Report: Rosicky Out 6 Weeks (UPDATE)

By: Martin | August 6th, 2009

Well, it is still an unconfirmed rumor at this point, but supposedly Rosicky aggravated his hamstring injury and will be out up to 6 weeks. I will update this post when this rumor is either dispelled or confirmed.

But if it’s true, it’s really troubling, because it signals that Rosicky’s injury is going to be a recurring injury, and that we’re probably not going to be able to rely upon him as a regular for this season. I think deep down most of us probably suspected that this was the case, but after his stellar performances in the friendlies, I must admit that I had allowed myself to start hoping that he’d be able to stay healthy this season.

UPDATE: Arsenal press office confirms that Rosicky is injured, but severity is still unknown.

FURTHER UPDATE: Confirmed by Wenger. Up to 6 weeks.

There was a rumor yesterday that Cesc was going to be sold to AC Milan, but it’s all b.s. so I won’t spend too much time with it. Wenger has never given any indication that Cesc is for sale, and Cesc has never given any indication he wants to leave. Furthermore, when the day comes for Cesc to leave, it will be back to his native Spain, not to Italy. With modern air travel from London, it’s probably quicker and easier for Cesc to get back home from London than it would be from Milan, where he’d have to learn a new language and settle into a new foreign culture. Just not going to happen.

Also, Champions League draw tomorrow. We could draw any of five teams: Celtic, Atletico Madrid, Anderlecht, Fiorentina and Timisoara. The Romanian club Timisoara would be great, and we’d have to be pretty happy with Belgian club Anderlecht or Celtic, too, although the latter would bring a lot of traveling fans to London. Having to play Atletico or Fiorentina just to qualify for the group stages would be pretty tough, so let’s all keep our fingers crossed we avoid that.

Finally, the day’s dumbest story award goes to Stuart Pearce not picking Jack Wilshere for the England Under 21s team. He probably belongs in the squad, but when I read these stories it always highlights my ambivalence towards internationals. On the one hand, I’m happy for the player, because I know every player wants to represent their country; but on the other hand, internationals are mainly just a chance for players to get tired and hurt while they’re not even playing for Arsenal, so I’m never too sad when they’re left out of the squad. If Wilshere keeps developing the way he’s developing, he’ll rack up quite a few caps before it’s all said and done.

Also, on an unrelated note, July was another great month for Arsenal Offside–we definitely got a lot more page views than we’ve gotten in any month since I started writing for the site, and got substantially more than we were getting even earlier this summer. I imagine some of it is readers interested in the transfer rumors, but I know both travis and I definitely appreciate your reading and especially all your comments in the comments section, and I hope you will all stay around and continue to read and comment during the season. It is wonderfully gratifying to have so many informed and engaged readers, so thanks.