It is definitely becoming too much of a habit lately as it looks like another Arsenal player gets injured in every single game we play at the moment. The latest addition is the Armenian Henrik Mhkitaryan, who fractured his metatarsal in the League cup game against Tottenham. He is not expected to return to full training for six weeks at least.
Nacho Monreal has also been put back on the list with a recurrence of his hamstring but hopefully will be back soon, while Shkodran Mustafi is taking longer than expected to recover from his own hamstring problem. Hopefully he will return to training soon.
Hector Bellerin’s calf injury means he is not expected to return to full training in two weeks.
Our new young star Emile Smith Rowe has a problem with his hip and should be back in training soon as well, and the new defender Dinos Mavropanos is taking ages to recover from his groin injury and really should have been back by now. We really could do with a defender back soon!
And of course we have poor Rob Holding and Danny Welbeck out for the season.
So, yet again, we will have very few defenders for Brighton and it will probably be Laurent Koscielny and Sokratis in the middle with Kolasinac and Lichtsteiner on the flanks, unless Emery decides to use Maitland-Niles as wing back. That is every single one of our defensive options at the moment, and with games coming every three days they cannot all play in every game, especially Koscielny….
I’m happy with:
Lichtsteiner…Koscielny…Sokratis…Kolsanic
Problem is that they will need to play again 3 days later against Salah and the rest of Liverpool. They have experience but not many young legs
If Emery opts for a back three I’d like to see Jenkinson come in for Brighton. Have always felt he has the makings of a better CB that LB. Ultimately not the quality we need but needs must today.
Agree with Jenkinson as a CB
Koscielny has been performing badly lately, therefore maybe it would be better if Arsenal use more midfielders to shield the back four
If Koscielny plays in the middle again, I’m worried that they will be conceded first
That ain’t good! Very happy with Sokratis & Kolasinac, but not Koscielny or Lichtsteiner….imagine what the score will be if they have to play against Liverpool ?
Who else keeps getting this feeling that we might be paying dearly for Emery’s hectic and tough training sessions? With fatigue and the rate of the training drills, players are getting weak and burning out.. This is just a simple theory though, I have no proof.. It’s just a theory worth considering. I’d like to see a defence of Medley, Sokratis and Kolsinac playing the LB with Niles as makeshift RB… The midfield should have Ramsey Guendouzi, and Xhaka… Up front, Lacazette and Auba plus Ozil.. Iwobi comes in later on, Torreria at home…it’s a decent team, and let’s get the job done before we prepare for Liverpool. Nothing will make this the perfect December other than beating Liverpool at the Anfiel this weekend
The injury problem has been plaguing Arsenal since Wenger’s era
Agree with your line-up, but I would swap Ozil with Iwobi or Saka. Because Ozil rarely performs well at a tough away match
Eddie, sorry I can’t agree with your premise; intense pre season training means you should be fitter and less prone to matchday or training injuries. As gotanidea points out Arsenal’s injury record in previous seasons has not been good.
Professional football involves high intensity exercise and physical contact at pace; so injuries are to be expected. All clubs have suffered but Arsenal have been unlucky. Arsenal’s training, injury management and rehabilitation team is as good as any in the League.
You don’t have to agree, like I said, I have no proof and it’s just a theory… Concerning your last paragraph, If it’s so tell me why we get hit the most with injuries every season? Something must be wrong with the club’s training deals, training pitch or schemes. Even our rehabilitation takes so much time, we all know that’s the truth except you don’t wanna be honest with yourself. For me, the injuries have always been an issue no matter what player we get, since the problem wasn’t Arsene Wenger, since it isn’t Unai Emery, it has to be something wrong in the club’s facility and arrangements
Beat Liverpool at Anfield?
Hmm
We haven’t done that since 2012
Am sure we can do it this year with Unai Emery.
Just hope no more injuries
Your theory could be right. More intensity in training and more running/work in games could very well lead to more injuries in a squad, that hasn’t been used to any of it.
Even so, I hope Emery keep up the intensity and demand the work rate in matches. That is what we need in the long run, if we want to compete for the PL title again in the coming years.
Well Eddie, play Ozil at your own peril. This isn’t a home game where Ozil thrives. We need 10 outfield players working with or without the ball and no passengers.
———-Leno
—Sok–Kos–Xhaka—
Miles–Guen—Torreira–Kola
—Ram———Iwobi
———Auba——-
We have not won without xhaka playing in the middle
Your line up is much making me nauseous… So you’d still play Xhaka at CB after all the countless mistakes and errors he does there and leave out using a player from the U23 who I don’t believe will be worse, Play Koscienly in an away match that’ll be tough…Then you go with starting Torreira in a match we could win without him and you risk him missing the Liverpool game.. First of all I don’t believe in the let’s pick 3 points today since we have no chance of beating Liverpool at home bullshït..I want all 6 points, dropping 3 points means we ain’t getting in that top 4… And of Cus you’ll go with your beloved son Iwobi while you make up your excuses for shutting Ozil out again.. I’d rather have a player who won’t dribble and show off but create chances that leads to goals than have a player who will dribble and dazzle without end products in the team… You’re a genius mate
As long as Xhaka does’t play CB i’ll be happy considering the injuries.
We need def reinforcements asap!
Also would not mind giving Medley an opportunity, I’d rather that then putting Xhaka at CB. Give the kid a go
?
I’d really like to see Medley given a chance as well, good shout.
I know a lot of people have been unhappy with Xhaka at CB, but he hasn’t actually performed that badly in that position. I know he gave the ball away a lot against Burnley, but he does the exact same thing in midfield as well. I’d rather see Xhaka at CB than Koscielny right now. Haha!
As long as a sokratis and kolasinac starts, I don’t really want to care who plays in defence, I just don’t want to see xhaka with them
Emery must look for centre backs and backup with experiencing
Can Arsenal beat Liverpool at Anfield? My answer is yes it is possible. Going by last weekend’s results where Man City lost to Crystal Palace at home and Chelsea also lost at home I can say anything is possible. One thing I am sure about is that Liverpool will lose some games and it could as well be Arsenal to make that happen. I always remember the James Bond movie “Never say never again”. Last time Arsenal met Liverpool everybody had predicted that Arsenal would be annihilated but it never happened and even this time there may be no such thing. It is always good to have confidence in the resources at one’s disposal rather than being despondent. Let us cross the bridge when we get to it. I will be the last to predict doom for Arsenal because I trust our team. This season we have stopped Liverpool, convincingly beaten Spurs, drawn with Mourinho’s Man U at Old Trafford, gone 22 games unbeaten and gone unbeaten in Europa League. So why can’t some of our fans have a little belief in the team?
Because of the recent injury crisis were in.
And because we have Alex Iwobi in our squad.
That’s a good thing Phil.
I know TH-he is World Class,we are so lucky to have him.
I know -He’s World Class now and will probably be the best player on the Planet by February.
If only he was on another Planet and not at Arsenal
Kosh just need match fitness, he is a good partner wt Socratis. But i like the Ledley guy too, tall, strong and calm in the few minutes av seen him (although not in d epl, but he can do worse that Zhaka since he his a natural CB), we need Zhaka in the middle.
Arsenal to win 2-1
Man U 2-0
Spurs 1-1 or loose
Chelsea 1-1
I ll love this
Why not play Ozil as CB?He is useless at everything else he does (according to some) and is such a lazy player who rarely puts in a shift (according to some).This could benefit the Club and the player and may even add another 25 years to the career of Mesut Ozil.
For a start he will not be required to run very much.Just stay on the 18 yard line and don’t concern yourself with offside as it’s a stupid rule anyway.He won’t have to jump to head the ball if he doesn’t want to.But if we can get him to actually play the ball out to one of his own teammates then we COULD just have found the answer to Emery’s tactics of playing out from the back.
I honestly can’t believe nobody has thought of this before.
Phil, your footballing brain knows no bounds.
Just an added thought though, what about Iwobi next to him at the back?
You know it makes sense!!!
Sue informed us that Mike ( I see everythingg when there is nothing) Dean is referee.
Surely that will be a 100% bet on Torreria getting a yellow and missing the pool game?
p.s. It might also help with my bet currently running with Jon…..any more long term ideas for Ozil?
It said on Arsenal’s website that he was referee… but it’s Antony Taylor… not sure if that’s any better Ken??
Sue, ANYONE is better than Dean, but having said that, I have this awful feeling that Riley will have instructed the yellow card to be raised.
That wouldn’t surprise me in the slightest Ken!
Looks like Torriera will be playing today if Emery’s comments are anything to go by.
Guyz Kos isnt playing today, Emery confirmed that Kosc said he isnt ready for another PL game….
..
Also i feel we should play with a back4 . We can use d back3/5 against Liverpool.
Niles,Sokratis,Lichsteiner,Kolasinac. vs BHA
…
Niles,Mustafi,Sokratis,Monreal,Kolasinac vs Liv.
@ Eddie
Bro I share your view and have also mentioned it on here before but the problem is people love the intensity so until then we have to just look on. There is just too much muscle and hamstring related injuries to our squad for the first time watching arsenal only iwobi and xhaka I can remember not getting injured since the start of the season something must be wrong.
The injury situation is nothing new to our club, which is even more of a mystery since all those blamed for it previously, have now left the club.
Can I suggest this scenario?
We have been labelled as a soft touch in previous years and it gave referees the opportunity to let tackles against us go unpunished,( with horrendous results on occasions).
Since the start of the Unai reign, we have witnessed much more aggression in our own tackling and this has resulted in the current injury problem.
I can think of Myk’s injury as an example, but am sure others will be identified.
So, although we have the same injury crisis, I feel it is due to different circumstances on the pitch.
I also think it is wrong to say that our players take longer to recover and something to be looked at.
We are a top professional club and to think we do not have the top medical team/facilities is crazy.
We are all just impatient and our injuries are not overnight healing scenarios.
No other club has had two first team players ruled out for the rest of the season as far as I know.