We on JustArsenal were completely dumbfounded when Arsene Wenger agreed to let Francis Coquelin extend his loan period at Charlton a couple of weeks ago, but t seems the Frenchman has finally seen sense and recalled the France U21 international ahead of this weekends game against Newcastle.
Coquelin is very versatile and, although he is generally considered to be a midfielder, he can also play at right-back or centre-back if needs must. So, as we said at the time, it was a no-brainer for Wenger to recall him during this unbelievable injury crisis affecting nearly ALL our defenders.
So it is a relief to see him back in training with the Arsenal squad, as revealed by this photo in HITC this afternoon, but with Aaron Ramsey being the latest addition to our players on the treatment table we will still be hard pushed to field a team with a proper defensive make-up.
Here is the latest official injury list from Arsenal.com:
Aaron Ramsey Hamstring
Jack Wilshere Ankle
Theo Walcott Groin
Mikel Arteta Calf
Nacho Monreal Foot
Laurent Koscielny Calf
Tomas Rosicky Thigh
David Ospina Thigh
Mesut Ozil Knee
Serge Gnabry Knee
The BAD news is we are facing a Newcastle team in full confidence after ending Chelsea’s unbeaten run last week. I know the Gunners usually pull something out of the fire when we are under ressure, but this will definitely be a massive test on Saturday.
COYG!