Injury worries for Wenger
Arsenal have been hit by a potential attacking injury crisis ahead of Saturday’s game at West Ham, with Robert Pires joining Thierry Henry on the sidelines.
Freddie Ljungberg and Dennis Bergkamp are also doubts for the clash at Upton Park as the Gunners look to record their first away win of the season after two damaging defeats on the road.
Arsene Wenger has nevertheless been confronted by mounting injury problems affecting his senior attacking players, with four of them now in danger of missing the game against the Hammers.
Henry was already ruled out for up to another month with a groin problem, but Pires has now joined him on the casualty list after going off injured a dead leg against Everton on Monday night following a foul by Phil Neville.
Wenger told the club’s website, www.arsenal.com : “We will see Thierry in four weeks’ time at the earliest.
“As for Saturday, we have a doubt about Dennis Bergkamp, who has a back problem. Robert Pires is certainly out because he has not recovered from a kick on Monday night.
“There is a big doubt over Freddie Ljungberg as well [with a thigh injury] but Mathieu Flamini is available again after a knee problem.”
These injury problems place even greater responsibility on emerging strikers Robin van Persie and Jose Antonio Reyes, while summer signing Alexander Hleb could return to the starting line-up in place of Pires.
Bergkamp’s back problem could also prevent him from travelling to Amsterdam for next week’s Champions League tie against Ajax, when Van Persie is suspended.
Especially with Pires, who can push forward into a central role, now injured, that could potentially leave Reyes as Arsenal’s lone striker in Amsterdam.
Wenger will be hoping that the injury problems clear over the next 24 hours, with Arsenal having already lost at Chelsea and Middlesbrough so far this season in the Premiership.
Ljungberg nevertheless revealed his unwavering belief in Arsenal’s prospects of silverware despite the growing threat posed by Chelsea lay behind his summer decision to pledge his future to the club.
The 28-year-old signed a contract extension to keep him at the club until 2009, finally ending months of speculation linking him with a possible move overseas.
Given that Patrick Vieira and Edu both left Highbury, it was some relief to Wenger that Ljungberg shared his positive vision for the future.
The Sweden international declared: “The club is moving in the right direction and I want to play at the new stadium.
“I spoke a lot with the boss about the future and he thougt the same as me. The club is going places and I am very happy here at Arsenal.”
Ljungberg’s latest injury problem comes after he missed two league games earlier this season, firstly against Fulham due to a blood clot in his knee after he crashed into the advertising hoardings during the defeat at Chelsea.
“In a way, it was a bit of a relief as they first thought it might be a crack in the bone, which would have meant being out for about six weeks,” he revealed.
“They double-checked it with an MRI scan and the blood clot was pressing against a nerve, hence the shooting pains.”
Secondly, he missed the defeat at Middlesbrough as he was rested after international duty with Sweden close to securing their place at next summer’s World Cup finals.
“It would be nice to play in Germany because, three years ago in Japan, I injured myself a few days before the tournament started and couldn’t walk or run in our first two games,” he told Arsenal’s official programme.
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