Injuries never come at a good time, but between this one and the one to Wilshere, the difficult stretch of fixtures that include trips to White Hart Lane and Stamford Bridge, a visit from Man City, and then a trip to Goodison Park, looks almost impossible to get through. Even before the loss to Stoke, it looked like we would need to take maximum points from this stretch. Now, without Wilshere or Özil, it looks very much like our path to the top of the Prem may have reached a dead-end, unless the return of Ramsey and the debut of Källström can make up for the set-backs.
Like the red-card to Szczesny in the first leg against Bayern, we may be left asking ourselves, “what if…” What if we had been closer to full-strength on Tuesday against them? What if we had been closer to full-strength, never mind at full strength, going into the final run-in? We’ve known for a long time that we’re thinner than Chelsea or City and are therefore least-equipped to weather a storm of injuries, yet here we are. If there’s a silver lining, it’s in knowing that we’ve kept it together as well as we have in spite of the injuries and the seemingly innumerable player-games lost. Still, there’s some fight left us in still. Each time a player has gone down, someone else has found a way to step up. Rather than lament the loss of Özil, the Pangloss in me looks to the chance it gives to Ox or Gnabry to seize a chance. That doesn’t feel like reckless optimism; it feels like enough to keep us in the thick of the Prem title-chase and more than enough to fight for the FA Cup.
Sad about the injury to Ozil,especially at a point when he is rearing to go.Wishing him speedy recovery!No matter how bad it always seem for Arsenal,grace has a way of taking care of things for us.And by the grace of God,it will all turn out well for Arsenal!
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