Bad team news as we approach the trickiest week of the season so far

I will warn you now, what you are about to read will contain a lot of injuries!

Arsene Wenger spoke this evening about the state of the squad returning and the following are out of the visit of Everton and the trek to Fener in midweek.

Definitely out: Gallas (Hamstring) Bendtner (Ankle) Sagna (Knee)
Rosicky & Eduardo (Long Term)

Possibly out: Van Persie (Hamstring) Fabregas (Broken nose) Djourou (Concussion)

Well that is a right royal pain in the arse! The plus side of all this is that despite the break Fabregas should be alright for the weekends game, Wenger saying;

"It should not stop him playing. He is here now [at the training ground] and is being assessed."

Diaby will also be back in the squad for the weekend. I have a feeling Wenger will be really careful this time in bringing him back, building his fitness up gradually, maybe a few reserve games will do him good.

There will be one thing for certain and that is that its going to be a brutal week for the squad, many players put out 90 minutes twice this week and i would not be surprised to see a little bit of squad rotation with a very hardworking performance needed in midweek.

It seems we are always hit hardest by the international breaks, that's 5 injuries this time. Its damn unlucky.

It also seems Armand Traore may move on next summer if he does not get a guarantee of regular football. I found this quote particularly interesting though. He has been playing on the left side of midfield a lot this season but this, just maybe hints at the fact he prefers to play at left back;

"Obviously I want to play every game now but Gael Clichy is a great player in my position there at the moment."

Another youngster, goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny has stated their desire for first team football, i can really see this becoming a regular occurrence, especially when Merida, Lansbury and Randall are wanting first team football. We have to face the fact that many of them will leave.

I'm not really that eager to go over topics other blogs have covered but Fabregas's comments the other day do have me worried a little, maybe he is starting to get a little frustrated. However, the most concerning part is this phrase;

"We find it very hard to win matches, as we do not possess enough experience."

Winning is very much a habit and we are very inconsistent at the moment, that is down to the inexperience i am sure. But the question is, do we stifle youngsters with a more experienced player?

The answer, yes or no, will have people disappointed.

Right thats your lot, thanks for reading and i will be back with more team news when its about.

Bad news about Rosicky

Thomas Rosicky has been out for a long long time now and reports earlier this summer have said that his operation was a success and he will be back before October, however, various stories similar to this are being run. And its not good news. The operation he has was on his hamstring, where it enters the knee area. I think it had become detached from other bits in the knee that it should have been, this type of injury also accounted for his brothers retirement from football. When he had that operation it was make or break really, he has suffered so many injuries like this throughout his Arsenal, and Dortmund career and i think that unless something changes soon he may well be forced to end his career early. These injuries wont just be physical blows for Thomas but they will affect him mentally as well, the excitement that he had about returning, all the gruelling rehabilitation, all to suffer another setback. I really really feel for him. He has been one of my favourite players for a long time, even before he came to the Gunners and i just hope I'm worrying too much and he will be back.

This is from an article written last year in which Rosicky's Czech Republic international team doctor talked about his injury problems;

Tomas has an imbalance of his muscle structure,"

"In my opinion, this plays a big role in his injuries. Some of his muscles work more and are more developed whereas others are not.

"The problem is in the coordination of muscles which Tomas uses. Muscles on the rear side of his thigh are enormously strained, it is a matter from his childhood."

That would make sense as all his injuries have been muscular, i do think there is something wrong in the medical room at Arsenal because the amount of injures we have is just abnormal for a top premier league club, we don't just have the odd year of injuries, we have them season after season after season, not just 1 or 2 injuries either, its the same old faces getting injured. It really doesn't help our charges for silverware. What do you think about Rosicky's injury woes? Have your say here.

Arsene Wenger has also spoken about the much publicised role of a Director of Football, a role that has caused upset at a few clubs recently, namely KK at the Barcodes.

Now, onto this weekends game, FINALLY!

Blackburn Vs Arsenal

With Vela and Nasri probably missing out we may well see Alex Song come into midfield and Denilson move out to the left, i expect Theo to start on the bench but there is a chance he could still start on the right if Nasri is out. We need to be at our very best i feel, Blackburn are not a bad side and they always make it difficult for us to win there. I think we will probably go to a 4-5-1 with Van Persie dropping into midfield when we are defending. Toure and Gallas will have to be on the top of their game against Santa Cruz if he is fit to play, another reason why Song might be in the side as he is a good player in the air. If we perform like we did against Newcastle i think we will win well, if we perform like we did after the last international break we will lose.

Prediction: Blackburn 1 (Roberts) Arsenal 2 (Fabregas, Adebayor)

Leave your predictions here!

Id also like to thank all you readers, this blog is heading towards 2000 views in just over 2 weeks so for all you guys returning every day, thanks for making this worthwhile!

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Til' Tomorrow, Take care.