It was announced on Monday evening that the man on every fan’s lips, will be out for at least six months after he ruptured the anterior cruciate ligament of his left knee in Saturday’s FA Cup victory against Tottenham. This news has seemed to come at the worst possible time, with the winger netting five goals and attaining 6 assists already this season. Most notably, his second in the defeat against Manchester City, a goal truly worthy of the number on his back.
However, although Theo’s injury is an obvious blow for the club, who are desperate to cling on to their spot at the top of the table, his absence could prove to be not as disastrous as once thought.
Firstly, it frees up a space in the squads starting 11, which allows 20 year old Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain the chance to finally make his shout for a starting place in Wenger’s title challenging team, on his return from a lengthy absence, due an injury suffered early on in the season. This would not only be important to Arsenal’s campaign, but also give him an opportunity to develop and strengthen his abilities, giving him a boost to make the shortlist for Roy Hodgson’s 23-man World Cup squad.
And its not only ‘the ox’ who will benefit from an opening on the wing for Arsenal, but it will lend an opportunity for German youngster Serge Gnabry, who impressed in his first North London Derby on Saturday, creating Santi Cazorla’s 32nd minute goal, and causing the Tottenham defence all sorts of problems. Additionally, having both Oxlade-Chamberlain and Gnabry highly in contention with one another, they should naturally improve as competition for starting places isn’t a luxury Arsene Wenger has always had at the Emirates.
But it’s not just opportunities for developing young players that can come of Theo’s injury, because he is not the only forward added to the medical teams workload in recent. Olivier Giroud, the man who Arsenal have relied to get them thus far has suffered an ankle injury, and hasn’t featured in the squad in the last few games. The unexpected hero arose in Arsenal’s home game with Cardiff City, as Nicklas Bendtner came of the bench to break the deadlock late into the second half, and it’s fair to say that he changed the game. However, celebrations were short lived, as immediately after he too suffered an ankle injury which Wenger has revealed will see him out for a month.
I’m sure you may wonder where I’m going with this. Well, earlier in the season Arsene Wenger made reference to the clubs ‘lack of depth’ in the striker role, hinting at the potential for calling in reinforcements to be brought in during the infamous January transfer window. Additionally, talking prior to the FA cup match against Tottenham on January 3rd, Wenger admitted that he was in the hunt of a “quality striker”. Now Arsenal fans will know that transfer windows tend to be rather stressful, particularly given Wenger’s track record for buying (or rather, not buying) players. But in the last two seasons, Arsene Wenger has brought in quality of the highest mark, with the likes of Santi Cazorla, Olivier Giroud, Lukas Podolski, Nacho Monreal and of course Mesut Ozil (how could one forget?).
So with Arsenal’s lack of reinforcements in the striker role, Fan’s can be hopeful that Arsene Wenger and his team of scouts will be on the look out for a striker of top quality, which will have been pushed to a level of urgency by the injuries attained by the likes of Giroud and Walcott.
So Arsenal fans, players and everyone involved in and around the club will look forward to the day Theo returns, but its safe to say, before that day comes, they have a lot to be excited about.
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Words by Sebastien Gardner
Picture by Ronnie MacDonald