The North Bank – “It’s got va-va-voom” (An Arsenal blog)

Friday is here, at last. That means one thing, Arsenal are back tomorrow. I bloody hate international weeks, especially as the games involving European teams are never shown on TV here in Japan.

Since my last post, Theo has succumbed to RvP Syndrome and is now out for about 6wks. Though, after applying the revolutionary RvP Syndrome Theorem, I think it will probably be closer to 8wks before we see him playing again. What is it with our players and long-term injuries? Whatever happened to picking up a knock or a dead leg and just being out for a few days or a week or so? We don’t seem to do that kind of injury anymore. Strange and frustrating. The manager had this to say about it:

“The tackle looked quite bad. When you saw how it turned his ankle I thought it would be three or four days or four to six weeks. Unfortunately it will be four to six weeks. We had some good news about the scan because we were scared it could be worse. Overall it is a question of patience and rehabilitation. At the start we were optimistic, thinking it would be one or two weeks. But the damage was bigger than expected and he will be out for four to six weeks.”

I don’t know about you, but there is quite a difference between a few days and 6wks, especially given that they feared it could be a lot worse of an injury than it is. Maybe our medical team, and former staff, are just blind optimists. After the England game we were told that it would be less than two weeks before Theo would return, a prognosis probably given to Theo by Gary Lewin. It’s either gross incompetence or Helen Keller levels of blind optimism, but something just doesn’t add up with our current and former medical team. The whole thing is made all the more infuriating because Theo was really showing signs that he was actually beginning to improve. Like RvP, I don’t think that we will ever get a full season of fitness out of Theo.

Samir Nasri is recovering well and is in line for possible involvement against Bolton tomorrow, if needed. But, he is more likely to be held back for the game against Braga. The last thing we need now is to try and rush Nasri back only for him to have a recurrence of the same injury, another one of our fortes. But, good news all the same that he is available should the situation warrant it.

Squillaci, Djourou are available and that will leave the manager with a choice to make as to who will play alongside Vermaelen at the heart of the defense. It’s been a while since all four of our central defenders have been fit and available for selection at the same time. Denilson is also available for selection. I have a feeling that Koscielny will keep his place alongside Vermaelen. Which would see us start with Almunia, Sagna, Koscielny, Vermaelen and Clichy at the back. Midfield will probably be Song, Diaby, Fabregas, Arshavin, Rosicky, with Chamakh playing up front.

The referee for tomorrow’s game is the inconsistent Stuart Atwell, so let’s hope that he has one of his good days. It’s a big ask, I know, but no harm in hoping.

More good news is that Ramsey is now running again and so at least he is properly back on the road to building up his strength and fitness again. Fingers crossed that he doesn’t have any major setbacks and avoids the kind of niggling injuries that Eduardo and Diaby picked up after their respective injuries.

That’s about all I have for you today. There should be more team news on tomorrow’s post once the manager’s weekly interview and press conference appear on ATVO.

Hope you enjoy your weekend.