Arsenal to be weakened for opening day Liverpool clash

Aaron Ramsey fears he won’t be fit for the start of Arsenal’s Premier League season after what has been a fantastic international campaign for Wales this summer. Unfortunately for Ramsey and co, Wales crashed out of Euro 2016 in unlucky style to Portugal. Ramsey missed the semi final match against Portugal due to suspension and will now fly back from France with the rest of the squad before jetting off on holiday.

Whilst many first team players are already back in training at London Colney, those who have played at the European Championships, or are still out in France, have been granted an extended holiday by Arsene Wenger. Wenger wants to ensure the players get a break in order to not put them at risk of injury or burn out. Aaron Ramsey fears however that he, and his teammates who are still on holiday, won’t be entirely ready for new season, with the first match of the domestic campaign just over a month away.

Speaking to the media, Ramsey said: “I am back on 1 August, so I have a few weeks off but, obviously, it kicks off a couple of weeks afterwards. A few years ago, Germany won the World Cup and the German players came in just a few days before the first game of the season, but they missed that. He [Wenger] does like to give players a little break and I’ll be getting the same treatment. I feel I need a few weeks off now.”

With so many stars away at the European Championships and Giroud and Koscielny set to make the final on the 10th July, it will mean that many first team players like Ramsey won’t be returning to training until early August. Their return will be just one or two weeks before Arsenal’s first game, putting them in the spotlight to gain full fitness in time.

In the past two seasons we have had the FA COMMUNITY SHIELD game to worry about, but this year our first competitive game comes against Liverpool, so it’s not exactly an easy opponent. With that in mind, Wenger will be hoping to field as many first team regulars at full fitness as he can, but if the likes of Ozil, Giroud, Koscielny and Ramsey aren’t returning to training until later, it remains to be seen if they will be at full fitness to kick off the campaign.

By AH