Hello.
Tomorrow we have a game against Cardiff and things aren't looking good.
Arsene Wenger held a usual press conference today and, among other things, touched on the squad condition. While Ozil and Ramsey were expected to miss the game, this list was drastically expanded.
Giroud and Gibbs, for instance, are definitely out. Though both have short-term problems (ankle and calf respectively) their absence may prove costly.
While Giroud can be substituted by Bendtner (that's not to say the Dane will be a complete replica of the Frenchman) or even Podolski (who is another type of forward altogether), replacing Gibbs won't be quite as easy, seeing as Monreal is a doubt because of his illness.
The Spaniard is, unfortunately, not the only doubt. Vermaelen, Rosicky, Walcott and Wilshere have question marks floating over their heads too. If none of these can help us out tomorrow (and I dread the idea), we'll be down to bare bones. The squad will basically pick itself for the clash against Cardiff.
Of course Gnabry can slot in on the right, but central midfield can become a true headache for the manager, especially should Monreal prove unavailable, forcing the manager to play Flamini at full-back. This situation looks all the more depressing, considering we had an almost clean bill of health just a week ago.
We may see the effects of the Newcastle game here. I've touched a couple of times on how much of a physical challenge that was, and it was probably silly of me to expect us to come through unscathed. Not that anyone could have predicted such a down fall, but still.
On a lighter note, Cardiff wasn't all that successful for the last ten games, netting only nine points (only two of them away from home) and sitting only two places above the relegation zone. They should not be taken lightly, of course, but they won't be as tough as some of our recent opponents. If we had a better injury situation, I suspect the manager would look at this game as a chance to rest a couple of key players. As it is, he doesn't have much choice.
In his press conference, Arsene was also quizzed on whether we can expect new signings, but, though he was as elusive as ever, I got the general feeling we won't be happy customers in January. Which doesn't make much sense in light of recent events. We'll get a chance to discuss it in more detail after the Spurs game, so I'll leave it here.
Hope we get the three points tomorrow to start a New Year in a positive way.
Oh, and Happy New Year everyone
Tomorrow we have a game against Cardiff and things aren't looking good.
Arsene Wenger held a usual press conference today and, among other things, touched on the squad condition. While Ozil and Ramsey were expected to miss the game, this list was drastically expanded.
Giroud and Gibbs, for instance, are definitely out. Though both have short-term problems (ankle and calf respectively) their absence may prove costly.
While Giroud can be substituted by Bendtner (that's not to say the Dane will be a complete replica of the Frenchman) or even Podolski (who is another type of forward altogether), replacing Gibbs won't be quite as easy, seeing as Monreal is a doubt because of his illness.
The Spaniard is, unfortunately, not the only doubt. Vermaelen, Rosicky, Walcott and Wilshere have question marks floating over their heads too. If none of these can help us out tomorrow (and I dread the idea), we'll be down to bare bones. The squad will basically pick itself for the clash against Cardiff.
Of course Gnabry can slot in on the right, but central midfield can become a true headache for the manager, especially should Monreal prove unavailable, forcing the manager to play Flamini at full-back. This situation looks all the more depressing, considering we had an almost clean bill of health just a week ago.
We may see the effects of the Newcastle game here. I've touched a couple of times on how much of a physical challenge that was, and it was probably silly of me to expect us to come through unscathed. Not that anyone could have predicted such a down fall, but still.
On a lighter note, Cardiff wasn't all that successful for the last ten games, netting only nine points (only two of them away from home) and sitting only two places above the relegation zone. They should not be taken lightly, of course, but they won't be as tough as some of our recent opponents. If we had a better injury situation, I suspect the manager would look at this game as a chance to rest a couple of key players. As it is, he doesn't have much choice.
In his press conference, Arsene was also quizzed on whether we can expect new signings, but, though he was as elusive as ever, I got the general feeling we won't be happy customers in January. Which doesn't make much sense in light of recent events. We'll get a chance to discuss it in more detail after the Spurs game, so I'll leave it here.
Hope we get the three points tomorrow to start a New Year in a positive way.
Oh, and Happy New Year everyone