Every week we seem to be losing more players, andespecially members of the Arsenal defensive line-up. This week we have lost both Sead Kolasinac and Hector Bellerin, and although Kolasinac may not be proved to be a long term problem, Bellerin is definitely out for at least another couple of weeks. Henrik Mhkitarayan also injured his right ankle and we are waiting for him to be assessed.
But yet again it is our defence that we need to worry about, as we are down to just four proper defenders in Laurent Koscielny, Nacho Monreal, Sokratis and Stephan Lichtsteiner (I am not including Carl Jenkinson on the official list).
Mustafi was also lost to a hamstring problem in the game against Huddersfield and won’t return to training until next week, and it is worrying that Mavropanos has still not returned to training yet after his groin injury and he is yet to play one game yet this season.
And of course we all know that Rob Holding will not be returning this season, and we are still waiting to see exactly how long Danny Welbeck takes to recover, but I think we are unlikely to see him on the field again for Arsenal in this campaign, if ever.
Emery seems to prefer playing with five at the back, so i guess we could use Sokratis, Monreal and Koscielny and Monreal as the middle three, with Jenkinson and Lichtsteiner on the flanks, but would you be feeling confident with a line-up like that? I certainly wouldn’t!
Darren N
For us to finish in the top 4 we need “everything” to go our way. At the moment injuries are not really going our way or better said injuries are really not going our way. However, they are part of the game and we have to make the best of it and deal with them as good as we can.
“everything” to go our way?
Why are players getting injured?
Another, concern for me is to see how we will address the absence of Welbeck. Will we bring back Nelson? Will we work with other youth players? Or will we look to sign someone (not likely)?
Missing Welbeck hampers our ability to play around with pairing Laca and Aubamayang etc.
I think they would call Nelson back and promote Saka, instead of buying a new player
If they want to get a winger, I hope they chase Ismaila Sarr. He is tall, fast and likes to race with the opponent’s defenders
We were very lucky Iwobi has managed to stay fit up till now when it seems everyone is picking up knocks here and there.
Hope we buy a pair of wingers in january transfer
Kolasinac trained today ?
Also Emery confirmed Mesut Ozil is available and will be in the squad.
Oooh interesting! How I’ve missed Ozil & Kolasinac
Sue, In the Ozil topic, a few threads ago , you falsely accused me and then blamed me for as you falsely said, using the word “cancer” That is a flat LIE. I made no mention of that word. I EXPECT an apology or you will go down in my opinion.
No Jon… a guy named Jason D said that about Ozil… you then replied to him (not mentioning the C word) so I replied to him… but it came after your comment… but seeing as you never mentioned that, I thought you would have worked it out that it was meant for him! Phew! Hope you get the gist of what I mean! I tend to waffle sometimes!!
Jon, I can confirm that sue is correct and I left a post informing you of that.
I noted that Jason had the “D” after his name and asked the question what the “D” stood for.
After the comment he made, I guess you know what I think it means!!!
Thanks Ken. I will now scroll back to that thread and read his comment.
Thanks Ken ?
Thanks Sue. It was just that your reply was directly under MY post. I had thought it out of character for you to say that and am pleased you did not. Friends again now anyway.
You need to stop being so touchy Jon…
In your opinion only!
Sorted Jon ?
The next match is at home and they will play against a bottom team, so I don’t think they would use a five-defender formation again
I predict Emery would use Ozil to stop media speculations:
…………………..Leno
Niles . Koscielny . Sokratis . Monreal
……….Torreira ….. Xhaka
Aubameyang …..Ozil ………Iwobi
…………………Lacazette
If Lichsteiner doesn’t play, Jenks should be our RB. No more experiments with AMN. The poor guy will lose any piece of confidence left in him. If Ozil doesn’t play than it’s almost certain the club wants to get rid of him.
Yeah maybe Jenkinson has improved
I read the rumors that Inter Milan want Ozil
Emery has clarified that we need Ozil. So I expect he will be with us next year.
Don’t sound so gutted QD ?
Lichtsteiner and Kolasinac, as well as Jenkinson should be available, so no need to play AMN and Xhaka out of position. AMN should be allowed to develop in his preferred mid field position.
I’d replace Ozil with Ramsey. He gives us more energy up front.
We need to focus on defenders in January.
This is necessary for any chance of Top 4
If we don’t sign quality players in January then we will finish 5 or 6 again.
Worry about wingers and central midfielders in the summer.
Innit, while agreeing with you completely, isn’t that what we did in the summer?
I just wonder how many defenders we can manage when all are fully fit?
use ozil instead of guenduzi Rambo instead of iwobi lacazzete should pair auba and we are good to go
…………………..leno…………………………
Jenko…….. Sok….. Kos…… Moneral
………………….torre..,……….. . . ………
…………..ramsey…. Xakai……………..
Mikhi………….lacca………. Auba…….
Is mikhy not injured?