Morning all, welcome to a brand new week after what has been a pretty good weekend overall for us.
We won, while those around us, bar Leicester, dropped points. Man City and Liverpool lost, Man Utd drew (of course), as did Sp*rs. And to make matters even more amusing, Chelsea lost to Bournemouth at Stamford Bridge, a result which may have little effect on what’s happening at the top of the table, but which isn’t any less hilarious for that.
It really is an odd season in the Premier League. Perhaps there’s a lack of consistency from the so-called ‘top’ teams, but it feels harder and harder to escape the conclusion that the increased money available to clubs has become something of an equaliser in terms of the overall level. It’s more true than ever that anyone can beat anyone, and when you look at how Stoke, for example, took Man City apart on Saturday it’s evidence that every game is going to be a big challenge.
We obviously have our own issues with Stoke, and as long as they have Charlie Adam on their books they’ll find it hard to shed their oafish reputation, but watching Xherdan Shaqiri, Affelay, and Bojan on Saturday is a long, long way from Rory Delap flinging missiles 50 yards for a gigantic striker to cause penalty box mayhem. They were good value for their win, no question about it.
Is it good for the Premier League? Sure. It certainly makes things interesting when teams that spend £150m in the summer can lose and then complain that their squad isn’t big enough. Does it make it any less frustrating when we drop points to teams we feel we should be beating? Not at all, but if there’s a general levelling throughout the season then the effects of those games aren’t so damaging – witness our league position as evidence of that. It’s undoubtedly the most open title race in years, and we’re in it, so I guess that’s a good thing, even if everything in the garden isn’t quite as rosy as we might like.
The big news to emerge from the weekend, aside from our win over Sunderland, is that Santi Cazorla has undergone surgery to repair a rupture to his knee ligaments. Speaking after the game on Saturday, Arsene Wenger revealed the operation had already taken place:
The surgery has now happened. Santi wanted to have a chance to come back quickly so he didn’t want to last too long for 25 opinions. He decided to go straight away.
The guy said, ‘Look, it’s a clear case – it’s a rupture of the external knee ligament.’ And he said, ‘Okay, let’s do it straight away.’
And it doesn’t change the time-frame given last week of three to four months:
It’s not the season. It is at least three months, maybe four.
Obviously you’d rather avoid surgery if at all possible, but the fact that the decision was taken quickly means the recuperation can start as soon as possible. Fingers crossed it all goes as well as possible, and that he can work his way back to make a contribution to this season on his return. The effects of a lengthy lay-off with regards to form, fitness, match-sharpness and everything else are another consideration, but those are bridges to be crossed a little further down the line.
The manager also confirmed the news that we brought you last week that Alexis Sanchez has been given some time off in Chile to help him recover from his hamstring injury. A little bit of time on home soil will act as a kind of part-rehab, part mid-season break:
He’s used to working there with the national team physio. I think it will have a double benefit. He will not be miserable here and he will be well treated there. And it will give him a kind of mid-season break, which is what you all wanted.
Meanwhile, Aaron Ramsey has spoken about being back in the centre of midfield, after a goal and an assist helped us to the three points over Sunderland. The injuries have opened the door for him, and while he’s wishing his stricken teammates well, he wants to take this chance to nail down the central position for himself:
I wish Santi a speedy recovery, and Francis as well. We have been hit hard by injuries this season but it gives players the opportunities to take. I have made no secret that I prefer to play in the middle and hopefully now I can stay there.
I feel a lot more comfortable and it suited my game a lot better, I could time my runs into the box and get on the end of things and I could have had two or three goals but at the end of the day I’m happy.
If there has been frustration with Ramsey at times, you have to take into account the fact that he has been played out of his favourite position a lot. In the not too distant past this was used to excuse certain players poor performances and application, whereas the Welshman doesn’t seem to get the benefit of that particular doubt at all.
My feeling is that you will only see the best of a player if they play in their best position. Some are more versatile and can do a number of jobs perfectly well, but unless they’re playing where they feel naturally comfortable, there’ll always be something missing. After Sunderland I think it’s obvious that there’s some work still be done on making that central midfield area more secure, but Ramsey is all about end-product and making things happen.
He’s fundamentally a positive player, someone who wants to score and create goals, and the challenge now is for Arsene Wenger accommodate that in a way that doesn’t leave us quite so exposed. While at the moment we have what we hold in terms of personnel, it would be exciting to see Ramsey alongside a truly defensive minded midfield player. On his return I don’t really see why he and Coquelin couldn’t form a good partnership if given some time to make it happen, but maybe January will bring someone new to the squad with whom he can develop a good understanding. We’ll see.
Right, as ever James and I will be here with an Arsecast Extra for you later this morning. If you have any questions or topics for discussion, send them to @gunnerblog and @arseblog on Twitter with the hashtag #arsecastextra. We’ll have that for you before lunch.
Until then.
