When it rains, it does pour, while Arsenal had to deal with a rather embarrassing loss against Sheffield Wednesday in the League Cup, they should be more concerned about the injuries picked up by their attacking duo of Theo Walcott and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain.
It was the Ox who started the game but had to come off for Walcott after a few minutes of the first half. If that was not bad enough for the Gunners, Walcott also picked up an injury after 19 minutes of the first half. Arsenal had players to make up for the loss, but the lack of quality cover did hurt them in the final third, even though they dominated possession against the Championship club.
Arsenal certainly didn’t do much in the game, but the bigger problem for the Gunners at the moment is who would play for them on the right?
The right side has to be fixed
First it was Ramsey who picked up a long-term injury and now Arsenal must wait to learn the extent of the damage done to Walcott and Oxlade-Chamberlain. This really does provide Arsene Wenger with a lot of headaches as his team gear up for a tough run of fixtures, starting with Swansea in the weekend and then a crunch tie in the UEFA Champions League against Bayern Munich.
What will irk Arsene more is the fact that he lost the two England internationals in one game, that too in the League cup and both players were actually in form when they picked up their injuries. Even Ramsey was doing well before he picked up his hamstring injury; this is exactly the reason as to why Arsenal needed a strong squad; however it is a bit uncanny that Arsenal have lost out players who play in a similar position this season.
Even the likes of Rosicky and Arteta are nursing injuries while Jack Wilshere seems perennially injured for the Gunners. That really does impact the player positions and combinations that Arsenal can put out. Arsene Wenger has to play his best team and his best players, the forward line would have to be reworked with Olivier Giroud starting in the striking role, and the other players that have to be rejigged are Sanchez, Ozil and Cazorla. Santi could play on the wide right position but since he has been doing extremely well in the middle of the park, he should partner Coquelin till the other players return from injury.
That would mean that Ozil and Sanchez would play behind Giroud and it might be Sanchez who plays out in a wide position and Ozil should play in the number 10 role since he has been starring for the club this season. That means that Arsenal have one more spot to fill and this could be taken up by Alex Iwobi, the Nigerian did get a chance to show what he was capable of in the League cup and with Arsenal actually short of options, Iwobi could get his chance to shine and showcase his talent for Wenger and the Gunner faithful.
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