It is headlines like these that should make Arsenal fans worry. by Jansen
Arsenal confident that star man Alexis Sanchez can shake off hamstring injury ahead of weekend trip to Norwich
How often have we heard Wenger admit he might have brought a player back a bit too early from an injury? Or how often have we heard him say “this or that player is at the limit.”?
Will we ever learn? We all thought Sanchez would get rested after the last international break for the game at West Brom – but supposedly we could not afford to rest him. We lost the game anyway.
I understand that sitting in 4th with teams breathing down our necks and gathering momentum is uncomfortable. But unfortunately in a league like the PL every game is a must win game and every game is difficult. We are not speaking about the CL final or another big game like that, it’s Norwich. No player can play in every game, they are all going to need a few games rest here and there. So you might as well listen to their bodies rather than looking at your fixture list, because each fixture is difficult and the body will break down when it is overused no matter what the fixture is.
If we don’t rest Sanchez at the right time, instead of being without him for one game we might be without him for 4 games or more. That fact that he is nursing a hamstring problem reeks to me of an early warning sign of his body telling him it has gone beyond its limit.
For me it is another Wenger gamble, like not buying an outfield player this past window, that simply should not add up for a mathematician like Wenger. If you dramatically reduce the odds of losing a player for a series of games by resting him for one, that seems like an easy choice. Same goes for Ozil, he should be watched closely as well, no matter how good those two players are playing right now, we need to get them to the pay-off part of the season, or the run in, in good health and fitness.
Losing them for a month because we were afraid to rest them for one game simply reeks like more points lost than gained.
Jansen