At the time of starting to write this, Theo Walcott was just stretchered off for England. After a really good start in which he was probably the most threatening player on the pitch – a few good turns and a some brilliant pace – the first goal was all about him. An excellent piece of skill followed by the quality and ability to find Johnson out wide before making another run taking defenders away and then kind of dummying for Rooney – well a dummy is what I thought it was until I saw the replay.
In the build up to the goal, the block challenge came in and you can see that Theo’s ankle turns over…
(picture courtesy of @arseblog / twitter)
News broke later in the evening that Walcott was actually taken to hospital…
Seriously bad news for all Arsenal fans – Theo has been a shining light in our squad this season – and it’s tragic to see that both Theo and Van Persie have suddenly been lost for what looks like the next 2 months – with Bendtner not back until the new year, it looks like it’s just Chamakh up front as the only out and out striker. I know that Vela and Arshavin could probably play up top if required, but we are down to the bare bones and even on the wings we’re looking low on options.
[Update: News coming in that Theo will be back in 2 weeks courtesy of Fabio Capello - "I spoke with Theo. I asked him: 'Two weeks?' He said: 'Less'"]
I’d expect to see a front three of Arshavin – Chamakh – Vela (or Eboue) for the weekend’s game – obviously it’s a home game against Bolton – which means it’s a chance for Eboue to get a run out… which is probably what will happen as the gaffer does prefer Eboue to Vela… although we’ll have to wait and see until weekend to know who’s fit and available.
So back to injury problems and news filtering through yesterday is that Robin Van Persie is injured until mid-October and will miss October away. It’s a crazy old world out there when you consider that Robin played the full World Cup for Holland but gets injured with his first game for Arsenal and then is out for 2 months.
I’ve got a lot more to post on a new separate blog for tomorrow about so I’ll leave it at that for now… I’ll just finish off with a little statement from Tommy V:
“Cesc carries Barcelona in the heart, in his DNA…therefore it is impossible for him to forget about them. He was determined to go to Barca last summer, he more or less confessed it in the dressing room. But that is past history. Now he is 100 per cent ready to put his all in to a great season with Arsenal.”
Yes, you heard it right, our player – Tommy Vermaelen – and NOT Xavi said that… yes, the “Cesc has Barcelona DNA” phrase has infiltrated into common wordage – I wouldn’t be surprised to see it in the dictionary in the near future… interestingly TV said Cesc was “determined” and that’s an annoying little statement – it’s not great to hear, especially when it’s all been pushed under the carpet for the season… it’s now all been aired again – and why? Why now? Not great timing from Vermaelen… but the more and more I hear, the more it sounds like it’s his last season at the Emirates…
Okay, I’m not going to think about that for now…
Til tomorrow…
