BBC - Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger is considering bringing defender Per Mertesacker back from his post-World Cup break early as injury cover for Tuesday's Champions League first leg play-off against Besiktas. Mertesacker and his Germany team mates Mesut Ozil and Lukas Podolski were given the extended break by Wenger after the World Cup triumph last month but knocks to Laurent Koscielny and Kieran Gibbs in Saturday's last-gasp 2-1 win over Crystal Palace mean Mertesacker, 29, who last week announced his international retirement, could be drafted in to play in Turkey. Is it me or is giving them a long extended break into the start of the season strange? It's not like they've gone through some traumatic time or something. They missed the Charity Shield and the first game of the season. I think it's a little too excessive, especially considering Bayern Munich has all their players back and have been playing since their first competitive game against Dortmund on the 13th August.
If he's thrown straight in after coming back from holiday he'll probably end up pulling a hamstring or something I notice Agureo was back for City yesterday, not quite sure why the club have given them longer than anyone else
I'm presuming that they've been training but yes, it is a little risky bringing him back. I can understand if they missing some of our friendlies and was given a week or two longer than the rest. But to miss the start of our season when Ozil and Mert are our key players is unnecessary.
.....Why haven't we brought in a new CB to make sure a problem like this didn't happen.... Let's say Mert wasn't fit or gets a knock, then we're left with Monreal to play at CB, but who plays at LB with Gibbs out? We need to sort out the CB position as soon as possible.
Very true, we've dragged our heels with getting a new CB in. When Vermaelen was being strongly linked with Barca and manure, we should have been close to getting one in.
I found it weird he did this too. The World Cup final was over a month ago, how much of a holiday do they need?
If Kos is injured and Mert isn't match fit then who will you partner Chambers with? It was always risky giving Mert a break into the season when Vermaelen had one foot out the door. Lets not forget Chambers is still 19 years old and hasn't been proven at a high level as CB. Not something a club like Arsenal should be doing.
Put Monreal at CB and Flamini at LB though Kos has been shown training and flew to Besiktas with the team so it looks like he's fit. Still we need to wrap up Manolas ASAP.
I think you've all read this slightly wrong. His actual quotes say the Germans are back with the team training and that he didn't intend on playing any of them until the everton game but that he will bring mert in slightly earlier than he intended as cover for cb. He says mert is ready and willing to play if needed but that wenger would have preferred to give them another week of training.
Monreal at CB? He hasn't played once there for us and hasn't played there for many years for his previous club. Good thing we have Mert back. Lets hope we get a CB asap as taking these risks so early on is unnecessary.
If he was ready then why not play him? The strategy is flawed if you play a 19 year old over your established CB unless you really have to. Also, Ozil should have been on the bench against Palace. Very casual indeed.
The reason the players have been given 4 weeks of is that most of the sports science gurus ect suggest that players need 4 full weeks of between seasons to recover. This helps to reduce the risk of injury and prevent burnout towards the end of the season. This is backed up by research and is also a FIFA recommendation.
The last game was the 13th July so it's roughly 6-7 weeks off. Bayern Munich had all their German WC players playing on the 13th against Dortmund.
Not all seasons start so early, the PL could easily start later, there are more leauges in europe than EPL, and the league can start any time
I seem to recall reading that Per has his own physios/trainers and is one of the fittest players out there. He apparently does additional work to keep fit and therefore is likely to be fine for the game if needed. Totally agree it's not ideal and would like to see us have someone lined up to replace TV5. On a plus side, every time I've seen Chambers play he's looked great!
Sorry getting my dates wrong, its around 5 weeks now. Agree on Chambers he is looking very good but should he be pushed into the first game of the season so soon? He should be introduced gradually.
