http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/fo...rsene-Wenger-says-Santi-Cazorla-February.html According to Wenger, so that is excellent news, if he's already able to be out and running, hopefully we can have him well before his scheduled return at the end of February. Cazorla is also slotted to return back in mid February as well, which is also good news putting him ahead of schedule as he was slotted to come back in March. But great news about the Coq, he is healing very fast.
These injuries could have worked to our favour in a strange way, if we can still remain in the thick of it by the time they get back, which I believe we can, then we get these key players back all fresh, they basically will have had a good 2 months rest, and we get them fresh right at the crunch time of the season. The same goes for Sanchez, he has had a good month off now to refresh and recuperate, and that's excellent news going into the second half of the season, most of our key players aren't going to be tired. Even the likes of Walcott-Ramsey have had long spells on the sidelines and haven't been playing all season, so they shouldn't be too exhausted either.
Good point about Sanchez especially, that bloke has needed a rest for bloody ages, and he has finally got one, and aside from the Saints game, we have not missed him in terms of the results, now hopefully Sanchez is raring to go for the second half of the season and if Sanchez hits top form, then I can see us going really close to winning the title.
Sanchez really needed a rest and its good he has. Lets hope he comes back on song and give everyone hell.
We've sailed a little close to the wind during their absence and managed to come out in front, but it's a helluva balancing act for the boss and I hope he continues to get it right and doesn't feel compelled to rush them back too quickly.
It's not been said but in my opinion we've missed Rosicky. Whenever he's come in he's done a good job and greatly helps maintain possession and is a decent tackler. Having both Rosicky and Arteta out has severely reduced our options.
Really need this guy back. Flamini gives everything but he is constantly pulled out of position. I can't fault his workrate but he just isn't positionally solid enough for this level. "Stats now back up quite how important Coquelin has become to this Arsenal side, with the team conceding on average 1.33 goals per game since his injury, compared to 0.75 per game before, as noted by French football journalist Matt Spiro on Twitter." (metro) We almost concede twice as many goals without Coquelin in the side.
Francis Coquelin, Danny Welbeck and Jack Wilshere have all returned to training. This is great news. Be amazing if we could have a near fully fit squad for the run in.
Great news and a much needed boost for the team. We can finally start rotating a bit more and give a rest to tired or non performing players.
Do you know what, even seeing them back in training will be a boost to the squad. Because it will cement the camaradairie of the squad and remind players that there is competition for places. I'm actually feeling really positive about our prospects for the run in this season. We've weathered the storm of our injuries really well and players like Campbell and Flamini deserve a lot of credit.
Definitely agree with that last bit - both players have really stepped up, and for all his faults Flamini has shown huge amounts of effort and commitment this last few months. I still think that Chambers can have a part to play as cover at DM, as he seems to be developing there as well.
You have to love Flamini because he always gives 100% effort. But the facts remain we have been conceding considerably more goals since Coquelin got injured. He will be a big boost when he returns to the team.
Not just Flamballs. I think even when Coquelin returns we'll ship more simply because there's no Santi. I love Ramsey's energy levels and drive but he doesn't have the ability to keep the ball like the wee man does. Got to say I did a double take when I read Welbeck's name! To this day I have no f*cking clue what happened to him to get a 13 month injury. Will be excellent to get him back though so we can rotate. Yes his finishing is a bit pap but he's rapid, strong and works hard for the team and that's not to be sniffed at.
You've got a good point there. I think having Coqs will make a difference as he has better energy, strength and youth than Flamini, but you need an effective midfield partnership in the middle for it to work properly and i don't thnk the Flamini and Ramsey one has been working properly. The Coqs and Cazorla partnership functioned really well, similarly when we had the Flamini and Cesc partnership. The one thing we've missed is the skillful, ball retaining midfielder, that can slow things down and distribute the ball. Ramsey is a fine player but he doesn't provide the kind of support that Caz does. This is where we've missed Rosicky, who is really good on the ball and hard to take it away from, but provides good team work and defensive duties. But we should be getting our players back so these issues should be dealt with soon. But i'm happy that our second/third choice midfield partnership of Flamini and Ramsey have maintained our league position so far, getting a couple of tough away draws, results that we would have lost in the past.
