Every year it seems that Arsenal have an ever lengthening injury list from the beginning of the season until the end, and according to a new in-depth injury analysis by cuteinjury.com.
This fascinating study gives us a warning that things could still get worse this season, as Arsenal’s worst month for injuries is January (26 in last five years) closely followed by November (24) which is just around the corner!
In total, the Gunners have succumbed to 194 different injuries in the last five seasons, which averages out at 38.8 injuries per season – or just over 1 injury for every Premier League game! This adds up to 362 playing hours lost which is about 6 years per season.
Not surprisingly Abou Diaby is the biggest loser here, having lost 36.5 months on the treatment table out of the 60 months of the investigation, but both Kieran Gibbs and Theo Walcott have both had 14 injuries each since the 2009/10 season, which has lost Walcott 24.5 months and Gibbs 23.5 months of playing time.
Surprisingly 50% of our injuries are inflicted on our midfielders, and the most common affliction is the hamstring (34 occurences), followed by ankle (30), then knee (25) and calf (21). Although hamstring problems are the most common, it is knee injuries that have lost us the most playing time at 79 months, with ankle coming up close behind with 75 hours lost.
We all know that averages don’t ALWAYS predict the future results, but if Arsene Wenger (who is a great lover of analysis) had factored in the expected injury levels every season, perhaps he would have bought a few more defenders in the summer?