Van Persie’s injury much worse than expected 23 January, 2007

Robin Van Persie is going to be out of action for at least 6 weeks or more. Six weeks today is the 6th March, we play PSV at home on the 7th. It’s a long time out and we probably won’t see Robin back to his best this season. Luckily we’ve got talented back-up options but he’s our top scorer this season and we’re certainly going to miss him. Robin broke his fifth metatarsal celebration Henry’s winner on Sunday, usually the going mad part is left to the fans but the Dutch striker went a bit over the top too. This is what Arsene said about the injury:

“We have lost Robin van Persie for a while. How long? I don’t really know. It will be six weeks at least, if not more. It is a big blow because Robin has been on fire. He has had a great season until now. What is really terrible for me is that I did not want to use him at all. But we were 1-0 behind and I decided to put him on. However he got injured and you can never predict that.”

We’ve got three top strikers in Henry, Adebayor and Baptista and as long as all three stay fit we’ll be okay. Also Aliadiere will be keen to impress in the period and if he plays like he did at Anfield then I’m sure he’ll get a few games. He’s been linked with a move to Ligue 1′s Sochaux but with RVP’s injury I don’t think Wenger will be letting him leave this January. Also if things get really bad (touch wood) I believe we’ll be able to recall Bendtner from Birmingham if we get that desperate. This injury might be the difference between us stealing 2nd or scraping 4th so the others will have to perform well to keep us in the race.

Tomorrow we make the short trip to White Hart Lane for Tottenham vs. Arsenal Reserves in the 1st leg of the Carling Cup Semi Final. Last night Arsenal Youths lost 3-0 to Tottenham reserves but hopefully tomorrow will be a different story. The team is likely to be the same as the one that put 6 past Liverpool but Diaby could be set for his first start in a year. Here’s what Wenger said ahead of tomorrow’s game:

“I’ll stick with the same type of side; they deserve it. It is very difficult to say ‘listen you are good enough to play at Liverpool but you are not good enough to play at Tottenham’. They have earned the right. We are in a job where only quality decides whether you play or not. It is not how old you are or what you did before. Just on the day you have to turn up and show how good you are. Certainly Diaby is coming back and will play on Wednesday.”

It will be my first visit to the Shithole and I’m quite looking forward to our youngsters teaching the scum a lesson. If they could pull off something similar to the result in the last round I will be a very happy man but I’ll settle for a draw to be honest. If we have a bad game this leg, Wenger still has the option of strengthening the team with a few more established team players for the Emirates tie.

The team is quite difficult to predict as I am unsure of the fitness of Ljungberg, Gallas and Djourou. The only players I am sure will start are Almunia, Hoyte, Traore, Diaby, Walcott, Denilson, Aliadiere and Baptista. I don’t know who’ll be at centre back. Djourou or Gallas will if they’re fit but otherwise I suppose it’ll be Connolly and maybe Ryan Garry? In midfield along with those other three I mentioned it’ll probably be Randall or Lansbury. Not a bad team and certainly one I am confident can beat Spurs. I have a lot of faith in our youngsters and I believe they can do well in the competition. In the other Semi it’s between Chelsea and Wycombe. They’re playing the 2nd leg at Stamford Bridge as I type; it’s currently 1-0 to Chelsea and 2-1 on aggregate to them.

The only other news is Henry saying we can still win the league and a mad story that Anelka fancies a move back to Arsenal. A bit silly you might think but with only 3 top strikers fit at the moment there may be something there but I’d prefer him to stay well away.

I’m off to cheer on Wycombe, see ya.