Tag Archives: Yaya Sanogo

Arsenal’s Injury Crisis – A Simple Solution

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Some players are just more injury prone than others. That’s a fact. No matter how much you think there injury record will improve, it never will. From Darren Anderton and Jamie Redknapp in the 90s to Michael Owen in the 00s, some players always struggle to stay fit.

The key is to not have too many of these said players in your squad.

One of the major contributors to Arsenal endless injury crisis is we carry too many players with poor injury records;

Abou Diaby
Tomas Rosicky
Yaya Sanogo
Kieran Gibbs
Jack Wilshere
Theo Walcott
Mikel Arteta
Aaron Ramsey

8 players in our current squad who, over the last 5 seasons, have missed a lot of games, and will continue to do so. I would bet that over the last 18 months, at least half of that list has been injured continually throughout.

Every side suffers injuries. According to the physio room, each Premier League side currently has out, on average, 5 players. Manchester United have the most, at 9, Tottenham the least, at 2. Injuries are an unavoidable part of football.

Arsenal’s problem is that as we carry so many injury prone players, whenever a ‘normal’ player picks up an injury, his loss is exaggerated.

Look at the players involved in out current injury crisis;

Abou Diaby
Yaya Sanogo
Mesut Ozil
Theo Walcott
Serge Gnabry
Mikel Arteta
Mattheiu Debuchy
Olivier Giroud

The list can easily be split into two. Mesut Ozil, Mattheiu Debuchy and Olivieir Giroud have very good injury records. The rest have extremely poor records.

You can not legislate for Giroud injury his ankle blocking a clearance, or Debuchy being crocked in a horrendous challenge, or even the odd knee or hamstring here and there.

But what you can do is ensure that you limit the effect by having a very fit squad. Unfortunately Arsenal do not have that.

By the time we pick up our 2/3 ‘normal’ injuries that every club suffers, we already have 4/5 long term injuries to our injury prone players. This then puts us in an injury crisis.

At Arsenal, over the last 4/5 years, we have always had 4/5 long term injuries, the same handful of players going in and out the treatment room. This then makes it seem like our injury crisis is never ending, as a combination of the above players will always be out.

So how do we solve our current ongoing injury crisis? It is not by changing the training ground, or the medical staff, its by changing the playing staff.

First out of the door should be Tomas Rosicky, Abou Diaby and Yaya Sanogo. These three have been forever injured. They have missed more games than they have played. The ironic thing is that by selling them, it will actually make no difference on the 1st team squad, as neither will be missed. But what it will do is create a bit of a mental change. It would immediately reduce our ‘injury list’ by 3.

The others create a controversial debate:

Jack Wilshere or Aaron Ramsey

It seems one of either Jack Wilshere or Aaron Ramsey is always injured. In the 90s, we mocked Spurs & Liverpool fans for putting Redknapp and Anderton on such a pedastool, yet both were always injured. No point being a brilliant player if you are injured. Wilshere & Ramsey for Arsenal are quickly falling down a similar slide.

Both are talented, but both miss a lot of games. The harsh side of me says ‘get rid of both, we have the money to buy equally as talented, but less injury prone players’. The more moderate side of me thinks we should dump one of them.

As previously said, you can afford to carry one or two injury prone players. At the moment, Arsenal are trying to carry 2 in the same position. Jack Wilshere’s injury record concerns me more than Aaron Ramsey’s. He has not played over 30 league games since his break through season – 2010/11. Is it time we were ruthless and cut our losses with him? Buy someone better and less injury prone? Think with your head, not your heart

Kieran Gibbs

Kieran Gibbs is now 25. When he is on the pitch, he is a great full back. In my opinion, he is England’s best. His record is worse than Wilshere’s, in the fact he has never played more than 30 league games. He really is made of glass.

He is another one who I always think should we cash in on. He can not even be trusted to remain as second choice left back, as chances are high that if the 1st choice left back was injured, he would be too.

It is another head over heart decision. If Kieran Gibbs can not play over 30 league games, should he be at Arsenal?

Theo Walcott

In his younger days, Theo Walcott had a lot of injuries. Many of these were associated with weak shoulders, which he has since had pinned in. His latest injury is a tad abnormal. I put it down to one of the ‘normal injuries’ that every side suffers during the course of a season.

The question over Walcott is how does he return from his injury. He has already had a few set backs, and a player who relied so much on pace, would he have lost a yard having been out for nearly a year?

If it is clear he has lost something, or he does continue to break down, we should flog him quickly. Cash in whilst his stock is high, and move on. Let’s not carry him. Let’s not hope that one day it will improve. It rarely does.

So who would I ship out:

Definitely out

Abou Diaby
Yaya Sanogo
Tomas Rosicky

On a last chance

Kieran Gibbs
Jack Wilshere or Aaron Ramsey

Give him time

Theo Walcott

Arsenal carrying injury prone players is not a new things. Samir Nasri, Robin van Persie and Thomas Vermalaen all had poor records before we signed them, yet we still signed them. Decisions like this just opens us up to entering an injury crisis.

To solve our injury woe’s, we do not need to reinvent the wheel, we just need to ensure that we have a squad full of players with good injury records. Stop buying players with poor records. Ship out the players with poor records.

It really is that simple.

Keenos

 

Munich defeat, Referees, Mesut Ozil, Silver Lining, Yaya Sanogo, Coefficients

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Munich Defeat

Ok, we lost. 2-0 at home. On the face of it, we should be disappointed. Out of the Champions League 1st knock out stages once again before the second leg has been played. However, where as last year and against AC Milan, we had every right to be annoyed and ashamed, this morning Arsenal fans can hold their heads up high.

Before we went down to 10 men, we showed how good we were, matching Bayern Munich all over the pitch. This Bayern Munich side who are favourites for the Champions League. Who beat Barcelona 7-0 last year. Had Mesut Ozil (more on this later) scored his penalty, had the referee (more on this later) been more consistent, it might have been a different result. Unfortunately, that’s football.

Down to 10 men against a world class side is always going to be an uphill struggle. And we did ourselves proud. You only have to look at ‘distance covered’ by all players to see everyone gave 100%.

Lazy Ozil?

We can hold our head’s up high, and go into our next 3 games confident that we are not just one of the best teams in England, but one of the best in Europe. Hopefully this defeat leads to a similar negative spiral as we had last year (hi AVB!)

Referees

Before I start my rant, Sczcesny was right to be sent off. He bought down his opponent denying him a goal scoring chance. For those saying the rule is wrong, is unfair, if you changed it, you would simply see an increase in keepers run out, charging into the man, knowing that the worst that can happen is giving away a penalty. With the rule as it is, it means that keepers at least have to be controlled and make a valid attempt at getting the ball.

The issue with the referee was inconsistency. Last night (and the Manchester City game) perhaps showed that, despite claims otherwise, European referees are no better than their Premier League counterparts. Why was Boateng not sent for giving away the penalty? He denied a goal scoring opportunity. He then later committed a couple more tackles worthy of a yellow card. Dante seemed untouchable, committing fouls at will, yet no booking. Lets look at some stats:

Arsenal: 8 fouls, 2 yellow cards, 1 red card
Bayern Munich: 16 fouls, 2 yellow cards

To quote Manuel Pellegrini, “The referee decided the game. He was on Barcelona’s Munich’s side from the beginning until the end. He was not impartial”.

Mesut Ozil

Firstly the criticism. What was that penalty about? For the second time this season, he has taken a lazy penalty and missed. It is now the 3rd penalty in a row he has missed. I do not know his overall record, but 3 in a row is enough for me. Surely we take penalties in training? Surely we can see who the best penalty taker is? Surely that person should be on penalties? The only rational thinking is Ozil scores everyone in training, or (and more likely) he has it in his contract that he should be taking penalties. Yes, Arteta & Giroud were not on the pitch, but after yet another miss, it is time for someone else to step up.

On the other side, he has once again got a lot of criticism for his performance, which is once more very unfair. People called him ‘lazy’ yet he covered the 3rd most amount of ground in the side. His season statistics show he has been one of the best midfielder’s in the Premier League this season. In my opinion, he could do with a bit of a rest.

With Sunderland at home this weekend, the time for a rest is now. With Rosicky, Cazorla, Podolski, Oxlade-Chamberlain & Wilshere all fit and raring to go, lets give Ozil a rest. I would line up:

Flamini Wilshere
Ox Cazorla Podolski

With our next game against Stoke 9 days off, it will give Ozil a chance to re-charge his batteries.

Silver Lining

Losing could be good. There could be a silver lining. As I explained yesterday, I would have thrown the Champions League and chucked in the kids from day one. Now we have lost 2-0, we should seriously consider putting out a ‘b’ team in Germany – yes, if you are going, I feel for you, maybe the club should refund all tickets, so you at least get your ticket for free. We have a chance of winning the FA Cup & League. Let’s put our eggs into those baskets and concentrate on those competitions.

Looking at the upcoming fixture’s list, it looks a lot lighter without Champions League football – especially if you ‘remove’ the Munich game from the minds of the 1st team:

Arsenal v Sunderland Sat 22 Feb
Stoke v Arsenal Sat 1 Mar
Arsenal v Everton Sat 8 Mar
Arsenal P-P Swansea
Tottenham v Arsenal Sun 16 Mar
Chelsea v Arsenal Sat 22 Mar
Arsenal v Man City Sat 29 Mar
Everton v Arsenal Sat 5 Apr
Arsenal v West Ham Sat 12 Apr
Hull v Arsenal Sat 19 Apr
Arsenal v Newcastle Sat 26 Apr
Arsenal v West Brom Sat 3 May
Norwich v Arsenal Sun 11 May

Yes, the Spurs, Chelsea, Man City, Everton run of games is difficult, but we can now face them without having the distraction of mid-week football. With the Swansea game required to be re-arranged (plus if we beat Everton, West Ham will be arranged), we will only have 2 mid week games between now and the end of the season. Tiredness should not become an excuse. Losing last night means our focus can fully shift to domestic competitions.

Yaya Sanogo

Another solid performance in the fledging career of Sanogo. Yes, he might not have scored (better players have taken longer to score their first goal), but he once more did not look out of place playing up against International class players. Would I play him against Sunderland? No. If Giroud’s head is back in the game, he should be straight back in. But in Sanogo, we have a talented player who’s style could be a useful change coming off the bench. Next season, if we buy a striker, I will be more than happy with the enw striker as first choice, Giroud as second, and Sanogo as 3rd. And with his natural ability, he would be pushing Giroud hard.

Coefficients

For those worried that yet another 1st knock out round defeat is going to dame our coefficient rankings, do not worry, it will not, we will still be seeded for next year. To be top 8, you need, on average, 100,000 coefficient point’s. You usually accrue around 20,000 if you make the knock out stages.

The current ‘live’ update of points puts Arsenal in 6th place. With Manchester United unlikely to qualify, that puts us in 5th. The winners of the competition usually get 35,000. That means only sides who are within 15,000 points of us can finish above us.Champions League

Only Porto (knocked out), AC Milan (9th in Serie A), Valencia (not in CL) and Atletico Madrid are within 15,000 points. So realistically, only Madrid can beat us, and they need to win the thing to do so – which is unlikely. Yes, our place could be under pressure in the future with the rise of Dortmund, PSG and Manchester City, but they are at least another season from being near us, and with Manchester United likely to drop out, our place in the top 8 will remain secure, as long as we keep making the knock out stages.

Out of the Champions League, but in with a chance of 2 domestic honours. Back the team. Up the Arsenal.

Keenos

Could Arsenal still be in for Luis Suarez?

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Despite the transfer window shutting less than a week ago, there is already speculation as to who we will buy in January. With us still having over £40 million sitting in the ‘available monies for transfers’ piggy bank, a key signing or two in January could be a deal breaker if we are in the title race, or still in with a chance of a cup.

Where we are clearly most short at the minute is upfront. Whilst Lukas Podolski, Theo Walcott and Yaya Sanogo can provide cover, they are not sufficient to cover Olivier Giroud on a long term basis, if the big Frenchman picks up an injury. Also if we are starting with Walcott, it leaves Podolski as the only real game changing striker on the bench.

As for Giroud, he is good enough, but he is not star quality. He has shown this season already that he is a very clinical finisher. The fox in the box we were crying out for in the early 2000’s. And his size and work rate causes a problem. However there is always a feeling watching him that he is the man who should be as cover for the star man. He rarely creates out of nothing. And his attributes would be much better put to the last 30 minutes of a game:

1) If we are winning, he would be a good substitute to bring on to become more defensive. He can hold up the ball and chase down centrebacks. His height also gives us extra safety at corners.

2) If we are losing, he would be ideal to come on enabling us to play longer, sending high balls into the box, with others then getting around him. He would cause havoc.

In summary, we are still a star striker short. And in my opinion, that man could be Luis Suarez.

Earlier in the summer, June in fact, I predicted Arsenal would sign Mesut Ozil. This was not being me in the know, it was me using logic. Real Madrid had already signed Isco and with Bale on the way, it was clear that Ozil would be available. Around Europe, not many of the other top teams required (Manchester City, Chelsea, PSG) needed an attacking midfielder, and others (ie Seria A clubs) could afford it. It was logically that he was coming to Arsenal.

Using the same logic, it would not surprise me if we ended up signing Luis Suarez in either January or next summer. Here is my reasoning.

It was clear that a striker was top of our list this summer, and that Luis Suarez was one of the main targets. He had the well documented clause that lead us to bid £40,000,001 for him. The understanding was that Liverpool would let him leave a bid of anything over £40m. Hence the £1. Why bid £45m, when a bid of £40m + £1 triggers the same clause.

However Liverpool challenged the legitimacy of this clause, claiming it was not a release clause, but merely meant they had to inform Luis Suarez of the bid. With all parties disagreeing over what the clause meant, the result would mean that Luis Suarez or Arsenal would have to take Liverpool to Court of Arbitration for Sport. Now this would have been time consuming, with appeals and long drawn out legal proceedings. It is unlikely it would of been completed by the end of the transfer window. This lead Arsenal to drop their interest fairly quickly once Liverpool established their stance and made it clear they would defend their opinion in a court of law.

Our actions after this show, to me, that we are still interested in Luis Suarez. A lack of a bid for any other top striker (bar the rumoured interest in Benzema) showed that perhaps Luis Suarez was still on our radar. Our only interest was in a short term option of a year long loan for Demba Ba. This perhaps shows that there were irons in the fire for longer term options. After all, why go and spend £20-30 million on someone you are not quite sure about, when your main target is still in your sights?

And for me, that target is Luis Suarez.

I would not be surprised if, in the next couple of weeks, it is announced that Luis Suarez is taking Liverpool to court for clarification of the release clause. This action is likely to be supported by Arsenal. Now if he wins, it would mean they would have to sell him for a bid over £40m. Worse case scenario, they might enter mediation and agree a new, higher legitimate clause. Or Liverpool attempt to avoid the embarasment of there star striker taking them to court byt offering Suarez a new deal on more money, with a legally tight release clause in it. Again, this could still lead to him joining Arsenal.

There would still be plenty of ‘what ifs’ over the deal:

  • What if after the court case, another side puts in a bid?
  • What if Liverpool are still top of the league come January?
  • What if Liverpool win the case?

For me, it is logical to say that via our actions after the Suarez deal went dead, and on the last day of the transfer window, we are certainly still in the market for a long term star striker. For me that man will be Luis Suarez.

Keenos (not ITK)