Holding Our Breath on Injury News; Rocastle Remembered

A couple of things today:

The main thing is that we are holding our breath on injuries today. Robin van Persie picked up a thigh injury during his last international match, Nicklas Bendtner picked up an ankle knock, and Kieran Gibbs had to return early from international duty with a groin issue. We’ll learn whether any of them will be fit today or tomorrow. And then there’s the bevy of players who have been out injured but who may return — Cesc, Theo, Diaby, and Song could all potentially return to the squad for Saturday’s game, and adding those guys would be massive, you’d have to say. But we don’t have any information yet, we’ll have to wait and see what the physios determine. (UPDATE: According to what Wenger told Arsenal TV Online, Cesc, Theo, Diaby, and Song will be available, although he has not determined whether or not they will start. van Persie will face a late fitness test, but Wenger believes he will be fit, and says that Bendtner is in the same situation.)

On-loan defender Kyle Bartley has suffered a ligament tear in his knee and is out for the season — by all accounts he has played quite well at Rangers, and looks to be in line for a first-team call for Arsenal in August if he fully recovers.

Elsewhere, Jack Wilshere has come out and stated in no uncertain terms that he’s not tired and wants to play in the U21 Euro Championships this summer. He certainly hasn’t looked tired, and doesn’t seem injury-prone, but that could all change in an instant, and I’m very, very wary over what we saw with Theo Walcott a few years ago when he was called up to the U21 team over the summer — he was consistently hurt and never got back on track the following season. And for someone who seems firmly entrenched in the national team set-up now, I just don’t really understand it. But it seems almost certain that he will get called up and spend the summer playing in that tournament, and there doesn’t seem to be too much we can do about it other than wish him well and hope he doesn’t get hurt or too exhausted.

Finally, today marks the 10-year anniversary of the death of David “Rocky” Rocastle from non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma at the age of 33. Rocastle played for Arsenal from 1984 to 1992, was an instrumental part of the league-winning sides of 1989 and 1991, and was one of the best midfielders in the land. He went on to play for Leeds, Manchester City, and Chelsea as well.

Partly because of his skill and propensity for scoring in big games against the best opposition, and partly because of his personality, he was a massive fan favorite amongst Gooners, and will always be fondly remembered. I thought about writing some sort of tribute, but honestly, since it all happened well before my time supporting Arsenal, anything I had to say would be irrelevant and would feel false somehow. So I’ll just direct you to some excellent tributes by some long-time Gooners here, here, here, and here. And as someone who is 30 and creeping up on 31, I can tell you how scary, tragic, and almost inconceivable it is that someone could die of something like lymphoma at 33. RIP, Rocky. The official site has a rememberance, an information profile, and a photo gallery if you are interested.

Back tomorrow with a preview of the Blackburn match. Until then.

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Category: Arsenal News, Injury Report