Arsenal: Patience an unlocking virtue for Danny Welbeck

Danny Welbeck has revealed that he is still limited by the aftereffects of the knee injury suffered last season. Patience is an unlocking virtue for the Arsenal striker.

Returning from long-term injuries is extremely difficult. It takes great time, patience and resilience. There are days where you feel as good as new, and others, in rather more depressing stages of the recovery, where your legs just don’t do what you tell them to. It is a process that many Arsenal stars have had to endure on a number of occasions.

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The latest star to suffer, and recently return, from a major injury is Danny Welbeck. Taking a knock on his knee as last season drew to a close, Welbeck ultimately caused major damage to his knee ligaments and cartilage. He subsequently missed the best part of a year as he undertook his rehabilitation.

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More recently, though, he has joined up with the first-team squad, starting a handful of games sparingly and training most days. Welbeck, though, in an interview with the Evening Standard, revealed how he is still feeling the aftereffects of the initial knee injury:

"“It’s just a little niggle here and there with my foot and my big toe. That’s the thing that has been putting me out of the team at the moment. It’s just a bruise on the bottom of my foot so every time I’m running on it, it repeatedly is banging on the bruise. I’ve not done it yet but I’m looking forward to building on the stage I’m in at the moment and obviously, in the future, I hope I will be playing three games in a week.”"

Such limitations and restrictions as a result of physical ailments have not been plainly obvious in his performances. Although Arsene Wenger has consciously chosen to ration his playing time, rarely starting him in consecutive matches and never playing him three times in a week, Welbeck has looked smooth in his movement, as if free of injury.

However, if he is feeling the effects of the injury, then he must be patient as he continues to recover. Injuries take a long time to overcome. Finding your match sharpness can take even longer. For Welbeck, he must simply keep persevering through the summer, keep working hard and wait for the improvements in match fitness that will result.

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A fully fit Welbeck is a searingly dangerous centre-forward; he is ruthlessly quick, relentless in his running the channels and intelligent in his build-up play. But his recovery must be handled with great care and attention. For Welbeck himself, patience is a virtue that could well unlock his very best.