Tuesday, April 26th, 2011 « Untold Arsenal: Arsenal News. Supporting the Lord Wenger; coach of the decade
Untold Injury Index – Gameweek 34
By Dale Higginbottom
Another weekend passes and another round of injury lists is here for all to see. We get another game closer to the end of the season and after the ups and downs of this season I think some of us are in need of a break, if only to give our hearts and minds a bit of a breather. Anyway, this week was Bolton away, a place of mixed success over previous seasons, but how did injuries impact on us this time around?
Bolton Vs Arsenal
Arsenal (4 injuries)
- Goalkeeper – Fabianski (13)
- Defence – Vermaelen (31)
- Midfield – Diaby (16)
- Attack – Bendtner (9)
Additional issues: No additional issues reported.
Tottenham Vs West Brom
Tottenham (5 injuries)
- Goalkeeper, attack – No injuries reported.
- Defence – King (27), Woodgate (7), Hutton (3), Corluka (4)
- Midfield – Palacios (6)
Additional issues: Bale was a doubt but started and played the whole game. Assou-Ekotto was replaced after just 7 minutes after picking up an injury.
Man Utd Vs Everton
Man Utd (4 injuries)
- Goalkeeper – Lindegaard (5)
- Defence – No Injuries reported.
- Midfield – Hargreaves (33), Fletcher (5)
- Attack – Berbatov (3)
Additional issues: Rafael and Ferdinand both returned to the squad after injuries. Ferdinand played the whole game whilst Rafael was an unused substitute.
Liverpool Vs Birmingham
Liverpool (6 injuries)
- Goalkeeper – No injuries reported
- Defence – Kelly (6), Agger (17), Johnson (7), Aurelio (11)
- Midfield – Gerrard (9)
- Attack – Carroll (5)
Additional issues: Carragher was a doubt after picking up concussion at the Emirates but he started and played the whole game.
Chelsea Vs West Ham
Chelsea (2 injuries)
- Goalkeeper, attack – No injuries reported
- Defence – Alex (22)
- Midfield – Ramires (5)
Additional issues: Cole was a doubt before the game but startee and played the full 90 minutes. Essien was replaced after 56 minutes after picking up an injury.
Blackburn Vs Man City
Man City (5 injuries)
- Goalkeeper – Given (6)
- Defence – Boateng (9), Richards (10)
- Midfield – M Johnson (29)
- Attack – Tevez (3)
Additional issues: Hart was a doubt after picking up a knock in training but started and played the whole game.
Well, it’s all fairly even on the injury front. Funnily enough it’s Liverpool who top the injury table yet they are the team to win most comfortably at the weekend and this considering they have had one of the weakest squads all season. No club is really struggling with injuries at the moment and I think we’re unlikely to see anyone get close to double-figures like we have at some points this season.
We again recorded quite a low number when comparing our usual list for the season. We’re definitely benefiting from the lack of games from other competitions, on the injury front at least, but what we might not be benefiting from however, is the opportunity to ignore previous games and focus on another competition and maybe that’s where we’ve become a little bit stuck and lost a little bit of that confidence to go out and win games.
United and Chelsea both notched up home wins and look set to battle it out for the title should Chelsea win at Old Trafford. Their form is really good at the moment and the lack of Champions League games now could give them the edge.
Man City recorded five injuries this week, fairly high for them this season, and even without Tevez they managed to get an important away win. Now in the driving seat for fourth place and given that their injury levels are manageable they could well have reached their target by the end of the season. One interesting thing will be to see how many players get injured before the cup final. The injury risk by not being fully committed in games can be quite high, as we saw against Stoke, ahead of the Barcelona game.
For the Tiny Totts, Champions League may now be a step too far for them. The draw with us on Wednesday helped in-part to that but it was also great to see Carlos Vela playing his part in making it even more likely that the Tinies’ European jaunt with the big boys is a one-season affair.
Now that the title is all but mathematically out of reach the players really must pick themselves up and focus on the final four games. A top three finish is by no means certain and we still have second place up for grabs. We also can’t forget that there is a lot of pride to play for next Sunday when we need to show, with a win against United, that had our luck with injuries, chances on goal or refereeing decisions been just slightly more in our favour, we could’ve been the ones lifting the trophy in May.
Let’s look forward to this game as a stand-alone one and hope to be celebrating St Totteringham’s Day as soon as possible.
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