Arsenal Injured Again, Again

It starts with:

“For Thomas Vermaelen the season is over,” confirmed Arsène Wenger at his pre-match press conference.

And goes on from there.

“Johan Djourou is out for at least six weeks,” he said. “There’s a little chance [he will play again this season], he has an arthroscopy on Monday and we will know more about the damage in his shoulder. We hope we will have good news but no matter what happens he will be out for six weeks.”

Nicklas Bendtner could be back in the squad after missing the FA Cup tie at Old Trafford through illness. But Wenger will also be without Alex Song (knee), Abou Diaby (groin), Wojciech Szczesny (finger), Lukasz Fabianski (shoulder), Cesc Fabregas (hamstring) and Theo Walcott (ankle) at the Hawthorns.

“Cesc Fabregas is out for the game on Saturday,” said Wenger. “He should be back after the international break, maybe, he has a chance, but he is not available for the weekend. Walcott is not available for the weekend and he has no chance [for the international break]. He is not available for England.”

Belgium's Golden Generation?

Courtesy the Royal Belgian Football Association

At the same time I was contemplating the lack of a Brazilian super-duper-star at the peak of his powers, another thought related to a national team occurred to me.  It felt like I'd been hearing about a lot of Belgians either being very good players or being seriously high-end prospects.  For a country of just over 10 million people that is currently ranked 57th in the FIFA rankings you are left to wonder if they'll be the surprise package of Euro 2012 or WC2014.  What has me jumping on the bandwagon before Euro qualification has kicked into gear? Here's a quick look.

Great Spine
You often hear that you can't have a great team unless you are solid through the middle.  So how do the Belgians stack up down the middle? Let's take a look:

Fabregas and Vermaelen not Back Until Chelsea Match

Diaby on course for West Brom comeback | News Archive | News | Arsenal.com

Abou Diaby is hoping to return for the home game with West Brom on Saturday.

The midfielder has been out since injuring his ankle against Bolton a fortnight ago and will have a fitness test on Friday.

Tomas Rosicky (ankle) and Emmanuel Eboue (knee) also face examinations. Meanwhile Alex Song is back from suspension and Sebastien Squillaci (muscle) should return after being rested in midweek.

Apart from that Arsenal’s injury list is well known however, speaking on Thursday, Arsène Wenger did have greater clarity on the timescales involved. Cesc Fabregas (hamstring) is out for the next two games but has a chance of returning for the encounter at Stamford Bridge next Sunday. Thomas Vermaelen (Achilles) is on a similar schedule.

Kieran Gibbs (foot) is almost certainly out this Saturday but any absence will be thankfully short. After limping out of the midweek victory at Tottenham, there were fears he had broken a metatarsal.

“The only player who could come back is Diaby,” said Wenger. “He will have a test on Friday morning and we will see from there.

Gunners suffer Vermaelen blow

Arsenal have suffered a blow with the news that key defender Thomas Vermaelen has been ruled out for at least two weeks.

The Belgium international suffered a calf strain in the 2-1 defeat to Tottenham at White Hare Lane, a loss which dealt a hammer blow to Arsenal's title hopes.

The 24-year-old lasted just 19 minutes of the clash before having to hobble off and now faces a period on the sidelines.

Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger told the club's official website: "Certainly it is a calf strain. (He will be out for) two to three weeks."

It's all unraveling a bit for the Arsenal. Their title hopes are on a thread and now they lose the one player they could probably least afford to lose. Did you see Silvestre trying to mark Bale last night? Bale had the freedom of the penalty area and Silvestre was only receded rather than being able to close him down.

On top of that, their schedule stiffens a bit. Yes, Wigan are lousy but they can put in a shift at home. Just ask Liverpool. Then Manchester City who still have fourth to play for, not to mention K2 (and possibly Viera?) carrying a grudge. Then at Rovers who are strong on their pitch (just ask ManUtd and Chelsea) and then a local derby against Fulham, who granted may not have ANYTHING to play for in that match. But then again, nor may Arsenal by then.

Vermaelen has been on many a fantasy team from week one (or week two as @EVE didn't look a good bet at the time). And he's been a great choice. For 6 you could just leave him there and forget him - until he popped up with another goal. But now it's time to ship him out. Another Villa defender perhaps?

Vermaelen Suffers Suspected Broken Leg

UPDATE:

Arsenal defender Thomas Vermaelen did not suffer a broken leg during the Gunners' goalless draw at Aston Villa in the Premier League.

The 24-year-old, who has made a huge impact at the Emirates after his move from Ajax last year, limped off after 35 minutes.
But the Belgium international still may miss Arsenal's Premier League clash with Manchester United on Sunday.

"There is no fracture in Thomas' leg but his injury still has to be assessed. There is still a good chance he will not play on Sunday," Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger said.

 ---

Arsenal defender Thomas Vermaelen suffered a suspected broken leg during the goalless draw at Aston Villa in the Premier League on Wednesday.

The 24-year-old Belgiium international, who has made a huge impact at the Emirates after his move from Ajax Amsterdam last year, limped off after 35 minutes.

"His leg is numb, it might be a nerve, or it might be a fracture of the fibula, we hope not, but we will check it in the morning," Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger told Sky Sports.

Vermaelen completes Arsenal deal

Ajax defender Thomas Vermaelen has completed his move to Arsenal.

The Belgium international has joined the Gunners on a long-term contract for an undisclosed fee.

Let's check Neal's shopping list:

• tall center back
• ball-winning middie
• center forward (if K2 leaves)

One down, two to go. He's not Sagna two years ago or Bosingwa last season - a starting, attacking fullback on a top side - but he could very well be +10 material.

Update (and warning, this devolves into a lot of rambling Arsenal-related speculation):

[10:28] Neal J Thurman: guess the question is whether verm is "tall"
[10:28] Neal J Thurman: rumor has him at about 5'11" or 6'
[10:28] JSpitzberg: ha
[10:29] Neal J Thurman: not exactly giant
[10:39] JSpitzberg: 1.8 meters
[10:39] Neal J Thurman: which is about 6' right?
[10:39] JSpitzberg: 1.8 meters = 5.90551181 feet
[10:39] Neal J Thurman: = Gallas or Toure
[10:39] JSpitzberg: shit... i'm taller than he is
[10:40] Neal J Thurman: like I said - not exactly Haageland
[10:40] Neal J Thurman: or whatever his name is
[10:40] JSpitzberg: back to the drawing board
[10:40] Neal J Thurman: my guess is that one of Gallas/Toure will be on his way and there is still another CB on the way in (Bassong or Haag)
[10:41] JSpitzberg: or both out?
[10:41] JSpitzberg: gallas inj & old
[10:41] JSpitzberg: toure aging and to be sold?
[10:41] Neal J Thurman: or the plan is to move Song to CB fulltime with the Verm
[10:42] JSpitzberg: at this point don't you need song in midfield?
[10:42] Neal J Thurman: yup
[10:42] JSpitzberg: then all you need is a striker
[10:42] JSpitzberg: (if k2 leaves)
[10:43] Neal J Thurman: unless you're ready to promote Bendtner and partner him with Arsh/RvP/EdS or play mix and match with those four for the season
[10:43] JSpitzberg: 9 goals in limited time
[10:43] Neal J Thurman: not like Wenger has a Redknapp-like history of forcing the Big-Small thing up top
[10:44] JSpitzberg: or if he wants Cesc to push into the "hole"
[10:44] JSpitzberg: nasri/cesc/arsh behind a big?
[10:44] Neal J Thurman: could be
[10:45] JSpitzberg: 3 from nasri/cesc/arsh/rvp
[10:45] JSpitzberg: denilson/song behind them
[10:45] Neal J Thurman: regardless, he seems to be flexible based on personnel as opposed to having to fit players to a specific system
[10:46] JSpitzberg: i always thought he was very wedded to the 4-4-2
[10:46] JSpitzberg: only just this season he experimented w/ the 4-5-1
[10:46] JSpitzberg: or 4-4-1-1
[10:47] Neal J Thurman: I suppose it has always (until recently) been a notional 4-4-2 but how that manifests itself has changed greatly over the years
[10:47] JSpitzberg: diaby/denilson not exactly viera/petit
[10:47] Neal J Thurman: Henry/Bergy were positioned much differently than K2/RvP
[10:48] JSpitzberg: is that b/c wenger wants them different
[10:48] JSpitzberg: or they're just inferior players trying to match that system?
[10:48] Neal J Thurman: Cesc not the box-to-box guy that Vieira was - he doesn't come back nearly as far and pushes up further than Vieira did
[10:49] JSpitzberg: i miss freddy cutting infield and getting on to a bergy (who had drifted out and back) pass to slam home a goal
[10:49] JSpitzberg: he was still making those runs on wednesday...
[10:49] JSpitzberg: but more often than not he didn't get the ball
[10:49] Neal J Thurman: alas, no Bergy
[10:49] Neal J Thurman: ditto Henry/Pires interchanges
[10:50] Neal J Thurman: that seems to be the current issue at Arsenal, it's really one big ecosystem that has to work together (aside from the occasional individual effort) - the Invincibles team had at least those two distinct ecosystems plus a lot of individuals who could do it on their own
[10:51] Neal J Thurman: if someone took away Bergy-to-Freddie that opened up TH14-to-Pires on the opposite diagonal - teams had to pick their poison
[10:52] JSpitzberg: i guess that's why arsh is/was so important
[10:52] JSpitzberg: as the opposition would focus on Cesc
[10:52] Neal J Thurman: yeah - Cesc-to-K2 seems to be one potential eco-system; the question remains as to whether some combo of Arsh/RvP/Theo/Nasri can create another one

[10:53] Neal J Thurman: certainly Cesc, RvP, and Arsh are good enough to occasionally produce some individual brilliance and K2 was that guy two seasons ago but not so much last year
[10:54] JSpitzberg: not at all
[10:54] JSpitzberg: he wasn't the K2.6 of "old"
[10:54] Neal J Thurman: no
[10:57] Neal J Thurman: I suppose a lot will depend on how Theo and Nasri continue to adapt/g