Injury Problems Mount
Kieran Gibbs joins Robin van Persie on the sidelines.
The young left back may have suffered a broken metatarsal on U21 duty last night and with Traore rated as only 50/50 to return in time for Saturday’s trip to Sunderland, our options at left back have suddenly been compromised.
Silvestre and Vermaelen can both play on the left side of defence but Wenger would much prefer to have one of his young flying full backs in the side and keep his first choice centre back pairing together.
With Van Persie damaging his ankle ligaments in Holland’s 0-0 friendly draw with Italy on Saturday, Wenger will be anxiously awaiting news after tonight’s World Cup qualifiers in which Gallas, Sagna and Arshavin will be looking to seal qualification for France and Russia respectively.
Our recurring injury problems appear to be more than coincidence and presumably Wenger and fitness coach, Tony Colbert, have been taking every possible precaution to prevent further injuries. The fact that a number of our players pick up problems on international duty could also be bad luck but less thorough preparation by players when they are away from the club might be a factor.
Whatever the cause may be, the problem is clear and threatens to derail our title push. The squad will be tested in the next few weeks and with the Chelsea game looming, the timing couldn’t be much worse.
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