Wilshere is out for 3 weeks: Another in a long list of ankle injuries dogging the side
Some not so cheery news for Gunners. Jack Wilshere is out again with an injury, this time to his right ankle because of a bone bruising received in the Spurs match. He's estimated to be out for 3 weeks as a preventive measure which means he won't be available for tomorrow's Bayern return leg and the Swansea league match. He will also miss international duty for England.
Wilshere is the one player who gives a 110% and the danger here is that these niggling ankle injuries might become the norm because of his flying, take it to the limits, style of playing. Opponents try and slow him down snapping at his feet and it won't surprise to find he's one of the most tackled players in the league. Opta stats pegged him as the most fouled player with 7 in a single match when Arsenal met Man City two months ago. On the other hand, he's also not shy dishing it out which means his foot and ankle does a lot of clattering.
The added pressure of overcoming Arsenal's many shaky starts has fallen squarely on Wilshere and the perception he sometimes goes it alone to turn things around may not be misplaced. The increased tempo plays a huge part in the wear and tear on the joints, ligaments, and muscles. He was noticeably off during the Spurs match, misplacing passes, and running less hard. Arsenal's final third exertions were overall lacking demonstrating how crucial a fit Wilshere is to the side. The upshot is a Bayern upset which was a longer than long shot became a lot, lot longer than a longer than long shot.
Lukas Podolksi is also doubtful with an ankle injury. No return date available. So don't look for the former Bayern player to engage in return heroics. Which means Tomas Rosicky will get a start. Arsene Wenger has Abou Diaby and Kieran Gibbs back. Hopefully having Gibbs back improves the communication of the back line which was so badly exposed in the last two matches. The most intriguing possibility, Wojciech Szczesny maybe dropped in favour of Lukasz Fabianski, who after his shoulder injury that kept him out most of last season, fell victim to ruptured ankle ligaments. He's been declared match fit and is set to travel to the Allianz Arena.
Update: Kieran Gibbs, Abou Diaby, Andrey Arshavin, and Lukasz Fabianski have been included for Arsenal's CL cremation at the Allianz Arena.
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