Category Archives: Injury News
Thoughts on Saliba’s Contract Situation and Gabriel Jesus’ Injury Update
Don’t you just love that late goal that snatches a draw from the jaws of victory of a title rival!
When Bruno Fernandes smashed in that brilliant goal in the first half, I had thought that Manchester United was going to steamroll past Crystal Palace, as they had been in imperious form, but the Premier League has a knack for changing the narratives time and time again. Michael Olise’s free kick was a thing of beauty and Manchester United will arrive at the Emirates with dampened spirits after such a nerve-racking draw.
Arsenal will go into that match with their eternal arch-rivals on Sunday without their alpha male in attack, Gabriel Jesus. The Brazilian forward earned a place in Tite’s World Cup squad in November but played second fiddle to Brazil’s main striker, Richarlison. However, he earned a shot to feature in the Mundial when the dead-rubber fixture against Cameroon was around the corner following victories over Serbia and Switzerland. Gabriel Jesus played that game and seemed okay, only for us to learn afterwards that he had suffered a knee injury that required surgery.
For a player so instrumental to how Arsenal plays its football, losing him was a bitter blow to our chances, but Eddie Nketiah has done well to step up in Jesus’ absence and lead the line for the Gunners. Yes, he’s a bit rough around the edges, but in the grand scale of things, Nketiah has done really well, and I hope his decent form in front of goal continues.
Gabriel Jesus has gone to social media to provide an update on his knee surgery rehabilitation, revealing that he’s no longer in need of crutches. This is a major breakthrough for the Brazilian forward and we will remain hopeful that he can be available for selection around February 2023 or March 2023 as currently predicted.
With only Eddie Nketiah deputizing for Gabriel Jesus in attack, Arsenal is desperately short and one can only hope they delve into the transfer market to get a solution, whether it’s short term or long term. However, we can only hope that our forwards will go through their games unscathed in our bid to win our first Premier League title in almost 20 years.
Elsewhere, Arsenal are doing their utmost best to sort out the future of William Saliba. After signing a four year deal with the Gunners, Saliba spent the first three seasons of his Arsenal career on loan in his native France, where he groomed himself to become a colossus in defense. He finally came of age after the Olympique Marseille loan spell and his emergence in the first team saw Ben White shunted to the right back slot to accommodate him in the side.
Alongside with Gabriel, Saliba has forged a formidable telepathic partnership, and Arsenal boasts of the second best defense behind Newcastle with 14 goals conceded and nine clean sheets earned. At 21, Saliba has his best years ahead of him, and Arsenal are hoping to secure his future by initially triggering his extension clause to 2024, giving them ample time to work out a long term contract that will keep him at the Emirates for years to come.
Unfortunately, there has been a snag as Saliba’s representatives have rejected Arsenal’s proposed contract extension offer but the Gunners remain confident that they will negotiate and reach a common ground for the continuation of Saliba’s services to the club.
This has been a breakthrough season for Saliba, and he’s certainly no longer the player he was when he joined the club as the next best thing with huge potential, so it’s very understandable if he wants to earn a whole lot more than before. However, I’m pretty sure that Saliba’s reps and Arsenal will make something work.
They have all the time in the world.
Sayonara
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Emile Smith-Rowe: More Challenges to his Form and Fitness
Smith-Rowe’s last appearance for Arsenal
Emile Smith-Rowe was one of the standout performers for the Gunners last season, scoring 11 goals in 37 games, with 10 in the Premier League. He also carried his good form on the international scene, making three appearances for England and scoring one goal in the 10-0 drubbing of San Marino. Smith-Rowe was a regular fixture for Mikel Arteta with a certain Gabriel Martinelli itching for a chance to strut his stuff, and following a bout with COVID, Smith-Rowe lost his place to Martinelli, and had to make do with recurrent substitute appearances, where he kept scoring week after week.
Losing his place to Martinelli didn’t bode well for Smith-Rowe and he failed to regain the early season form that saw him cement his first team berth in the side. His fitness continued to be a thorn in his flesh and he managed to finish the campaign with a personal best of 11 goals.
Fast forward to the new season and Smith-Rowe didn’t get much preseason game time in compared to Martinelli, and this was evident in the team selections for the new campaign with Martinelli being an ever-present in the side, while Smith-Rowe had to make do with four substitute appearances against Leicester, Bournemouth, Aston Villa and most recently, the team’s only defeat of the campaign to Manchester United. Smith-Rowe was odds on to get his first start of the campaign in the Europa League win over FC Zurich, but his injury problems ensured that he missed that game.
Arsenal has confirmed that Smith-Rowe has undergone surgery on his groin, as the player had been experiencing some discomfort, which clearly affected his training and ultimately, first team appearances. The club has also confirmed that his rehabilitation program has commenced and he will be out to December 2022 at the very least. Club gaffer, Arteta, had voiced his frustrations of Smith-Rowe’s unavailability earlier in the season,
“He’s a kid that loves playing football. It’s the biggest thing in his life. And when he’s not capable of doing that, especially after the run of games and performances that he had with us the year before, it’s just difficult.
“But injuries are part of football that you’re going to get at some stage of your career. It’s how you face those difficult moments and now you make the next step.”
Smith-Rowe’s injury will cement Martinelli’s first-team status in the team for the foreseeable future, but Arsenal has to look from within to cover the gap between now and the World Cup break with the games coming thick and fast. Eddie Nketiah and Gabriel Jesus are adept playing on the left wing, but this injury paves the way for a certainly forgotten figure, Reiss Nelson, that has been on the trenches for the entirety of his Arsenal career.
I would expect Martinelli’s minutes, especially in the Europa League, to be managed, so Nelson can use that competition as a platform to showcase his talents again to at least give the manager something to think about, or just audition himself for a potential buyer in the January transfer window.
I hope Smith-Rowe recovers well from this injury and focus on his football in the turn of the new year.
Sayonara.
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Lucas Torreira: Update on his Ankle Injury
Lucas Torreira suffered a nasty ankle injury in the 16th minute of Arsenal’s 2-0 win over Portsmouth at Fratton Park on a cold Monday night. The Arsenal youngsters took the plaudits for their good performance that was enough to seal a quarterfinal berth with head coach, Mikel Arteta, lauding their efforts but it was not a good night for Torreira, that had to be stretched off the pitch to receive medical attention for what was really a nasty challenge from Portsmouth defender, James Bolton.
Torreira was seen wearing an ankle brace and had to use clutches to navigate his way around to join the team leaving Portsmouth back to London. This leaves Arteta with only Dani Ceballos, Granit Xhaka, Joe Willock and Matteo Guendouzi as his only central midfield options, which is not ideal if you ask me. No other player in the side offers what Lucas Torreira gives this team and I touched on this sometime in January, when he suffered an injury in the draw with Crystal Palace.
Lucas Torreira wearing an ankle brace
Torreira has done well to allays some fears on whether he will be out for a while, when he spoke to the media about his injury,
“I wanted to tap it and grabbed my ankle on the outside. It twisted the ankle but I can move it”
Arteta, on the other hand, isn’t sure of the severity of the injury and will be waiting for the Arsenal medical team to provide a favorable update for him. What we know for sure is that Torreira will not be available for the crucial weekend fixture against West Ham and the midweek clash against Manchester City might come too soon for him.
In his absence, Ceballos will get an extended run in the side and we will be hoping he can forge a good understanding with Xhaka in the middle of the park. For a player that was close to leaving the club in January, Ceballos is playing on a different level and looks committed to the cause as Arteta hopes to seek qualification to Europe from the Premier League following that disaster that happened last week Thursday against Olympiakos.
Arsenal would be hoping to have Torreira available for selection as soon as possible because he remains a vital cog in the Arteta midfield machine.
Sayonara.
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