How much of a blow are the Alexis Sanchez and Laurent Koscielny injuries for Arsenal?
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ByEurosport
Updated 30/11/2015 at 12:38 GMT
In-depth: The disappointment of failing to pick up all three points against Norwich on Sunday was compounded by injury blows to Alexis Sanchez and Laurent Koscielny – so how serious is the issue for Arsenal?
Arsenal's Alexis Sanchez grimaces after injury
Image credit: Reuters
WHAT HAPPENED?
Presented with the opportunity to draw level on points with the teams at the top of the table on Sunday afternoon, Arsenal contrived to squander the lead at lowly Norwich City as they were eventually forced to settle for a 1-1 draw at Carrow Road.
However, the result was bumped low on the list of concerns for Arsenal fans – as they saw Alexis Sanchez and Laurent Koscielny limp off with injuries during the game, as Santi Cazorla also limped through much of the closing stages after picking up a knock of his own.
Manager Arsene Wenger had acknowledged before the game that Sanchez, already in the infamous “red zone”, was managing a hamstring problem, so the reaction was understandably vitriolic when the Chilean appeared to pull the very same muscle during an innocuous chase for the ball midway through the second half.
The Gunners will wait to find out how long Sanchez will now be sidelined but, with so many other players already on the injury table, they look set to enter one of the busiest phases of the season without arguably their most important figures both in attack (Sanchez) and defence (Koscielny).
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Arsenal's French defender Laurent Koscielny (R) leaves the pitch injured during the English Premier League football match between Norwich City and Arsenal at Carrow Road in Norwich, eastern England on November 29, 2015
Image credit: AFP
SO WHO IS OUT RIGHT NOW?
Arsenal now have nine players on the treatment table, with updates on the full extent of the injuries to Sanchez, Koscielny and Cazorla expected over the coming week.
Laurent Koscielny – hip/thigh injury – no return date yet
Alexis Sanchez – hamstring injury – no return date yet
Santi Cazorla – knee injury – no return date yet
Mikel Arteta – calf muscle – imminent
Theo Walcott – calf muscle – early December
Jack Wilshere – calf/shin injury – mid December
Tomas Rosicky – knee injury – early January
Danny Welbeck – knee injury – mid January
Francis Coquelin – knee injury – mid February
Per physioroom.com, only Bournemouth currently have more injury absences than the Gunners in the Premier League.
WHAT DID ARSENE WENGER SAY?
I would have rested him [Sanchez] but he said he was fine to play. Santi Cazorla finished on one leg and has a knee problem, Laurent Koscielny has a hip problem and Sanchez a thigh problem.
He [Sanchez] says it is a kick on his hamstring, I believe that is not really the reality. I fear it is not the reality. I do not know how long Sanchez will be out but it is a big blow. We will have to assess the injuries tomorrow.
At the moment on the striker front we have not much choice because Theo Walcott is out and Danny Welbeck is out. It was, on the injury front, a bad afternoon for us.
HOW DID THE MEDIA AND TWITTERSPHERE REACT?
Former Arsenal player Thierry Henry:
"I can feel for Arsene in a way. You are playing for the title and you come here [to Norwich] and you need to win. Obviously if you ask Alexis Sanchez if he is OK, he is going to say yes. If a guy says no then he might as well leave the club. You are there to play. But I think you almost don't have to ask him anything if you want to rest him. You need to go out and say nothing or, 'I'm resting you today and that's the way it is'. Again, I personally wouldn't have liked that when I was a player, but you take it on the chin and see the bigger picture because you want to be out there and play the whole season."
Although at least Hector Bellerin is confident Arsenal can cope:
"I have said it before, there is great depth in the team. There are a lot of young players in the team waiting to come through, and we have a lot of quality training with us every day. They are ready to step up so obviously every single player on the bench can do the same job as every single player in the starting XI. We don't need to worry about [the injuries to Alexis and Koscielny]. The only thing we need to do is go out onto the pitch with the right mentality, it does not matter who we play."
Perhaps Bellerin offers the one potential positive in all this: just as his own meteoric rise came out of an injury crisis (Mathieu Debuchy being ruled out, and Calum Chambers suffering with form and fitness), so perhaps another youngster from the always-vaunted Arsenal academy can emerge as a result of the current crisis - whether it be Jeff Reine-Adelaide, Alex Iwobi or Joel Campbell. That would be some silver lining.
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Arsenal's Alexis Sanchez (right) leaves the field injured against Norwich City
Image credit: PA Sport
WHO IS TO BLAME?
Well obviously bad luck plays a role in all injuries, but ultimately this seems to happen to Arsenal so often (and so much more often than any other top club) that you have to point the finger at the manager, his coaching methods, and/or the medical staff.
Clearly something is not quite working correctly at London Colney, although it goes without saying that if the club could identify what exactly that was, then they would quickly make steps to address it.
Sky Sports’ Adam Bate pointed out on Sunday that, statistically speaking, Sanchez’s output (average speed, distance covered, top speed) had been declining game-on-game over the course of November, an indication that he was perhaps struggling with fatigue. Injuries elsewhere may have restricted Wenger’s options, but it seems obvious in hindsight that Sanchez needed withdrawing from the fray.
Sanchez may have insisted he was good to go, but players – especially young ones (and Sanchez remains just 26) are never going to ask for a rest. Wenger was undoubtedly torn between given his key forward a break and securing a much-needed three points away from home; but these are the sort of tough decisions he is paid to make. In the end it appears he made the wrong one.
“The players are there to play football, not to be rested when the press decides when they need to be rested,” Wenger said.
“Nobody is scientifically developed enough, not even the press, to predict when a guy will be injured. I must say with all our humility, we are not in a position to predict. We are not in a position where we can predict. Despite our tests he looked alright.”
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Arsenal's Mesut Ozil (right) celebrates with Olivier Giroud after scoring his side's first goal.
Image credit: PA Photos
SO HOW BAD IS ARSENAL’S SITUATION?
Well, much will depend on how long Sanchez is ultimately ruled out for. Hamstring injuries tend to result in a layoff of between two and six weeks depending on the severity of the strain – so the Gunners will be fervently hoping that the Chilean is sidelined for a period on the shorter end of that scale.
Even if Sanchez is only out for two weeks, however, that puts him out of Arsenal’s vital Champions League decider against Olympiakos – a game in which they need to score goals and win comfortably if they are to reach the knockout rounds. Sanchez would certainly have helped with that.
In the league, Arsenal have games upcoming against Sunderland (Dec 5th, at home), Aston Villa (Dec 13th, away) and then Manchester City (21st Dec, at home) – so you would figure they should be able to win the first two even without Sanchez and Koscielny, but would desperately like to have both back in time for the later clash (which could shape the title race heading into 2016).
The club have subsequent games against Southampton, Bournemouth and Newcastle – far from the most difficult run during which to have an injury crisis, but on the other hand that means the pressure will only be higher on them to keep picking up maximum points. It's a good job that Mesut Ozil is in such a rich vein of form, but beyond him Wenger is not exactly blessed with options.
If Arsenal are to cope, it would seem certain that the likes of Theo Walcott and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain will have to find their form almost immediately after returning to first-team action - no easy task.
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