So much for Arsenal fans hoping and praying to get most of our players back uninjured after the international break, and some of our currently injured ones to be returning to the squad, but Alas!, Arsene Wenger has burst our bubble today.
Oxlade-Chamberlain and Aaron Ramsey were expected to be available, but it seems the only player returning from the treatment room is Hector Bellerin (and that is definitely a very BIG plus). Wenger said this morning: “Hector Bellerin is back, but Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Aaron Ramsey are not available.”
Wenger also told us that Theo Walcott would not be available for “one or two weeks” which means that Giroud must continue as centre-forward, while Le Prof is also worried about playing Laurent Koscielny as, after seeing him play mechanically for France on Tuesday, the Boss seems to think he has been psychologically scarred by the atrocities in Paris, where he was inside the Stade De France when the bombs went off. “On Tuesday you could see he was not himself and it affected him deeply.” Wenger said.
Hopefully we will have Gabriel back to cover Koscielny although the Brazilian may be tired himself and is only flying back from South America today. Obviously the same applies to Alexis Sanchez, and whether he is tired or not, Wenger won’t have much choice but to play him as none of Ramsey, the Ox or Ramsey are available to cover.
It seems Wenger may need to be doing a bit of rotation this weekend….