Arsenal: Key Returns Rescue Gunners From Injury Hell

Arsene Wenger announced Hector Bellerin, Francis Coquelin and Kieran Gibbs are back in training. Their returns rescue Arsenal from injury hell.

The annual injury crisis has hit and Arsenal have weathered the storm relatively successfully. Arsene Wenger has regularly had to deal with the balancing of injured players, trying to maintain the success of his side while extending the freshness of his squad throughout the whole season.

It is no easy task but one that he has weathered with some success in recent weeks. Central midfield was a position which, before the season began at least, was considered an area of strength within the squad.

More from Pain in the Arsenal

That is certainly not the case right now. With Mohamed Elneny in Gabon at the African Cup of Nations with the Egyptian national squad, Santi Cazorla still on the sidelines after an extended rehabilitation from ankle surgery and Francis Coquelin picking up a hamstring issue in the 3-3 draw with Bournemouth earlier in January, Wenger was forced to rely on the pairing of Aaron Ramsey and Granit Xhaka with very little depth whatsoever.

Coquelin, though, is back in training this week, as is Hector Bellerin and Kieran Gibbs. It was welcome news from Wenger in his pre-match press conference on Thursday morning, and the trio, alongside the impending return of Theo Walcott and Per Mertesacker, can rescue the Gunners from their recent injury hell.

With Carl Jenkinson set to leave the club with Crystal Palace rumoured with a move for the full-back, it has been centre-half Gabriel Paulista that was tasked with filling in for the absent Bellerin at right-back. The attacking width that the Spaniard provides, thanks to his searing pace and relentless engine, is a key attribute for the Gunners when they play against deeper lying defences who leave little space to work in in the final third. Gabriel does not offer the same threat.

Gibbs, meanwhile, had been heavily involved in a rotation with Nacho Monreal at left-back. Wenger was doing so to keep both players fresh through the latter half of the season but with Gibbs on the sidelines since Boxing Day, he has been unable to do so.

Next: Arsenal: 30 Greatest Players In History

It is perhaps the return of Coquelin that is the most important of the three but all offer Wenger with more options than he has enjoyed in some time. They re-enter the squad with a crucial period on the horizon – an away match with Chelsea and the last 16 tie with Bayern Munich – and certainly help Arsenal haul themselves out of the potential injury hell that they had slipped into.