Since the beginning of the season Arsenal have been beset with injuries to a variety of their players. Sadly, this run of bad luck appears set to continue into 2015. This week it was announced that both Mikel Arteta and Mathieu Debuchy will be out of play for three months. This is due to them both having recently undergone surgery for ankle and shoulders injuries, respectively.
Debuchy transferred from Newcastle, in a deal worth £12 million, at the beginning of the 2014/2015 season but twin injuries has seen him play only 14 times for Arsenal. Sadly, the French defender had only just returned to competing, having been out with an ankle injury for three months, when he dislocated his shoulder during Arsenal’s win over Stoke. The sheer back luck that has plagued Debuchy’s Arsenal career even had the normally unflappable Arsene Wenger spluttering in disbelief. The longstanding Arsenal boss stated: “It’s unbelievable, because he’s had two surgeries in the same season. He just came back, he played seven games and he’s out again.”
Unfortunately, barely had Arsenal’s fans absorbed this latest knock-back, it was then revealed that midfielder Arteta would be joining Debuchy on the injury bench after having a bone spur removed from his left ankle. The recovery from the injury, which has been said to have been severely bothering the 32-year-old for months, has been estimated at three months. That means both Arteta and Debuchy will be out for a similar length of time.
However, unlike Debuchy’s sudden injury, Arteta’s absence was planned in advance to an extent. Since joining the club in 2011 on a four-year £10 million deal from Everton Arteta has enjoyed a successful career at Arsenal with 16 goals in more than 100 appearances. The aforementioned bone spur had severely limited the Spaniard’s mobility in recent months, leading boss Wenger to make the decision to allow Arteta to have surgery to improve his long-term prospects with the club. Wenger explained to the media that ‘we [Arsenal] had to make the decision to have surgery and it’s a proper solution which gives him the best chance to recover.”
Whist Arteta’s injury will be a frustration for the Spaniard, who has famously never played at senior international level, Debuchy’s injury will be an even greater personal disappointment. France are looking ahead to hosting Euro 2016, for which Les Bleus are currently second favourites (4/1) with Bet365 in the international betting. A stop-start period of his career will therefore be the last thing the full-back wants at this time as he will be desperate to help France seek success in a year-and-a-half.
At club level, though, Wenger has proved adaptive in recent months during the team’s injury epidemic and has successfully utilised young and upcoming players within interesting combinations to keep Arsenal afloat However, with Arteta and Debuchy joining Danny Welbeck, Kieran Gibbs, Jack Wilshere, Abou Diaby and Serge Gnabry on the injury bench, it is questionable how much longer Wenger can consistently cover up the holes appearing within his squad.
Indeed, Arsenal’s performances have become gradually more erratic as their team’s injuries have compiled. Moreover, the reported recruiting of promising-but-inexperienced Legia Warsaw midfielder Krystian Bielik, 17, is unlikely to put many fans’ minds at rest.
