I don’t know whether to feel sorry for Matthieu Debuchy or not. He started his first game for Arsenal for more than a year against Bournemouth, and he was obviously not fit enough as he was taken off with a hamstring injury after just 16 minutes. I wouldn’t be surprised if that is the last time he takes to the field in an Arsenal jersey.
Arsene Wenger said after the match: “He thinks it’s a severe one. Don’t go too far because I have to speak to medical people, but you can only assess it really after 48 hours. You have to let it bleed and after, usually they have an MRI 48 hours later to see how big the damage is.”
Wenger also admitted that he had reservations about playing him in the first place. “When I picked the squad, I imagined that something could happen to Debuchy because he’s had many setbacks,” said Wenger on the BBC.
“He is devastated. He is such a great guy and puts such a commitment into his daily preparation.
“He started very well and was sharp. He did it on a backheel pass that is quite dangerous for the hamstring.”
The reason I’m not really feeling the sorrow is because of his attitude last season, when he sulked straight from the first match when he wasn’t chosen over Hector Bellerin, and then forced Wenger to send him on loan in January despite us not having any other specialised backup for our young Spaniard. And he did it because he wanted to be picked for France at the Euros and got injured again anyway and wasn’t selected!
This year I thought that we would do without Debuchy anyway, but it would seem that Carl Kenkinson has not impressed Wenger enough to even put him in the squad yesterday. It is being suggested that his career at Arsenal is now over after Wenger chose Gabriel to play in his place. There was no mention of the lifelong Gooner being injured but Wenger said: ‘I imagined that something can happen to [Debuchy],’
‘I had Coquelin who was ready to play right-back as well. But I have gone for Gabriel, because he is more a defender and he’s very quick.
‘And he adapted well. I watched tapes of him of playing full-back at Villarreal, two or three times he played left-back.
‘I found only one tape of him playing in Brazil as a right-back, and I must say it was not super convincing. But I think today he did well.’
So what do we make of that? Could he have an injury that we simply don’t know about? Or has Wenger just decided he is not good enough?
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