International Round-Up + Injury Update

By: Martin | February 8th, 2011

International friendlies! Meaningless spectacle! Corrupt international federations profiting! Needless injuries going into the most important part of the season!

Yep, it’s my favorite. It’s that time of year again. That time of year when, right in the middle of the tension and drama of the season, players have to leave their clubs to go play bullshit meaningless matches that no one gives a crap about so that the corrupt international federations can have plenty of money to bribe FIFA with, and players can get injured and impact the race for trophies. Good times. So let’s hold our noses and dive right in.

Arsenal have 13 first-team players on international duty this week. The action starts today as the England U21s take on the Italy U21s, and Henri Lansbury will be down there and likely playing in that one. Best of luck to him.

The senior matches will take place tomorrow. And it breaks down as follows:

– Jack Wilshere, Theo Walcott, and Nicklas Bendtner will be representing their countries in the England v. Denmark friendly tomorrow. I expect all three to play, and it will also be noteworthy because Capello has indicated that Jack will be deployed in the Makelele (or Hargreaves, from an English perspective) role, as basically a lone holding midfielder shielding the backline. Not sure he’s really cut out for that, to be honest. While he’s tough in maintaining possession and good passing from the back, he’s not great at dispossessing people (although he is good at getting to and winning loose balls), and his size prevents him from being too effective on set pieces and close situations. Will be interesting to see how he does.

– Bacary Sagna, Gael Clichy, Abou Diaby, and Laurent Koscielny have been called up for France’s friendly against Brazil. The big news here is that Koscielny earns his first senior call-up. Quite a journey from a guy who was in Ligue 2 two years ago. I think he very well may play and earn his first cap, too. Interesting to see if Sagna or Clichy play, as well. Whether or not Diaby plays is pretty irrelevant given his suspension.

– Tomas Rosicky is playing for Czech Republic against Croatia. He was so poor on Saturday that some (irresponsible, terrible) bloggers accused him of match-fixing. It doesn’t get much more insulting than that — so let’s hope he improves upon that form.

– Andrey Ashavin will probably captain and play for Russia against Iran, and President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad:

– Marouane Chamakh will play for Morocco against Niger. Given how little he’s played for us lately, that should do him some good.

– Emmanuel Eboue will play for Ivory Coast against Mali.

– Wojciech Szczesny has been called up for Poland’s friendly against Norway (to be played in Portugal). If he plays, it will be just his second cap, but I think he’ll be looking forward to this, because knowing how ambitious and confident he is, I think he’s got his eyes on Poland’s # 1 shirt for the 2012 European Championships (to be played in Poland and Ukraine).

I wish them all luck, but the most important thing is, obviously, that they stay healthy. Remember that a lot of times these injuries aren’t necessarily apparent until a couple of days later when they get back to London and get checked out (Vermaelen finished his international match just fine, his Achilles problem wasn’t discovered until returning to the club), so we won’t know for sure what the situation is until probably Friday. But with the injuries we have and the fixtures we have ahead of us, we can’t afford any more.

In injury news, there is a lot of confusion about Johan Djourou. Djourou’s Twitter account, which people seem to think is legit (although I don’t think it’s been verified) said that he was feeling good, which most took to be a pretty good sign. Then the Swiss FA apparently made, then retracted, a statement that Djourou would be out a month. Whereas sources from inside Arsenal were apparently saying that there is a chance he could play against Barcelona next week. So who knows.

Elsewhere, the news on Alex Song is apparently better. He is scheduled to return to training today, and hopefully that will be a good chance, with most of the fit first-team away on internationals, to get eased back into training so he regains sharpness (I’m not that worried about his fitness — remember, he only hurt himself last week) without reaggravating the injury so he can play against Wolves on Saturday. No word yet on Denilson, while Vermaelen is still 4 or 5 weeks away from a return.

Elsewhere, my boy Nicklas Bendtner will probably cause a stir with some recent comments. The gist of his comments, which I generally agree with and don’t find that controversial, is this: Football players are not overpaid, because they provide world-class entertainment and have to make certain sacrifices in their lives. The way he said it was as clumsy and poorly-executed as one of his finishes, though, because as an example of things he had to sacrifice, he said he can no longer go skiing, which is something he loves.

Now, I would bet that the media is going to portray this as “spoiled young footballer making a fortune complaining about not being able to go skiing? When he gets to play a game for a lucrative living? Let’s all look at what a spoiled brat he is.” In reality, though, if you actually read what he said, I don’t think it’s that bad. I know most people put footballers on blast for making so much money, and bemoan the fact that they make so much more than policemen, firemen, teachers, and other public servants. But the thing is — I, and many of you, could do those jobs, but none of us could play for Arsenal. To get to that level you have to be in the top hundredth of the top hundredth of the top hundredth of guys who like to play football, and it’s that scarcity that gets financially rewarded. Besides, there is so much money in the game at the institutional level, why shouldn’t the players get a substantial piece of the pie? So I agree with him in principle, but the way he said it was pretty dumb.

Finally, young goalkeeper James Shea has signed a long-term contract extension with the club. He’s apparently playing well for the Reserves this season, so it’s good news. It’s hard to say where he actually fits into the future of the club, since there are three other young, talented keepers in Wojo, Flaps, and Mannone. But it’s great that he’s committed his immediate future to the club. Hopefully he’ll continue to work hard and develop.

**************

Don’t forget to follow the Arsenal Offside on Twitter for the latest news, links, and updates

Kanye West Tweet of the Day: I just threw some kazoo on this bitch

Some Related Stories:

Category: Arsenal News, Injury Report, Internationals

« van Persie, Gibbs, Cesc Withdraw from Internationals; Still More “Dowd-Gate” Fallout | Home | Good Injury News on Djourou; Bendtner Calls Future in Doubt; Barcelona Give Up Pursuit of Cesc, Skeptical Question Mark? »

JG

Huge huge huge sigh of relief for Djourou. The thought of Squillaci and Kos pairing up against a front line of Pedro-Villa-Messi was terrifying.
Martin

UPDATE: Now the news is apparently that Szczesny collided with a defender and fell awkwardly, consulted with a physio, but then resumed training. So that's great news. Odds are that he's fine, then. But let's not forget that Flaps injured his shoulder before a match, and played the entire match, before physios determined the injury was much more serious than previously thought.
Homey_Mills

I think I'd rather have Djourou healthy, than Wojo, if I had to pick. I'd rather have Almunia with Djourou in front of him, than Wojo with Squillaci in front of him.
Anyway, really good news on Djourou, from what it appears.
Martin

Um, in less good injury news, apparently Polish television is reporting that Szczesny has injured his shoulder in pre-match training ahead of Poland's match tomorrow. This isn't confirmed, and no word as to diagnoses or severity. Will update as day goes on.
Gigi_man

Off subject, long shots.

I watched an ESPN "fuera de juego" program with Mario Kempes, they have a little award for goals of the week, "matador" goals as they call them. I was wondering why I never see any Arsenal ones there.

I answered myself that question. I came to the conclusion that the Matador goles are the ones from a certain distance, a shot that kills (mata) everything on its way, including the morals of the other team.

Then I remembered that very little we tempt our chance from a distance, we always want to get inside the area (at least we are kind of letting go the perfect angle obsession).

Then I remembered some of Cesc and Denilson goals, from those long shots. I mean when a defence is closed we have to have options.

Anyone thinks about this too?
Martin

BBC now apparently reporting that Djourou will be available against Wolves on Saturday, which would be fantastic. Who knows, but all reports are that this is not a major injury. (Huge sigh of relief)
Martin

Well, good news on Djourou, apparently. The Swiss FA have officially come out and said that Djourou suffered a bruised knee, but will be fit to return to training within a week. Normally I take whatever national team doctors say with a huge grain of salt, but for some inexplicable reason I think the Swiss are rather trustworthy in this regard. Hopefully they're right, as that would put him back in contention for the Barca match, but definitely back in the squad for the FA Cup match against Leyton Orient, the Stoke match, and the Carling Cup final.

Speaking of that, the Stoke match has officially been moved back a day, from Tuesday Feb. 22 to Wednesday Feb. 23. This is a good thing for us, since the Leyton Orient FA Cup match is on the afternoon of Sunday Feb. 20, and our next match is on Sun. Feb. 27 (the Carling Cup final). Having that kind of spacing will mean we can probably field a slightly stronger team against Leyton Orient, as they will have an extra day of rest before Stoke.
Wolffy

What about Nasri? His presence is badly missed.
Gigi_man

Man I am so nervous about Djorous lack of info, but at the same time, bad news travel fast and no news is god news, right?
It would be excellent to have a healthy squad for the next games, crucial even. But being realistic, if we are at least 11-men complete Id be happy (meaning a full HMF, a full attack and wingers, a full back line, and meaning the good performers).

I feel for TV5, he had so much Anakin-like-anger to be released in these games to come, but I still hope that his teammates dedicate to him the victories and welcome him to the final stage of the season, where he can release all that and give us a triumph.

So I am going to pray now that we have Joahn back, Song back, Nasri back (how long is he out ?), a full backline and a full in shape Chesny.

I know you will come with a preview on Wolves, so I will keep my comments until that moment, but one thing: If they beat Manu they will come out with a lust-for-humilliation against us, and the boost they have will be significant. We have to focus and forget about all that Newcastle / Dowd Days of our lives.
Doc Häagen-Dazs

This sums it up for me:

"International friendlies! Meaningless spectacle! Corrupt international federations profiting! Needless injuries going into the most important part of the season!

Yep, it’s my favorite. It’s that time of year again. That time of year when, right in the middle of the tension and drama of the season, players have to leave their clubs to go play bullshit meaningless matches that no one gives a crap about so that the corrupt international federations can have plenty of money to bribe FIFA with, and players can get injured and impact the race for trophies. "

What did Nasri in..... Whenever is he coming back?
John Murphy

I completely agree on your Bendtner stuff. The headline on ESPN was "Nicklas Bendtner: I'm worth every penny. Once again the media picks up on one line out of a quote, focuses on that one line, and then twists that one line to their own needs. Just about everything he said was totally true, and yet he will be blasted in the media and on Twitter because people won't read what he actually said.
Perry S.

But that one line he stated, and as Martin said, was absolutely a poor choice of words that stands out above all else. That is why he continuously gets no respect from people, because of how clumsy he is with his words and social life.
John Murphy

I don't disagree that he needs to choose his words better, but his interview was about two things:

1. Professional athletes have to give up parts of their life because of their choice to be professional athletes.

2. Professional athletes are paid a significant amount of money, and they deserve that money.

As to the first part, his statement that he had to give up skiing is relevant, and certainly should be talked about, both the good and bad of that statement.

I take issue with ESPN's article. Bendtner said "[a]s long as I work as hard as I can, I believe I am worth what is coming my way." They just take that phrase and twist it into Bendter saying, "I'm worth every penny," which is quite the inference from what he said.