Phew that was lucky!

Some times I like being wrong. I really couldn’t see Villa getting anything today. Their top scorer on the pitch today has 2 goals all season! But, gladly i was wrong and somehow they held the spuds to a draw and with Newcastle losing, as predicted, we find ourselves 2 points clear of 5th and 1 clear of Sp*rs in 4th.

In the Battle of the Bottlers it appears Sp*rs are in the lead. Chief Bottlers. They’ve missed a great chance today against a team really struggling for any kind of form. They also be missing Danny Rose (who got sent off for a dreadful challenge on ex-spud Alan Hutton) for a potentially tricky home game against Fulham. With Assou Ekotto injured that might leave them without a recognised left back against Dempsey and co. Fulham are second in the form guide at the mo, with only City in better form over the last 6 games. They are weaker away from Craven Cottage but 3 wins from the last 6 away isn’t bad. West Brom are in reasonable form too, especially at the Hawthorns where they have lost just once in 6. I’m sure they’ll want to give Roy Hodgson a great send off too so both us and Sp*rs face potentially difficult games.

Thankfully though at least it’s back in our hands again. Surely we can’t let it slip again?! I said earlier today that 2 points from these last 2 games could be enough to gain 4th and a point against WBA will do just that. I’m taking nothing for granted yet though, a repeat of our performance yesterday next weekend and we might not even manage a point. We’ve got very lucky this weekend, we have to learn from the Norwich game and perform next week.

 

The Battle of the Bottlers.

It’s been an odd season. Where teams have looked nailed on for victory they’ve somehow found defeat. Arsenal managed it yet again yesterday. Despite twice leading at home to Norwich and being 3-2 with 5 minutes to go we somehow managed to gift them a goal. We’re not alone in this this season.

City let United claw back a 5 point lead, then United lost an 8 point lead with just 6 games to go. At one point Sp*rs had a 13 point lead and all the Spuds were loving their “mind the gap” slogan. 7 wins in a row and we turned that round, by mid April to a 5 point lead in our favour.

Defeats to QPR and Wigan, then 3 successive draws and today Sp*rs could go 2 points ahead of us if they win against a lacklustre Villa side. Should Newcastle beat City at St. James’ then we’ll find ourselves in 5th by the end of the day. Arseburgers.

Prior to yesterday’s game I felt that as little as 2 points could get us Champions League football next season. I don’t see City slipping up today. They have the players to contain Newcastle and to create a chance or two. I think City will win in Geordieland and with their goal difference being so low a draw at West Brom would then be enough for us (assuming I’ve got my Maths right!). I think unfortunately Sp*rs will win at Villa. I just can’t see Villa creating enough to trouble Sp*rs or being strong enough defensively to keep them out. Our hope of finishing above Sp*rs probably rests more on what Fulham do next weekend than on what Villa do this. Newcastle still have to travel to Everton as well, not an easy game by any stretch so I think 4th is still very much on.

There are of course two huge downsides to this. 1 Sp*rs may finish above us for the first time since I was 14 and 2 we have to hope Chelsea don’t beat Bayern in the CL Final. That could be a horrid game to watch if we finish 4th.

The impact of Sp*rs finishing above us would be shocking. The press love them and Arry, we’d see countless pieces on the “power shift” in North London. Arry would be winding down his car window for any passing reporter saying how great he is and how they’ve over taken us….the media would conveniently forget that it’s the first time since 1995 they’ve done it. That it’s only their second ever CL qualification, that they haven’t build a stadium in the last few years and have had to spend close to £100 million to achieve what we have on a fraction of the budget. It doesn’t bare thinking about!

I’m probably jumping the gun there though, maybe Villa will surprise me!

So finally for today I have to wonder, how have we bottled it? What happened yesterday? To my mind it’s not the defence that’s an issue at the mo. I don’t think they get enough cover from midfield in this system. For teams to beat us they just need to defend and wait. Wait until we gift them a chance or they find themselves 3 on 2 in our defence with midfielders ambling back. When was the last time you saw a midfielder flat out sprint back to defend? Look at Norwich’s second yesterday. When they get the ball in midfield Ramsey isn’t that far behind play, by the time they score he’s nowhere near. He watches the goal from a distance then flaps his arms in frustration. One thing I think Arteta did well was covering. You did see him running hell for leather to get back, it’s a huge part of midfield play and one we seem to have forgotten. The other big issue yesterday for the midfield was retaining possession. At 3-2 up it’s vital to do that. Keep the ball, frustrate the opposition, instead we lost it in midfield and had no shape. If we are to genuinely compete for the title any time soon this is part of the game we have to address. We have to learn 2 major things;

1. How to attack without leaving ourselves so vulnerable at the back (see both Wigan’s goals at the Emirates for example). We have conceded 13 goals from the oppositions first shot on target this season (via @orbinho)
2. We have to learn how to hold a lead.

I’d love to see us playing a few games where we look totally solid. Get a lead, hold it. Even at 4-2 up at home to Sp*rs I felt we could still drop points. If we could get a lead and frustrate the opposition, stop them creating a thing then sting them on the break then we could be a real force again.

Right today I’m a Villa fan. Going to watch the games and have a roasts. Time to start peeling those spuds…..

Ramsey injury profile

With Stoke away still fresh in our memories and boos still ringing in our ears, I think it’s time to revisit the only city twinned with Chernobyl…

Saturday February 27th 2010, 65 minutes into a late kick off at the Britannia Stadium. It’s 1-1. Bendtner loses possession to Shawcross in midfield and the ball runs loose towards Ramsey. He stretches to nudge the ball forward, planting his right foot solidly in the ground as he does so. Shawcross arrives at speed, swinging his left leg in a scything motion at mid shin height. He misses the ball completely and crashes into Ramsey’s shin which buckles, for a moment it collapses backwards under him at an impossible angle, then Ramsey is down. As he lays there it’s obvious that the leg is badly broken. It hangs limp in the middle of the shin. Arsenal players look sickened. Campbell is incredulous, jumping up and down in frustration and disbelief. Vermaelen crouches on the floor, head in hands. Shawcross sees red and heads for an early bath, Ramsey heads to the hospital.

The pictures show 2 things. 1 the extent of the damage and 2 how bad the tackle was. I’m going to climb on my high horse for a mo here. How, after someone has suffered this injury, could you possibly boo them? Let’s forget we’re football fans for a moment here. We’re people, we’re human. How, just as a normal human being, can you look at this and think that it’s in anyway ok to boo Ramsey? If there are any Stoke fans reading this, look at that picture. Imagine that’s your leg, or someone in your family, or even a promising young player at Stoke. Feel like booing them now? I’ve rehabbed people from these horrific injuries time and time again. I can’t tell you how angry those boos make me.

Some Stoke fans On Twitter have said they boo because Ramsey has refused to accept an apology from Shawcross. I don’t know if there is any truth in this but look at the picture again. Would you accept an apology from someone who did that? Especially when you consider that Shawcross also did this and this.

I think Ramsey was fairly gracious in his behaviour, he could have been far more critical, instead his official statement actually praised Stoke’s medical team and Glenn Whelan for looking after him at the time.

Ok, I’m off my high horse for the mo. Rant over.

The following day Arsenal confirmed that Ramsey had broken both tibia and fibula in his right leg. This injury is what happens with huge impact at mid shin height. We were told Ramsey had suffered clean breaks and so we might expect his x-ray to look something like this;

 

Ramsey had the fractures “reduced” surgically this means the pieces of the fracture are aligned to allow them to heal. Exact details are rarely released by a football club but my understanding is that an “intramedullary nail” was used to fix the tibial fracture. This is a long piece of metal that is usually inserted via the knee joint and sits inside the bone to hold the fracture together;

 

If you don’t mind graphic videos you can watch an example of an intramedullary nail being inserted here. I don’t know how closely this would resemble what Ramsey had done.

The fibula was fractured too and may well have been fixed surgically as well, depending on the severity. The advantage of using metalwork to stabilise a fracture is it allows early weight bearing. Ramsey was back on his feet fairly quickly and walking without crutches by March 20th 2010. That’s only 3 weeks after his injury, which is incredible really and goes to show how well he was managed by the surgeon and the Arsenal medical team in the early stages.

The initial stages of injury management would be about managing pain and swelling and gradually returning to walking. The physios would aim to restore movement in the knee and ankle as soon as pain and healing allow. With fractures like these there is an advantage over fractures like Diaby and Eduardo suffered; Ramsey’s fractures did not involve the ankle joint. This means there is less likely to be damage to the ankle joints and ligaments and ankle range of movement is easier to restore. Diaby suffered a fracture dislocation of his ankle and I believe this is why he has struggled to return to full fitness. Details on his injury are available here. That said such severe trauma, coupled with then insertion of metal work to stabilise the fracture will have some effect on the ankle and knee joints and Ramsey will have had to work on this.

Fractures heal to a stage where they can tolerate a reasonable amount of load in around 6-8 weeks. From roughly this stage onward Ramsey would have been able to up his rehab and start to include some more weight bearing exercise and possibly some weight work. It’s hard to know the exact time frame but elite athletes tend to progress a lot quicker than us mere mortals! Balance work is an essential part of rehab post ankle injury and this will have been started as soon as possible. With the facilities Arsenal have it’s likely Ramsey will have done some pool work as well. Nowadays they even have an anti-gravity treadmill!

Once full range of movement is achieved and enough strength has returned sport specific drills can begin. This can bee anything from dribbling a ball to sprinting, shooting and tackling. Usually a rough order is followed starting with straight line activity, the sideways movement then rotation before combining these movement together and varying speed. Impact and plyometrics are usually added in the later stages. Once Ramsey was ready with full range of movement and strength, good balance and far enough into the healing process he returned to training, usually away from the main group of players. This happened in early October 2010 and Ramsey joined full training at the start of November. This is often seen as the final stage of the rehab programme allowing a full return to action. He made his comeback in a reserve game against Wolves on 23rd of November and manage 45 minutes.

Ramsey was out for 9 months. That time will have been an arduous, painful and frustrating period for him. He will have done daily rehab for the majority of that. He and the Arsenal medical team deserve a great deal of respect and credit for overcoming a potentially career threatening injury. My hope would be that he has now made a full recovery.

I know Ramsey has had his critics this season but I think he has done really well in his first full season since the injury. At times he seems a little sluggish in possession and can give the ball away in dangerous areas but I wonder how much of this is a hangover from the injury. His leg was broken when he tried to keep possession by nudging the ball away from Shawcross in a tackle, perhaps he’s reluctant to give 100% to retain possession at the mo. Can you blame him? In time I’m sure this will improve….

…and if any Stoke fans are still reading this….still think you’ll boo him?

How things change…

Last time I scribbled a blog it was all about how our chances of competing for silverware and, in a sense, our season, had finished. Died. Shuffled off the mortal coil, turned it’s toes up and flatlined. It turns out that maybe that particular death certificate may have been written prematurely and that the heart monitor is still showing at least the occasional healthy beep.

BEEP! We put 5 past Sp*rs in less than 30 minutes.

BEEP! We recover from a goal down to beat goal shy Liverpool

BEEP! We hit 3 in the first half against AC Milan and nearly, nearly manage to drag back a 4 goal deficit.

BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! Sp*rs lose 3 games in a row and their lead drops to 4 points with our game in hand on Monday. Liverpool follow suit and bow out of the race for the top 4 with little less than a whimper. Chelsea continue to stutter along too and we find ourself in a strong position to qualify for the Champions League for the 16th season in a row.

BEEP! It seems we may have started our summer transfer spending very early, with reports suggesting a deal for Podolski is close and AW doing little to deny it.

So lots to be happy about.

And I am happy.

But…and I almost don’t want to write “But” when there are so many positives… But (god there I go again) I stand by what I said. Our season is now about fourth. It is a shame that by early March our “trophy” is Champions League qualification. I wrote before about our expectations for this Arsenal team and I fear this may become our main aim each year. I’d love it if this team could keep this run going, change what I expect to see when we take the field. I’d love to see us demolish Newcastle and do so without giving them a gift of a goal. If we can do that, if we can start looking solid in defence and ruthless in attack and doing it consistently then we can all feel much more positive about this team. At the moment though, I can’t help but expect a struggle, defensive frailty and toothless attack. We’ve seen that so much this year, it takes more than a run of 3 good games to change that.

God I’m a miserable bastard aren’t I!? I don’t want to be I just really want our team to do well! Bring on the Geordies!

 

 

Post Mortem

 

So the season has died. It looked on it’s last legs in Milan but finally flatlined in Sunderland. The fat lady has sung. (She sang, “Spend some f*cking money!”)

So I thought I’d have a careless stab at a post mortem. Why have we failed to challenge for a trophy yet again? And why are we out of all four competitions and it’s not yet even March. The reasons are many;

• Dithering with summer transfer activity

While other teams wrapped up their transfers early we pissed about and waited for the last minute before bringing in our players. It cost us hugely. The opening games were a joke and it took us until October to get any sort of form together. By then we’d lost to Liverpool, Utd, Blackburn and Spurs. Undoubtedly it was influenced by the Fabregs saga and Nasri situation but we needed to be clear and assertive with both, not let it write off most of our summer transfer plans. Then there’s the Mata situation, again we dithered and allowed Chelsea to offer a better package and lost out.

• Failure to replace key players

We’ve looked toothless and lacking in any creativity for a while and I feel in part it’s because 2 of our most creative midfielders were sold in the summer and not adequately replaced. Arteta has been industrious and hard working and I’m a fan but he hasn’t created enough and his set pieces are consistently poor. Lets not forget that we sold Clichy too and left back has been a huge problem for us. Gibbs can’t stay fit, Santos is suspect defensively. Enrique was available, can’t see why we didn’t try and get him.

 

• Lack of quality cover for RVP

RVP had been fantastic this season but Chamakh has been woeful. His complete lack of impact seen clearly against Leeds where Henry showed that a bit of quality and some decent movement was all that was needed to create a goal. Park. Bench. 2 words clearly meant to go together. Henry did very well in his short time with us but we all know RVP has had to carry the attacking threat for this team most of the season.

 

• Inactivity in the January transfer window

The loan signing of Henry aside we did nothing in January. Wenger deserves credit for his acquisition of Henry and the contribution he made but it’s not nearly enough. How did QPR get Taye Taiwo on loan? A left back of reasonable quality who could have done a job for us, if only temporarily. I’ve written at length about Gibbs’ injury history, AW knows he only had one left back that could potentially be relied upon…until he got injured. He acknowledged it would be foolish to drop points due to a lack of left back but that’s exactly what he did. The reason was meant to be that our left backs were close to return in January but it’s now February 18th and we still didn’t field a left back today! We desperately needed a striker. There was little movement in general this transfer window but some strikers did move; Jelavic joined Everton and both QPR and Newcastle grabbed themselves a Cisse.

 

 

• Underperformance from key players

Chamakh. We know he can do better. Has been truly awful. Theo is unbelievably inconsistent. He can be excellent and has a reasonable amount of assists but he’s also had some dreadful performances, failing to beat his full back or deliver any type of cross. Arshavin’s sulky funk continues. His lowest point being the non-performance against united and his lazy defending that lead to their goal. Some people might add others to this list, I know Ramsey has had a lot of stick this season but for me it’s his first real season and he’s needs more time.

 

• Injuries

No one who follows Arsenal would expect all key players to stay fit. No one accept Wenger perhaps. His reliance on players with dreadful injury records is bordering on delusional. At the start of the season you could already rule out any involvement from Diaby, question what Gibbs might offer, worry about Vermaelens calf, Djourou’s knee and Rosicky’s hamstring. You might also expect to lose Theo and RVP at some point. And let’s not forget the odd bonus injury you will undoubtedly pick up – Wilshere this season, Vermaelen last etc etc.

So you’d think with injuries being a common part of our team you’d have a plan B in place? Several areas have no quality replacement. We’ve mentioned RVP but what if Szczesny got injured, or Song? The reason Ramsey has struggled is because he’s had to step into replace Jack because we had no other decent options.

 

There is so much that we could have done better, but my feelings are now that this way has become the Arsenal way. Reluctance to spend on established talent. Reliance on injury prone or underperforming players and failure to deliver when it counts. It’s what I’ve come to expect now. I think the board are happy as the finances look good and aren’t looking to change manager. Wenger won’t change either. I’m sorry people but I think this may be the way things are for some time to come. Don’t bank on a host of new faces in the summer to revitalise our squad I’m just not convinced it’ll happen. All we can do now is get behind the team as much as possible and hope they can hold on to that vital fourth spot.

 

 

Great Expectations

If I write a negative piece today is that reactionary? Would it be too if I wrote a really positive post after our wins against Blackburn or Sunderland?

If today’s post is reactionary then it’s a reaction to the season as a whole and not just our largest ever European defeat.

I feel, and have done for some time, that we need to adjust our expectations of Arsenal and what we’re likely to achieve. We don’t challenge for the league title. Haven’t mounted a serious challenge since 2004. We haven’t finished in the top two since then. We haven’t won anything since 2005. The closest we’ve been to a trophy was last years disasterous Carling Cup final. We couldn’t even win against a team that went on to be relegated. We don’t buy big names. We create them….and then sell them.

Somehow though we still expect to challenge for the title and the cups, to be a force in Europe and to buy big name players. I hear a lot of talk of Hazard, Götze etc. players with a huge profiles at the mo. I would be amazed if we had any interest there at all. Think of our biggest players under Wenger, Henry, Vieira, Fabregas none of them arrived as big players. Only Arshavin comes close to a “big name buy” and look how he’s been recently. We were connected to over 150 players in the January transfer window. We signed just 2. No doubt in the summer we’ll fall into the same trap again and hope Wenger will splash the cash. He won’t.

What Wenger will do is what he always does. He will invest in youth. He will confound us with strange moves in the transfer window e.g. Park. He will stick to his guns as stubbornly as ever and the board will back him. Despite this he will bring us close to the top 4 in a league dominated by teams with massive budgets. He will unearth a couple more gems. Some players will excel under Wenger, some will regress or stagnate. He won’t alter his tactics. He will be criticised at every opportunity. We will have at least one reasonable cup run and a few good results. We will lose and draw games we should win. We won’t challenge for the league. This is what to expect. This is how it is now to be an Arsenal supporter. To be fair, this is how it was at times pre-Wenger (remember we finished 12th in 1995) and will be at times post-Wenger.

He won’t change, the board won’t sack him. Bin bags on seats won’t change it, booing at half time won’t change it. What does have to change is our expectations or we’ll be disappointed time and time again.

You may say this lacks ambition, I’m training for a marathon at the mo. I want to finish as quickly as I can, I’ll train as hard as I can but to expect to finish with the elite athletes would be ridiculous. I can be ambitous and realistic at the same time.

What was the “big four” has become a big six. Money at Chelsea and City has changed everything. 2 of those teams will miss out on Champions League. Only the decline of Chelsea and Liverpool has kept us in it at the moment. They show us too that spending big isn’t the only solution, you have to get the best out of the players you have. We aren’t doing that at the moment.

So Saturday we travel to Sunderland. What do I expect there? A tense game. At least one defensive error on our part. A player withdrawn due to injury. A toothless Arsenal attack struggling to create against a well organised team. A slender lead and a nervous finish. A win? With this Arsenal team I’m afraid I wouldn’t bet on it. What ever they do achieve though, I’ll be behind them 100%.

By TwitterButtons.com

Gibbs injury profile

With the departure of Clichy In the summer Kieran Gibbs was mooted as our new first choice left back. Many have questioned this based on his injury record which seems vindicated as once again he is out through injury. So I’ve applied my Physio head to the situation and here is how I see it.

Timeline (let me know if I’ve missed anything out)

24th November 2009 against Standard Liege. Fractured first metatarsal in left foot - sidelining him for the rest of the season

21st September 2010 suffered severe bruising to left foot after an injury in our 4-1 victory over Spurs in the Carling Cup

27th October 2010 Gibbs picked up a Medial Collateral Ligament injury against Newcastle managing just 18 minutes

8th December 2010 Ankle injury against Partizan after just 23 minutes and missed the rest of December

16th August 2011 hamstring injury during Udinese game and missed the rest of the month

16th October 2011 substituted after picking up a knock against Sunderland. Later confirmed as a “muscle strain in his stomach” and was expected to miss 2 weeks. He hasn’t played since.

Total Appearances (including as a sub)

• 2009-10. 7
• 2010-11. 20
• 2011-2012. 9

Gibbs’ most recent injury was initially diagnosed as a muscle strain before a hernia was identified and he underwent surgery on Thursday 18th of November with AW saying,

“He has a hernia and had surgery on Thursday. He looks like he will be out for between four and five weeks. At first he had an abdominal strain, certainly caused by the fact that he had a hernia already. When the strain was healed we discovered that he had a hernia. We had a fear that could be behind it so we decided to do the surgery.”

It was hoped he’d return for the Villa game on December 21st but instead suffered a setback and had to have further surgery,

“Kieran Gibbs has had surgery on his left groin and he will be out for a month,” le Boss said, “It was a blow, but first what is important is if he cannot play you have to make the decision that we had to make yesterday and have surgery for him.”

The most recent update on January 6th said Gibbs is “doing well” but won’t be ready for the “next few weeks at least”. So what’s going on? I’ve chatted about this at length to fellow medical bod @1979gooner who has a slightly different opinion to me on it, well worth a read

It’s always hard to tell with the limited details we have but my thoughts are that this isn’t a simple inguinal hernia, but rather that the medical team are treating it as a Sports Hernia (often termed Gilmore’s Groin). These are two quite different things.

An inguinal hernia is a protrusion of the contents of the abdominal cavity through the inguinal canal. They are very common with around a quarter of men having one at some point. More info is available at NHS Choices

A Sports Hernia is more complex, even the research isn’t 100% sure about it, a recent review (abstract here if you’re interested) described it as “one of the least understood, poorly defined and under-researched maladies to affect the human body.” Most reports describe it as a bulge due to weakening in the posterior inguinal wall often caused by repetitive shear forces. It is not a true hernia in that there is no protrusion of abdominal contents but it is still thought to cause lower abdomen or groin pain. It is a contentious issue within the medical profession. Finding a decent picture to show the problem is even a challenge, the best I could find looked like it had been coloured in with crayon!

More details and pictures here.

I’m nearly done with the lengthy medical waffle I promise… anyhoo despite the debate within the medical profession there are several signs consistently found on examination of a Sports Hernia and regardless of exact diagnosis it does seem to respond very well to surgery. With a reported 97% success rate in professional soccer players (though this figure seems a bit too good to be true to me!)

Which, if you’re still here, brings me back to Keiran Gibbs. With his history of injuries to his foot, knee and ankle it would be no great surprise to learn he may have developed a muscle imbalance that could potentially lead to a Sports Hernia. The research talks about the importance of balance between hip and trunk muscles and control of movement. Multiple injuries can certainly have an effect on this. We can’t know for sure as Arsenal doesn’t release this information, but with an inguinal hernia repair players can return to sport in as little as 2 weeks. With repair to a Sports Hernia it’s usually around 5 weeks (which fits AW’s initial estimation). There is a specific programme to follow initially; walking from day 1, straight line jogging from 10-14 days, progressing to straight line sprinting at 3 weeks before returning to sports specific rehab. It appears Gibbs managed all this and was ready for return before suffering a setback. It’s not unusual for this to happen when twisting movements are attempted, especially at speed.

What worries me is why opt for further surgery? I think there must be more than meets the eye with Gibbs and his grumbling groin. Patients I’ve advised to consider surgery for this problem have all done well, I’ve never had to send someone back for further surgery. But then Gibbs does seem to have problems with injuries, not only having them frequently but also having lots of different types. Injuries can often be linked as I’ve detailed above but I wonder if there is something else that contributes to this. Sometimes with players there is a psychological component, how does Gibbs try to cope with an injury? Is he a “crack on with it” stoic? Or anxious, avoiding activity for fear of further damage? Both ways have their pros and cons. My final thoughts on this are that this may be one of those “2 week” problems that becomes a lengthy saga. For Gibbs’ sake I really hope not.

Update 14/01/12: Wenger at pre-game press conference 13/01/12 ”Sagna is on the way back but Gibbs may be before him. End of January” Sounds promising but as the timeline shows above, Gibbs has often come back only to pick up a new injury. I really hope that’s not the case here. He could really do with a good run in the team. 

If you like learning a bit more about injuries, I’ve posted elsewhere on injuries in general and specifically for the unfortunate Mr Diaby.

By TwitterButtons.com