In a weekend that gave us two unlikely goal-scorers, three points and a seventh game unbeaten this season, there was just one negative to contend with.
Sunday afternoon saw both Mesut Ozil and Laurent Koscielny missing from Arsene Wenger’s squad to face Brighton with the boss careful not to rush them into action.
Whilst the 2-0 win looked pretty comfortable in the end, nobody likes to see two of the biggest names in the side missing, especially with a tricky schedule coming up.
Arsenal get back into action on October 14th following a two week international period in which plenty of players will be off representing their respective countries.
However, there will be a number of players left at London Colney over the next few days as they continue to work on their rehabilitation to be ready for our first game back, Watford.
Speaking in his post-Brighton press conference, Wenger suggested that the international break can be a blessing in disguise at times, but not when you’re on a run of seven games unbeaten:
We cannot do anything about (the international break) and let’s hope that the players come back in good shape. Some players will not go on the international break.
Laurent Koscielny, because he has an Achilles problem, Mesut Ozil because he has an inflammation of his knee and Danny Welbeck as well because he’s not fit.
By the sounds of what Wenger’s said over the last few weeks it looks as if Ozil will just need a good amount of gym work before he can be considered again.
Koscielny is a bit more of a concern because we’ve seen before that if an Achilles problem is mis-managed, it will often lead to a longer period on the sidelines.
Welbeck is the most likely to come back because he’s had his issue for a couple of weeks and will have already begun working in the gym, and his position is easily covered.
Arsenal have been doing fine without Ozil and Welbeck because it has given a chance for Iwobi, Ramsey and Wilshere to all show they will work hard enough for that position.
If anything, the injury to Arsenal’s £42million may have been a good thing, because it’s made people realise we don’t have to really on the star names in a squad packed with depth.
Want more Arsenal news, views and updates just like this? Make sure you’re following us on Twitter and Facebook!