Arsene Wenger and the Arsenal fans should be crossing their fingers this week and hoping that we get some good news about the injury suffered by our young French midfielder Francis Coquelin yesterday. But when was the last time something went our way on the injury front?
Our bad luck was in evidence once again during the game, firstly with the accidental clash between Coquelin and Giroud that broke the young player´s nose and left him bleeding and in pain, and then when the ball hit him in the same spot after he had been patched up to carry on. Maybe that second blow will prove critical as well, although Wenger admitted that he is still not sure whether Coquelin will need an operation or not.
Arsenal.com reported the boss saying, “Yes [he has broken his nose]. I don’t know [how long he will be out], I hope not. I don’t know whether he will need surgery or not.
“They told me he was bleeding but that he could stay on. The second time he was hit again so after that I had to take him off. I had been told by the medical people that he could stay on.
“He wanted to stay on. He didn’t play here for a long time so now that he plays, of course he doesn’t want to come off the pitch.”
Surgery would mean a lengthy spell out of the team for Coquelin and that would be a real downer for him and Arsenal, even if Mathieu Flamini does recover in time to fill in. Coquelin has been a real revelation and yesterday proved himself again after a rare poor game against Monaco. With Wilshere, Ramsey and Arteta still unavailable the Gunners really need the extra midfield strength he offers. Here are the latest Premier League stats from Squawka.com.
We really need the youngster for the FA cup game with Man United, the Champions League second leg in Monaco and of course the Premier League run in. How much could it damage Arsenal to be without him?