While Arsenal were flying along in the Premier League, and beating an unbeatable looking Bayern Munich team into the bargain, no one was too concerned about the injury situation at the club. And to be fair, there were not many Gunners out of action for us to worry about.
That has changed a lot over the last couple of weeks of course, and now Arsenal fans are crossing our fingers and hoping that one or a few of those injured players can recover and make themselves available to Arsene Wenger as soon as possible.
The likes of Theo Walcott and the Ox have had their fair share of injury problems to cope with in their playing careers but it is surely our England international midfielder Jack Wilshere that has been hit the hardest of all our current players.
The good news, if you can call it that, for Wilshere is that his most recent spells in the treatment room have been caused by tackles, one from Man United´s Paddy McNair and one from his own team mate Gabriel in a training session. So he can at least hope that the label of being injury prone is not right and that he can finally get his career back on track and start to show just how good he can be.
One man who clearly feels that Wilshere can be one of the best is the former Spain international star Xavi Hernandes, who was so good that he was dubbed the `brain´ of the Barcelona team that was arguably the best club side ever. In a Daily Mail report he gives his thoughts on the unlucky Gunner and the massive potential that Arsenal have waiting for us.
Xavi said, “He played a fantastic game against us [in 2011]. Let’s not forget he was just 20 or 21 years old (Wilshere was 19). It’s just a shame he got injured so many times over the past two years.
“If he gets going and a bit of continuity as well, he may make the difference for both Arsenal and the English national team. He is a different kind of English player.
“Even though he has been nourished in a physical type of football, he is really talented, gifted for passing and he does not give the ball away. He does not seem to be English!”
So have Arsenal got a world class player in waiting and will he ever get a proper chance to prove Xavi right?