3 months out for Jack! Russian misfit to Arsenal? Is Benzema a waste of money?

Morning all.

Poor old Jack Wilshere has reportedly suffered a hairline fracture of his left fibula, an injury which could keep him away from the game for months. Three months at least apparently if he requires surgery, around eight weeks if he doesn’t. Apparently Gabriel was the man responsible after a tough tackle. That’s life!

Not only will he miss many matches for Arsenal, but for England too with Euro 2016 qualifiers against San Marino and Switzerland kicking off at the start of September.

His injury may just force Arsene Wenger to sign another midfielder as Jack is often deployed in a deeper midfield role when needed and with Isaac Hayden on loan, the thought of Flamini on the pitch is…. a real concern.

Talking transfers:

There was a lot of ‘stuff’ floating around yesterday about Karim Benzema, one rumour even went as far to suggest the player will arrive in London on Sunday and finally become an Arsenal player for £45 million. I still can’t see this happening, why on earth would Arsenal pay that amount of money for a player who turns 28 years old this December. It just doesn’t make any sense to me at all. Real Madrid really do over value their players don’t they, Mesut Ozil and Angel Di Maria were overpriced imo but then when they have to shell out £80m or whatever it was to get Gareth Bale, I guess they have to recoup the money from somewhere…. And that’s not a dig at Mesut, he’s one of my favourites…

Real Madrid also want £15 million (that’s more like it lol) for Denis Cheryshev, a Russian winger whose been out on loan with Sevilla and Villarreal for the last couple of years and has been told by Rafa he can leave according to reports in Spain and he could be heading to Arsenal. Liverpool want him too….

Serge Gnabry is heading off on loan to West Brom which means Tony Pulis will have to be nice to Arsene Wenger from now on….

FA Chief Richard Scudamore isn’t prepared to intervene with the ongoing Wenger/Mourinho handshake spat:

What would be worse is a meaningless handshake where it meant nothing. It is an issue between two individuals. If they want to shake hands that’s fine, but I would much rather concentrate on the camaraderie between managers, between clubs. But not artificially. The authenticity is far more important.

Shake hands if you mean it, shake hands if you want to shake hands, and if there is some enmity between you, that is for individuals and for them to decide, not me. 

At the end of the day it is a sport and at the end of a sporting contest, whether you have won or lost, it should not be beyond anybody to shake hands. That is self-evidently true and that is why we have a line-up at the beginning and the players shake hands and there is an element of respect about that, but you are not going to get me drawn and intervening in terms of what goes on between two managers.

It is rivalry, it is competitiveness and people understand it goes back a long way.

I actually think the line-up and shaking hands at the start is stupid, just as all the hugs etc in the tunnel are. Bring back the days of Keane v Vieira in the tunnel, the days when players were all fired up ready to go and win the battle ahead and leave all the niceties until the final whistle has blown…

Finally, well done to Arsenal Under 19’s who yesterday beat Stuttgart on penalties to reach the final of the Durban Under-19 International Tournament. PSV Eindhoven await them in the final on Saturday….

That’s your lot for today, enjoy the rain!

127 thoughts on “3 months out for Jack! Russian misfit to Arsenal? Is Benzema a waste of money?

  1. potter says:

    This is a re-post from the end of yesterday’s thread but pertinent to Jack’s latest injury . It was in a chat with our Devil and as we have a new post he may well have missed it.

    You might be right there , I’m no doctor just a retired car spares salesman but I read this information when my wife was diagnosed with osteoporosis.

    If you look at men who lack an enzyme to make even small amounts of estrogen because they were genetically born that way,” says Mystkowski, “they get osteoporosis. If you give them estrogen, their osteoporosis improves. So even though estrogen doesn’t circulate in very high concentrations in men, it’s a critical factor for bone health.”

    He long windedly goes on to say that Testosterone converts to estrogen in men. However if he finds the right woman your method sounds better than popping pills although it might explain Ts’s theory of bow leggedness.

  2. rico says:

    ‘However if he finds the right woman your method sounds better than popping pills although it might explain Ts’s theory of bow leggedness’.

    Hilarious Potter….

  3. Wavy says:

    Rico, you’re at it again…..you know any mention of the piggy prick gets us all going! Can’t help myself nor can the rest of us, I think!
    The shrunken skullduggery one has been at it again, his latest proclamation is that, he will abide by the LMA rules if Wenger does! I mean, what is that all about? It’s simple really, the endangered species one is running scared. He knows Arsenal are going to be really competitive this year and he is trying very hard to get into Arsene’s cerebral head in and attempt to deflect Le Chef’s focus away from football and on to himself, getting him to take his mind off the job as he will become obsessed with the grey haired one, and thus forget to prepare his team properly etc etc. it’s a mildly clever attempt at deflecting attention away from his dwindling and ageing team in the hope of gaining a crucial advantage.
    Wenger is beyond his games and I suspect he will not rise to the bait. As I said yesterday he is far too clever to fall for any of the midget’s mind games. Having said that he used to rise to the red nosed ones bait and he rarely won those spats until of course, we no longer offered a fair contest during our ‘lean years’.
    It is possibly to our advantage that the bacterial berk spends more of his prep time trying to think up new strategies to upset other managers, Wenger in particular than trying to get his team to ‘get over the line’ and win this year’s competition. But we all know any team that loses the Charity Shield has never gone on to win the league in the same season. So, all the moronic ones attempts to upset the Arsenal Apple cart will be totally fruitless!

    Oh, morning all.

  4. tsgh says:

    I feel sorry for JW…

    This is no pop at JW but he surely has to change the way he plays if he is to accomplish what he is capable of.

    Since the days of Maradona, Cruyff, Boban, Haji, Abedi pele and maybe more recently Hazard and Messi recently I have not seen any top player make a career out of just dribbling.

    Abou Diaby is the closest in style of dribbling to JW we have seen recently and Abou had his ankles broken 2 times. First by that thug and the 2nd time by Essien.

    look at what happened to Affelay…

    Potter, I think you post is stop on…; is that theory not also behind the reasons why women are told to increase calcium intake after a certain stage in life?

  5. rico says:

    Do you feel better now Wavy? lol

    Think you are right, AW is too clever to get involved and I think that irks the pygmy even more. AW won’t drag Arsenal down to the levels Mourinho is doing with Chelsea, and as Adam has said previously, I bet Roman cringes every time Mourinho opens his mouth about Arsenal…

  6. Hell Raising Devil says:

    I laughed so much when I read Potter’s comment that my sides hurt. Lol.

    Good post Rico. You should have added the wheelchair surname. I guess he will be using it for now.

    The spuddies had Ledley king with same issues of injuries.

    You get these players in every club. The thing is that a manager has to realise when to cut his losses.

    What would you prefer now? A regularly injured JW or spend the money received for him on a proven player who lasts a whole season?

  7. rogerbij says:

    Oh Jack jack jack crack. Now I really wish we had bought Schniederlin/simlar…

    That leaves 5 main midfielders by my count, the number we use in our starting lineup! Pray not an injury to rambo or coquelin or the engine room is busted.

    11 Mesut Ozil
    15 Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain
    16 Aaron Ramsey
    19 Santi Cazorla
    34 Francis Coquelin
    ***
    20 Mathieu Flamini – not good enough
    10 Jack Wilshere – injured
    7 Tomas Rosicky – too old for 90
    8 Mikel Arteta – too old for 90

  8. rico says:

    Thanks Devil..

    I wouldn’t be too hard on Jack, I actually feel sorry for him as it must be so frustrating to keep suffering set-backs. I’m not sure how many more injuries his body can take and he’s still only 23 years old..

  9. Wavy says:

    Bow legged ness used to be a sign of rickets caused, I think, by vitamin and calcium deficiency during the growth period. Too late now but perhaps Jack’s diet was unbalanced when he was growing up and we are now experiencing the results of simply eating and excluding the wrong foods, as a youngster. Mind you I like Potter’s explanation better! Girl power that’s the solution………! It’s all in hand!

    And with that I’ll sign off for a while I have to go some miles to find a petrol station and fill up my car. Travelling again on saturday!

  10. retsub1 says:

    Morning Rico and the House

    Love your piece about Vieira and Keane and couldn’t agree more. it adds spice to the game as well. None of this swapping shirts at half time malarkey.

  11. tsgh says:

    M’Villa – from Russia with love. lol

    How did Mg not see this coming? 😉

    Good move for Serge. I wonder where poo-list will play Serge going forward.

    That is a serious overhaul of the squad by Aw. Does that mean he has seen enough in JRA to believe he can step in if Ox or Theo get injured?

    JRA was certainly given assurances for him to choose us…

  12. potter says:

    As I said I am no expert but my wife is prescribed a calcium supplement but basically once you are diagnosed it’s too late. In her case apparently she needed to live in a sunnier climate as apparently sunlight is good for it too and the great British winter all 10 months of it doesn’t help.Certainly if you have a daughter it’s worth discussing whether to look carefully at their diet to make sure of these things . I would think getting the stuff in at an early age might be the way.

  13. Hell Raising Devil says:

    The more you use a tool the more its production performance. Hence for higher levels of testosterone JW needs to use it.

  14. rico says:

    Morning Retsub. That’s a part of the game which has been lost imo, now it’s all too nice in the tunnel, those boys should be focussed on winning not snogging an old mate….

  15. scottfromoz says:

    No question Jack has an issue that’s genetic.
    There’s no way it can be predicted, it just happens.
    Having had seemingly a million greyhounds, you can get a healthy litter but one dud.
    Alternatively, you can have one litter prone to injury yet one dog never has an issue,
    I asked elsewhere…..over the last 3 seasons, how many games has Jack played compared to Theo?
    Morning all.

  16. Adam says:

    The classic behaviour of the sociopath is what we are seeing from Mourinho right now. Left to his own whim he is confrontational and extremely unpleasant and then later, after speaking to others (thinking about Abramovich’s concern that his club aren’t Universally despised because of their manager) and seeing how his words are playing out in the press he will appear clean shaven and moderate. It will be everyone else’s fault but, being an eminently reasonable man, he will try to build bridges as long as his opponent will. But then, as the pressure is ramped up again he will revert to type. With a few day’s worth of chin stubble and the raving hump, he will kick off for aure. I reckon it will be up and down with him again this season but whatever happens, it will always be about him. When Chelsea are winning he will receive the accolades with a sarcastic grin as he preens himself mentally but, should things go even slightly wonky, he will shrug and put the blame on his players and claim that they didn’t do what he told them to. He will try to use Wenger to distract the low quality English press from what is really happening on the pitch and he will, several times through the season, accuse referees of blatant anti-Chelsea bias. As per usual he will pout but throughout it all he will be sickeningly obvious to anyone who doesn’t support his team.

  17. rico says:

    Ts, agree re the squad…

    Just hope Flamini get’s offloaded, even if it’s a loan somewhere before he makes a few more million on a freebie…

  18. tsgh says:

    Scott- JW and Ox both play enough games for us to be able to gauge where they should be or capable of..

    There is a question that might be worth asking though… ‘is AW rushing both players back too early?’

    The reason I ask that question is why TR07 was omitted to allow Ox to make the FA cup final match?

    JW started 18 games last season in total he made just under 30 appearances for Arsenal;only de Bruyne and Gotze also at 23/24 y.o started more games than any other 24 y.o attacker playing for a UCL qualified team last season.

    A player like Andre Ayew, similar style for JW only played 32 games at 24 y.o
    putting that in context I think he has played far too many games for a 23 or 24 y.o.

  19. Dublingunner says:

    morning all, good read,Rico. Very latest “Abou wilshere” wont need surgery, looks like 6-8 weeks so.

  20. Lorenzo says:

    Jack becoming the new van persie, so unlucky. Stay strong as we will need you later. Also Wenger might buy someone, so it’s a blessing in disguise.

  21. scottfromoz says:

    Ginge, I know they’re quality.
    I ask because plenty on the net are saying we should sell Jack as he’s injury prone, yet for the last few months begged us to extend with Theo.
    Rico, I don’t know the answer….that’s why I’m asking 🙂 🙂

  22. tsgh says:

    Adam- There are rumours that Roman’s assistant Marina has had discussion with Mark Kosicke (spelling) recently. Hoe-say’s end is at hand imo…

    Hoe-say has started to point fingers at the board above him for not doing what he wants; including letting Cech join us…

    It’s in Jose’ gene’s he is a militant with a mindset of a dictator

  23. tsgh says:

    Lol.. my chav neighbour despises Hoe-say.

    He was not looking forward to the special one returning at all; he thinks with Chelsea under Jose, you just have to check the scores after a game as you know how he will set-up his team.

    With klopp and potentially pep becoming available next season plus Ancelloti also available it will be very interesting next summer.

  24. tsgh says:

    I think Jose last stance/option will be Psg. After that he would have run out of options.

    Turkey will definitely suit him;

  25. Hell Raising Devil says:

    Arsene Wenger……“Alexis is back in training but I don’t think he will be involved on Sunday, it is a bit early maybe. We have to decide that at the end of the week, but I don’t think he will be involved.

    “He came back in good fitness shape so that is quite positive, but I am not surprised by that because I can’t imagine him lying around for four weeks and doing nothing. That wouldn’t be him.”

    And that my friends is the difference between some English youngsters who think they have arrived and foreign players who are the ultimate professionals.

    Maybe that is why AW does not go for everyone.

  26. Wavy says:

    Not got,out yet. Got diverted by the cricket. Outstanding from Broad and the slippers!

    The moron for the sack……imminently? What shall I have to complain about if they horse whip him and put him on the streets?

    I’m not holding my breath though he’s a survivor that one but if you think about it, he has never stayed long at any club, a couple of years, tops

  27. Wavy says:

    I can think of more than several careers he has blighted, but I’m struggling to think of many he has improved. His idea of project youth is to sent a body out to buy the best available talent and then ruin it! How long will Loftus Cheek last, not long I’ll be bound!
    The man is a total tosser!

  28. Bob John says:

    Hi all
    Moronho being interviewed by some simpering Sky Sports knobhead yesterday. Whinging about Arsene pushing him last season. No mention of when his personal monkey of an assistant manager (Rui Faria?) tried to attack the ref when they lost to Sunderland the other year. I would LOVE to have just one go at interviewing the eye gouging hypocrite!!

  29. arsenal11730 says:

    Tsg – You have been spot on for some time about JW dribbling habits – By leaving the ball too open and himself. He gets whacked, loses the ball and is in a heap on the pitch. Cannot fault Gabriel, training must be hard and competitve. Just hope JW career does not follow same route as Diaby and he cannot fulfill his potential.
    It is a disappointment for the squad but JW is not a starter and let us see who will step up.
    Come on You Reds. Cheers

  30. Hell Raising Devil says:

    Arsenal11730…those who were supposed to step up are now on loan……Hayden, Iwobi, Gnabry. Hopefully JW will recover (I doubt it) in time. But unless AW gets a new midfielder we are up shit creek if one gets crocked.

  31. Hell Raising Devil says:

    imo….the following are the goals (EPL only) each regular should score during this season……

    (minimum acceptable)

    Theo 15
    Ollie 15
    Sanchez 15
    Welbeck 10
    Cazorla 8
    Ozil 8
    Aaron 10
    Chamberlain 8
    Bellerin 2
    Per 1
    Kos 1
    Nacho/Gibbs/Coquelin/Debuchy/Gabriel/Chmbers/JW/Arteta/Flamini……between 0 and 3 between them.

    total of 92 goals.

    Is it too much to ask??? imo no. they are all capable of getting those goals.

  32. Hell Raising Devil says:

    I forgot to add TR07 to the bottom list.

    what I am concerned about is the amount of players we have…..only 21 players. And everyone knows that a squad of 25 is needed to withstand the long EPL season.

  33. arsenal11730 says:

    Fair point HRDEV -On those already loaned out.
    Rumour is Gab has received death threats after JW tackle – Silly really.
    After the experience with Diaby. We should get JW fit put him in the shop window this season and sell him for 50mill next year. He could just keep breaking down without fully recovering. Suprised Shad has not found the solution to his dodgy ankles.
    I believe TR07 has a role to play in this squad. His age does not reflect solid time injured and he may be at his peak if he can shake off these niggles.
    Cheers

  34. Hell Raising Devil says:

    I did not include the keepers Rico, for the simple reason they are not outfield players. Yes we do need more players. At least we need another body in attack and another in midfield who can play in a deeper position as well as B2B. that is the acceptable minumum.

    what do you think of the goals amount for each player Rico?? do you think they are realistic?

  35. rico says:

    But counting the keepers, that still leaves us two spaces…

    Re the goals, not sure it’s possible to put an expectation figure to any player as injury etc can have an big influence…

  36. Joe says:

    There are some real di*k heads in the the Arsenal fan base imagin sending death treats to an Arsenal player.
    Evening all

  37. potter says:

    It’s social media Joe. People post things and never believe that there will be any comebackspecial.

  38. rogerbij says:

    Goals count looks good Dev, not sure if Welbeck will make his quota though… even if your optimistic by a couple of goals, I think 85 would be lose to title winning form? Anyone know the goals scored by the champions for each of the last ~10 seasons? Couldnt find it on google…

  39. rogerbij says:

    Alright, I did it manually, the last 5 seasons goals F/A were:

    Chelsea 73/32
    City 102/37
    Utd 86/43
    City 93/29
    Utd 78/37

    So 85 goals for would be a good shout if we have a great defensive season.

  40. rogerbij says:

    Oh for reference, Arsenals F/A for the last 5 seasons is

    2014/15 – 3rd, 71/36
    2013/14 – 4th, 68/41
    2012/13 – 4th, 72/37
    2011/12 – 3rd, 74/49
    2010/11 – 4th, 72/43

    So what can we learn? I suggest, to have a reasonable chance we need something like 85 goals for 35 against. Youll note that there hasnt been a season in the last 5 where we have acheived either those For or Against targets.

  41. Hell Raising Devil says:

    I believe that we should concede less than 30. The team needs to believe and stop conceding silly goals. Even if we are winning 4-0 we should not concede the customary one and maybe with Cech in goal we might achieve that.

  42. Hell Raising Devil says:

    85 For and 30 against would be good IMO. I will also be looking at the clean sheet total. I expect that to improve with better organization and communication.

  43. Hell Raising Devil says:

    I am beginning to have my doubts about Bielik. If he was very good why send him to train with the academy and now Jack is injured he trains with the seniors again? If he is good he will train with the seniors injury to Jack or not.

  44. eduardo says:

    HRD Bielik was not sent to train with the youths, he only returned to full training in the last week, he was late back due to playing youth internationals during the summer.

  45. eduardo says:

    Also HDR you can only have a certain number of players in a training session, and AW is not going to send Flamini or Rosicky, or Arteta etc to train with the U21’s, its much easier to rotate who of the youths train with the first team.

  46. allezkev says:

    Waltzing Matilda,

    Waltzing Matilda,

    You’ll come a Waltzing Matilda with me,

    And he sang as he watched,

    And waited till his Billie boiled,

    You’ll come a Waltzing Matilda with me…

    😀

  47. eduardo says:

    Sam ‏@samuelJayC 1h1 hour ago
    West Ham go out of the @EuropaLeague. Slaven Bilić rested an entire XI ahead of trip to Arsenal on Sunday.

  48. ScottfromOz says:

    Settle, Kev.
    Wouldn’t be the first time you poms have lost the unlosable 🙂
    Our boys have gone over too complacent, and too cocky, imo.
    Bloody disgraceful display.

  49. Wavy says:

    Too true Scott, but that’s the ozzies for yer! Heroes to zeros! 5-0 yeh right if it ends 3-3 they could go home with just a semblance of self-respect anything less and they will find themselves on an uninhabited island some where in the Pacific Ocean!

    Ingerland fool again!

  50. Wavy says:

    * rool not fool! iPad correction makes a mockery of what I typed and what I meant! I think this rewriting of my posts may be a government plot!

  51. scottfromoz says:

    Fool indeed….a Freudoan slip bahahahahaha.
    I heard a radio interview this morning, and not that it’s an excuse, it could be a factor…..several senior players are mightily unhappy Brad Haddin was left out.
    The fact is he missed the third test only due to coming home for his daughters health problems, and not a lack of form, so should’ve have gone back in to the side.
    No excuse, but it has caused unrest to an already rattled group.
    Arsenal…..lets talk about them 🙂

  52. Adam says:

    Yes Rico. Lovely if the sun shone on our cricketers for a few hours too. I think yesterday was one of the most amazing day’s of cricket I have seen since Botham did the business in ’81. You are probably too young to remember that though. 🙂

  53. rico says:

    I remember 81 like it was yesterday Adam, a stunning performance by Beefy…

    Yesterday was unreal, and to think Broad told Cook to bat…. Great toss to win under such conditions…

  54. Adam says:

    Michael Clarke looked stunned by it all and perhaps he may lose the captaincy or resign. He seems a decent bloke, but it’s hard to feel sorry for David Warner under any circumstances. 🙂

  55. rico says:

    I don’t feel sorry for any of the Aussies, they give it hard, now take it and fitting Broad was the orchestrator…

    This game isn’t over tough, not yet… 😉

  56. Lee says:

    I’ve bought a box that plugs into your router and gives you every sky channel,loads of French, German, Spanish football stations, on demand and a plethora of new movies! The acid test is will it work back in the UK……

Leave your comment.

Discover more from Highbury House

Subscribe now to keep reading and get access to the full archive.

Continue reading