Are We Seeing the “Real Arsenal”?; Verma To Have Surgery

Theo van Nasregas celebrates with Eboue

With an emphatic win over West Ham and ManUtd drawing with the Spuds, it turned out to be a decent weekend for the Arsenal. We are 2 points off of ManUtd, who have a game in hand over us, and Man City, who have played a game more than us. The best part of it all is seeing our team play the wonderful football we know they are capable of producing. I think it has become pretty clear that our team plays at a different level when we have our first choice starters on the pitch. Jack and Song have developed an impressive partnership and the beast we call Theo van Nasregas is creating and scoring goals for fun. Theo has said that this is the “real Arsenal” we are seeing, and I’m inclined to agree. The return of Robin van Persie has been a big reason for our improved performances in the league. He doesn’t play as an out-and-out striker, but his movement and understanding with his teammates together with his great skill and finishing ability adds much more to our attack than a traditional striker could. The problem we have is, can we rotate and still play well and get the win? I think with the recent displays in our cup games, we can say that there is a glaring difference between our first and second choice players at the moment. I expect to see most of our starters rested for the Leeds game on Wednesday, so players like Bendtner, Vela, Denilson, and Rosicky have another chance at stepping their game up to show they can come up with the goods when needed.

On the injury news front, we seem to have some clarification regarding Thomas Vermaelen’s injury. Verma is saying now that he believes he suffered from two separate injuries and that he will be undergoing surgery to remove a tendon that is next to his Achilles. Apparently, this tendon has been causing the pain he has been experiencing and removing it will not be harmful as it is pretty useless anyway. He wants to be back for the first leg against Barcelona in the Champions League, but I think we’re all wary of return dates at this point. I would caution against any of us getting our hopes up. The most important thing is that Verma’s surgery goes well and that he makes a full recovery. In the meantime, we wait on Wenger to see if he makes a decision in buying another defender. I think with Squillaci temporarily injured and the Verminator out indefinitely we certainly need one. Rumours are still floating around about Cahill, Samba, and the rest, but nothing solid has emerged as of yet. There’s still time in the transfer window, but I suspect Wenger will wait until the last possible minute to make a move, if he indeed chooses to make one (which he may not). We just have to sit and wait now and hope that our defenders don’t pick up any more injuries. Good times.

We recently found out that our newest signing, Ryo Miyaichi, might be going on loan to a club in the Erdivisie for the rest of the season. At first I thought it was going to be Excelsior, but recent developments indicate he may be off to Feyenoord (though he could still go to Excelsior from there). Arsenal has entered into a partnership with the Dutch club that will see them take in some of our young players on loan. This is a wonderful new development that will be of great benefit to the young players we end up sending there. Dutch teams tend to play the same style of football that we like to play at Arsenal, and the Erdivisie is a good league to play in and gain some experience. You may also remember that a certain Robin van Persie was signed from Feyenoord, so we know our players will be in good hands.

We’ve got a lot of games coming up, though many of them will be home games so we will have a chance to give our home record the boost that it needs. Martin will be back tomorrow with a special preview of our FA Cup replay away to Leeds on Wednesday.

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Kanye West Tweet of the Day: Room service uuuuugh! I hate when I order fruit and I can taste the other food they cut with the same knife. Beef flavored pineapples

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Category: Arsenal News, Injury Report, Thomas Vermaelen