Friday, May 27th, 2011 « Untold Arsenal: Arsenal News. Supporting the Lord Wenger; coach of the decade
Untold Injury Index – Gameweek 38
By Dale Higginbottom
So, here we are, the end of the 2010/2011 season and the end of the weekly round-ups of the crocked players of the top-six Premier League teams. It’s been an up and down season to say the least and we can safely say that injuries have, at some points of the season, had their role in that. As Arsenal fans, we’re used to having injuries impact recent seasons however this season (without giving the final totals away) the impact feels reduced. Whether that is due to a stronger, deeper squad or the fact that we have been lucky with fewer injuries to key players, I’m not sure but I suspect the former.
Anyway, without further ado, here’s the final list of the season.
Fulham Vs Arsenal
Arsenal (5 injuries)
- Goalkeeper – Fabianski (17)
- Defence – Clichy (3) Koscielny (4)
- Midfield – Fabregas (12), Rosicky (4)
- Attack – No injuries reported
Additional issues: Nasri and Djourou both returned to the squad, playing the whole game. Diaby also returned and played the first 65 minutes.
Man Utd Vs Blackpool
Man Utd (2 injuries)
- Goalkeeper, attack – No Injuries reported.
- Defence – O’Shea (9)
- Midfield – Hargreaves (37)
Additional issues: Lindegaard returned to the united squad on the bench but played no part. Rafael was a doubt before the game but started, he was replaced at half-time.
Everton Vs Chelsea
Chelsea (4 injuries)
- Goalkeeper, attack – No injuries reported
- Defence – Bosingwa (14)
- Midfield – Benayoun (26), Ramires (6)
- Attack – Drogba (2)
Additional issues: Zhirkov and Bertrand returned to the squad after injury, they were both unused substitutes.
Bolton Vs Man City
Man City (3 injuries)
- Goalkeeper, attack – No injuries reported
- Defence – Boateng (14), Richards (13)
- Midfield – M Johnson (34)
Additional issues: Silva and Zabaleta were doubts but started and played most of the game. Balotelli also returned to the squad but was an unused substitute.
Aston Villa Vs Liverpool
Liverpool (7 injuries)
- Goalkeeper – No injuries reported
- Defence – Kelly (10), Agger (21), Johnson (8)
- Midfield – Gerrard (13), Jovanovic (8), Maxi (1)
- Attack – Carroll (7)
Additional issues: Aurelio and Meireles returned to the squad and played the whole game. Spearing picked up an injury after just 12 minutes and couldn’t continue.
Tottenham Vs Birmingham
Tottenham (6 injuries)
- Goalkeeper, attack – No injuries reported
- Defence – Gallas (9), Woodgate (12), Hutton (8),
- Midfield – Bale (8), Van der Vaart (7), Pienaar (3)
Additional issues: Gomes, Assou-Ekotto, Corluka, Jenas and Palacios returned to the squad but were unused substitutes. Huddlestone also returned from injury, he started and played most of the game. Rose was a doubt but he started and played the whole game. Crouch was replaced after 39 minutes with a head injury.
So, Liverpool lead the way this week and probably as a result of their injuries over the last two games, missed out on Europa League football. Whether you would class that as a “miss” I’m not entirely sure but that meant that the Tiny Totts were back in the tiny European competition. I expect Liverpool to finish above Spurs next season.
We had a group of key players injured and a draw was not the best result to end the season on but, there’s time for players to reflect, recoup and re-energise and the lack of an International competition will hopefully mean that we’ll start the season with few or maybe no players missing through injury.
Ok, we missed out on third so that’s one place below last season and it’s obviously disappointing but I think some of our performances this season have shown we’re very nearly there. Thankfully we’ll be seeded in the Champions League preliminaries so we should miss the big teams like Bayern Munich but the extra two games will not be welcome early next season.
United rounded off their season with a win against Blackpool, recording just 2 injuries. Chelsea’s season just simply ended at Old Trafford, matching our points tally for the last three games, despite reporting very few injuries. Their new manager will have a job on to get this bunch of aging, overpaid players working as a team again. Could Chelsea drop out of the top-four next season? I wouldn’t be surprised.
Finally City, who put together a good run in the last few games to overtake us for third. It will be interesting to see how they cope with the rigors of Champions League football next season. Their injury levels have been kind to them this season and even with a few big buys in the summer, still might not have a squad deep enough to fight for two big competitions and two domestic cups.
So what of the season as a whole and how did the injury levels hurt our title bid? I want to do a full analysis in the coming weeks but for now, here is a week-by-week roundup of Arsenal’s injuries this season
| Gameweek | Opponents | Number of Injuries | Result |
| 1 | Liverpool (A) | 5 | D |
| 2 | Blackpool (H) | 5 | W |
| 3 | Blackburn (A) | 4 | W |
| 4 | Bolton (H) | 6 | W |
| 5 | Sunderland (A) | 7 | D |
| 6 | West Brom (H) | 8 | L |
| 7 | Chelsea (A) | 9 | L |
| 8 | Birmingham (H) | 8 | W |
| 9 | Man City (A) | 6 | W |
| 10 | West Ham (H) | 7 | W |
| 11 | Newcastle (H) | 7 | L |
| 12 | Wolves (A) | 6 | W |
| 13 | Everton (A) | 6 | W |
| 14 | Tottenham (H) | 5 | L |
| 15 | Aston Villa (A) | 6 | W |
| 16 | Fulham (H) | 5 | W |
| 17 | Man Utd (A) | 5 | L |
| 18* | Stoke (H) | 5 | W |
| 19 | Chelsea (H) | 4 | W |
| 20 | Wigan (A) | 3 | D |
| 21 | Birmingham (A) | 5 | W |
| 22 | Man City (H) | 5 | D |
| 23 | West Ham (A) | 6 | W |
| 24 | Wigan (H) | 6 | W |
| 25 | Everton (H) | 5 | W |
| 26 | Newcastle (A) | 6 | D |
| 27 | Wolves (H) | 5 | W |
| 28* | Tottenham (A) | 2 | D |
| 29 | Sunderland (H) | 7 | D |
| 30 | West Brom (A) | 9 | D |
| 31 | Blackburn (H) | 8 | D |
| 32 | Blackpool (A) | 8 | W |
| 33 | Liverpool (H) | 6 | D |
| 34 | Bolton (A) | 4 | L |
| 35 | Man Utd (H) | 4 | W |
| 36 | Stoke (A) | 5 | L |
| 37 | Aston Villa (H) | 8 | L |
| 38 | Fulham (A) | 5 | D |
| TOTAL | 221 | ||
| * Game played out of sequence due to weather/cup game |
What can we say about the above figures? Well a total of 221 does seem quite high. Yes, some of the time we’ve been without fringe players such as Frimpong or non-regulars like Gibbs and Almunia that are reflected in the total but, missing players like this does still impact the squad and affect the manager’s ability to make changes (a weighted total based on player importance is also planned for a future report).
The overall average was 5.8 injuries per game and in most weeks this has included definitely one, but usually at least two, first eleven players.
One interesting thing about the figures is that we never dropped points at home with fewer than five injuries. You can even say we didn’t drop points at home to any team outside the top six unless the injury level was seven or higher. Also, our wins at home against the United and Chelsea both came when we had just four players out. That doesn’t mean to say that we might not have achieved those results with more players out but It could suggest that against the very best teams, you need a bit of luck which we obviously didn’t get when playing Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.
Away from home the results have been a bit mixed so I’ve not drawn any key conclusions as yet but maybe we’ll see something when we dig into the impact of key players being unavailable and the magnitude of the defeat. For now I open it up to the comments section, what are your thoughts on the injuries this season?
Half the penalties in Arsenal games were wrongly given this season!