It is a shame that Arsene Wenger will not see the star of the season for Arsenal so far until later this week, as Alexis Sanchez plays for Chile tomorrow night and then has a long flight back to London. But the 25-year old is so good he will slot straight back into Premier League action.
And the Frenchman will have a few days with the rest of the squad in order to get them prepared for the crunch clash with Manchester United at the Emirates on Saturday. We really need to win that in order to get the confidence levels high again before Borussia Dortmund visit next Wednesday.
But Aaron Ramsey is confident that the Gunners can get two good results from those games and the Welsh midfielder reckons that could be the start of a great run which could turn our season from despair to delight once again. As a Daily Star report reveals, the 23-year old knows that Arsenal have a tough week ahead, finishing with a trip to West Brom next Saturday, but he is looking at it as a great opportunity for Arsenal to put the last two games against Anderlecht and Swansea firmly behind us.
Ramsey said, “Hopefully we can get two positive results and turn our season around and get a bit of momentum going.
“We have started slowly. We’ve had a few draws and it was a disappointing result against Swansea.
“We have a tough week. We have Manchester United which is a big game with the top four in mind and then Dortmund.
“They are both tough games, but they are the ones you want to be involved in as a footballer. We have a lot of catch-up still to do, but hopefully we can come out on top in them.
“I’ve had a few injuries this season and I’m just getting back.
“To be honest, I’m still not 100 per cent physically there. The injuries do take a bit out of me. It will take me a few more games to be back to my best.
“But I’m not worried. I know my qualities. Certain criticism from people is unfair.”
Rambo’s battling performance in the middle for Wales against Belgium will certainly help his form and help him to ignore that criticism and the same can be said of all of our international players, who should all come back in good spirits. And a weakened and out of form Man United could be the perfect way for us to start again.