Untold injury index – Gameweek 23 « Untold Arsenal: Arsenal News, supporting the club, the players and the manager

Untold Injury Index – Gameweek 23

By Dale Higginbottom

In and around the frenzy (ok, sort of mild frenzy) of the transfer window and FA Cup action there appears to be some league fixtures that almost have crept up on everyone.

After the weekend’s fantastic comeback in the FA Cup the hope was that the result against Villa would be the springboard to a run of good results and certainly with Sagna, Arteta, Henry, Coquelin and Vermaelen back in the squad, that goal looks a lot more realistic. So have injuries picked up? Let’s have a look.

A = Ankle	K = Knee
B = Back	L = Achilles
C = Calf	M = Muscle
D = Dead Leg	N = Hip
E = Hamstring	R = Rib
F = Fatigue/Lack of Fitness	S = Shoulder
G = Groin	T = Thigh
H = Head Injury/Concussion	U = Unknown
I = Illness	Y = Hand
J = Foot	Z = Broken Leg

Bolton Vs Arsenal (0-0)

Injuries	Bolton (6 + 0S)	Arsenal (5 + 0S)
Goalkeeper	N/A	N/A
Defence	Alonso (F), Mears (Z)	Gibbs (M,17), Jenkinson (B,13), Santos (A,9)
Midfield	Davis (K), Gardner (K), Holden (K), Lee (Z)	Wilshere (A,23), Diaby (M,21)
Attack	N/A	N/A
Additional issues	Jääskeläinen returned to the squad  and was an unused sub.	N/A
Suspended	N/A	N/A

Man Utd Vs Stoke (2-0)

Injuries	Man Utd (12 + 0S)	Stoke (1 + 0S)
Goalkeeper	De Gea (I,1), Lindegaard (A,1)	N/A
Defence	Vidic (K,16), Jones (A,3), De Laet (C,1)	N/A
Midfield	Cleverley (A,17), Fletcher (I,11), Young (A,8), Anderson (U,11), Nani (A,1)	N/A
Attack	Owen (T,17), Rooney (A,2)	Sidibe (K)
Additional issues	Ferdinand returned to the squad and played the whole game.	Etherington was a doubt but started the game on the bench and was an unused sub.
Suspended	N/A	N/A

Norwich Vs Chelsea (1-1)

Injuries	Swansea (2 + 0S)	Chelsea (4 + 0S)
Goalkeeper	N/A	N/A
Defence	Tate (Z)	Terry (K,1)
Midfield	Bodde (K)	Mikel (E,6), Lampard (C,1) Ramires (K,3)
Attack	N/A	N/A
Additional issues	N/A	N/A
Suspended	N/A	N/A

Wolves Vs Liverpool (0-3)

Injuries	Wolves (3 + 1S)	Liverpool (2 + 1S)
Goalkeeper	N/A	N/A
Defence	Craddock (E),  Zubar (K)	Robinson (A,15)
Midfield	O’Hara (M)	Lucas (K,10),
ttack	N/A	N/A
Additional issues	N/A	Spearing returned to the squad, started and played the whole game.
Suspended	Henry	Suarez

Tottenham Vs Wigan (3-1)

Injuries	Tottenham (4 + 0S)	Wigan (3 + 0S)
Goalkeeper	N/A	Kirkland (B)
Defence	Gallas (C,12)	Alcaraz (G)
Midfield	Huddlestone (A,20), Lennon (E,10)	Maloney (C)
Attack	Defoe (E,4)	N/A
Additional issues	Bale was a doubt with a thigh strain but started and played the whole game. Sandro was back in the squad and came on as a 75th min substitute, replacing Walker who had a knock. Van der Vaart picked up a calf injury and was replaced after 31 minutes.	Jones was a doubt but made the squad and was an unused sub.
Suspended	N/A	N/A

Everton Vs Man City (1-0)

Injuries	Everton (5 + 0S)	Man City (0 + 1S)
Goalkeeper	N/A	N/A
Defence	Coleman (T), Jagielka (K), Distin (E)	N/A
Midfield	Rodwell (E), Osman (K)	N/A
Attack	N/A	N/A
Additional issues	Barkley was a doubt but was in the squad and was an unused substitute.	N/A
Suspended	N/A	Balotelli

Right then, well things have certainly changed on the injury front. Arsenal are now competing at the level of Chelsea and Spurs at the 4/5 player injury level. Liverpool and Man City are still down at 2 and 0 injured players respectively but well out in front are Man Utd, with 12 players unavailable through injury. Ouch!

A point away to a rejuvenated Bolton side is not in itself an awful result, indeed it’s a point more than Liverpool got a couple of weeks ago. The manner of the result is what is the difficult bit to deal with and with fifteen games to the end of the season time is running out to make sure we take up one of those important four league places.  Sometimes I guess, it just doesn’t go your way and even with an improved injury list we don’t always get the result we need. We’re still well set for a good end to the season, at least on the injury-front and results will come.

Elsewhere, it was mixed fortunes for the Manchester clubs this week, in fact you couldn’t really have two more contrasting situations. First off, United recorded the worst injury week of any team this season and still managed a 2-0 victory, albeit from two penalties, at home against Stoke. Now, having not seen the penalties, I cannot say that United were given a helping hand in any way but it was very lucky for them to be helped at a very difficult time.

City on the other hand proved that, even with a full squad to choose from (excluding suspended and absent players) they don’t always get it their way. With no cup games to worry about (except Europa League) they really should be maximising their points with the squad they have. They really miss Yaya.

A win for the Totts sees them back in the hunt but with plenty of big games to come I doubt they will remain in that race and Liverpool’s victory over Wolves sees them sniffing around for Champions league football but given their form over the season, I wouldn’t be taking too much meaning from that.

Finally, Chelsea again stuttered along and picked up a point when they needed three. They are are having a pretty poor season for their standards and to again drop points against a promoted team, on the day they announce £70m annual loss, really shows how far they have fallen.

Our form really needs to pick up soon, we’re back down to the form that saw us at the foot of the table early in the season. With Blackburn up next, a result from early in the season we’d like to forget, what better way than with a comfortable three points and the start of a winning run. This weekend has two big games between four of the big six teams so maybe the media attention will be elsewhere and we can make up some points on the competition.