Maybe I am being a bit pessimistic here, but with all the injury problems that Arsenal have had to deal with in recent years, who can blame me? Arsene Wenger may also regret his words last week when he said in an off-the-cuff statement that the England boss Roy Hodgson could do what he liked in his use of Theo Walcott.
While there really is little that the Frenchman can do about how the international managers use his players from Arsenal, Wenger clearly wants there to be some common sense and some respect for the club involved and there often is. But when I saw the latest injury news in the Daily Express from the England training camp I could not help but worry.
The news is that the Man United midfielder Michael Carrick and the Tottenham winger Andros Townsend have both pulled out of the England squad due to injury. And Roy Hodgson has declined the chance to call up any other players. So what you say? Well I will tell you why this could spell trouble for the Gunners.
Without Townsend, England’s wide options on the right are limited to….Walcott. Okay there is Stewart Downing and James Milner, but if you were the England manager going in to a qualifying game, which would you pick? Theo would probably have got some game time anyway and it should be good for him, but he should not be playing too much and that is a lot more likely now.
The same goes for Jack Wilshere, because without Carrick it will be the Arsenal youngster that Hodgson calls on to re-visit the deep lying play maker role. And in a tight game, Hodgson will not even think of looking after his legs or fitness.
These two Gunners have both missed long periods of club action in the last cou8ple of years because of injury problems received while on international duty. I would like to think that the Arsenal players had done their duty, but it does not work that way and there is a chance that one of the two could be heading back to the Emirates with a problem, especially after the so-called friendly with Scotland. One thing that game will definitely not be is friendly.