! Even when we’re not playing!
Wrap these guys in cotton wool or something maybe?
My vote is for hydraulic titanium leg replacements. Split a hose? 5 min. on the sideline. Good as new.