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Arsenal Receive First Bit Of Good Injury News In Weeks
By Josh Sippie
Arsenal are going to be without Santi Cazorla and Francis Coquelin until well into the new year. As such, any bit of good news is most welcome. We now have it.
They are saying that Arsenal is not the most injury-plagued team out there. By numbers alone, no they are not. But take the injuries in terms of their impact and how much they have affected Arsenal and you will not find many teams out there more negatively affected than Arsenal.
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Santi Cazorla is out until March. Francis Coquelin is out until February. Danny Welbeck, Jack Wilshere and Tomas Rosicky are out until January. Alexis Sanchez is out indefinitely. That is a lot to handle and even more to overcome. The last good news Arsenal had was the return of Aaron Ramsey and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain but that was quickly offset by the injuries to Alexis Sanchez and Santi Cazorla.
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Now, however, we have been hit with a wave of good news on the injury front. We will start with Theo Walcott. He’s back!
Our speedy little winger-turned-striker was just starting to settle in as a striker when exhaustion struck his legs and knocked him out for a couple months. Just like that, Arsenal’s attacking versatility was gone. It was Olivier Giroud’s show and his alone. That means that even when teams play a high line, Arsenal was unable to capitalize. That was what Theo Walcott did.
Hopefully Walcott can continue right where he left off. Both he and Olivier Giroud were incredibly impacting as subs as they offset each others play style incredibly well. It was flustering for opposing defenses.
Next up, Kieran Gibbs is back too. If you did not even know that he was hurt, you are not alone. Apparently Gibbs suffered a calf injury. This is what happens when he starts a game. In all seriousness though, Gibbs is still a useful weapon for Arsenal. He bailed them out against the Spurs and for that, he deserves all the credit in the world.
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Finally, the best bit of news. Laurent Koscielny may be chosen for the squad against Sunderland. This is fantastic news. The prospect of Per Mertesacker and Gabriel Paulista suiting up together was rather nerve-wracking, seeing as how the two have had communication problems before. Koscielny and Mertesacker have much more of a rapport together.
This is just the first wave of good injury news. Barring any set backs, the next month will see so many Arsenal stars returning to action. And not a minute too soon.