Arsenal have had an awful start to the season without a recognised centre-forward, and have gained just one point from their first two games. It was thought that for tomorrow’s game at Watford we would at least have Olivier Giroud up front while we await the arrival of Lucas Perez, but Arsene Wenger has revealed that the Frenchman is still not fully fit and ready to go.
“Giroud is still a little fraction behind physically.” Wenger said on Arsenal.com.
So the question is will Wenger persist with Sanchez as centre-forward or will he give Walcott one more chance, or perhaps a combination of the two?
As for our other injuries, Wenger revealed that both Ramsey and Iwobi may be ready after the upcoming international games. “They are progressing well. Will it be immediately after the break [that they are back]? That’s what we’ll have to see in the next two weeks.”
Our two missing defenders Gabriel and Jenkinson, are both being forecast to return in around six weeks. This is what Wenger said when asked about Gabriel: “He’s progressing very well. He’s ahead of schedule. We said six to eight weeks and we think it could be six.
“Carl Jenkinson, we plan six weeks from today. He had to do his shoulders as well – sometimes when a guy has weaknesses and he has a big injury, you take advantage of the fact that he has a big injury to sort out the short ones. That’s what we did with him. He had the two shoulders done [too]. He went through a tough time, Carl. But he’s brave, conscientious, motivated and I think he will come back well.”
It is interesting that Wenger has said that Chambers will be going out on loan, so I wonder if Jenkinson will be kept at Arsenal after his recovery?
Our othertwo injuries, Mertesacker and Welbeck are not expected back before Christmas, so Wenger has little choice but to field Koscielny and Holding again tomorrow. But once Mustafi arrives and settles in we would then only have Holding as backup until Gabriel recovers….
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