The least worrisome international break ever

Sure, the statement in the headline might be a bit of an exaggeration but here we are, halfway through the international break and I am yet to break a sweat. There was a little bit of tenseness in the stomach upon hearing the news of Bacary Sagna’s hamstring tweak but aside from that, nada.

With just nine Arsenal first-team regulars on international duty and heavyweights like Cesc Fabregas, Thomas Vermaelen and Robin van Persie sitting in bubble wrap at home, this international break has been less stressful than any other I can recall since the start of the Arsenal FC Blog.

What’s more, the extra rest and recuperation given to the injured players who have stayed in London means our squad will be in good shape come Birmingham in a week’s time and in arguably the best shape it has been in so far this season when we travel to Manchester City a week later. By then Fabregas and Vermaelen should be back while van Persie, Walcott, Gibbs and even Nicklas Bendtner will be knocking on the door.

It is not uncommon for twenty Arsenal players to go out on international duty, with Manuel Almunia and Denilson usually left behind, but this time things are different. Leaving aside the injured players our two first-choice goalkeepers have stayed in London, as have all of our central defenders. Alex Song has not traveled, Carlos Vela has not traveled and it all leads to a fresher-than-usual squad in a week’s time.

For the players who did travel the results have been spectacularly positive.

Rosicky’s Czech Republic edged Scotland 1-0. Arshavin captained Russia to a 3-2 win in Ireland. Nasri, Clichy, Diaby and Sagna’s France beat Romania 2-0. Eboue and his Ivory Coast buddies won 1-0 in Burundi. Chamakh’s Morocco beat Tanzania 1-0. Even Jack Wilshere and Henri Lansbury’s England U21 side beat Romania 2-1.

In other words: every single Arsenal player on display this week has been part of a victorious side.

Thoughts?

Have your say on the international break by leaving a comment.

Loading...

Comments

  1. Having all been part of a victorious side it will inevitable boost the morale of the players who took part, in the particular the four frenchies who’ve battled to come over a troublesome start to the qualifiers. They didn’t concede which is great for the defenders, and Nasri finally back in the French squad had a brilliant nearly bagging in a splendid goal. Great stuff, can’t wait for the Birmingham game.

  2. I watched the France vs Romania match. Samir was very good in the first half and Gael had a reasonably good game, even the commentators admitted it. Apart from them I really liked both goalkeepers (Lloris and Pantilimon)!!! Arsene should watch these guys. Apart from the 2 goals Pantilimon looked excellent. Please watch this. The guy is on the ground and still fighting!!!

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=exZYyWWxe88

    Maybe the 1st goal was his fault to a certain extent, but had no chance to save the 2nd. I hope Bacary Sagna is not injured badly. He’s an unsung hero of our team.

  3. It’s great news if we can get away with zero injuries during one of these international breaks – first time I can remember it happening in a long time. And I think we’ll need all the lucky breaks we can get as Birmingham, looking to kick-start their own season, will come to the Emirates emboldened by our recent disappointing league results. They will arrive armed with the knowledge that if teams like Sunderland and WBA can get a result against us by playing genuine football rather than rugby, then they will have every chance. And whilst the fans of Liverpool and Man IOU will be anxious this week about their club’s fortunes, should we fail to get anything other than a decent win against the Brummies, we could well end up with a mini-crisis of our own albeit one based on confidence rather than finance/ownership etc. And I think we will know within ten minutes of Saturday’s game kicking off which way it will go so yep, great news we have managed to avoid more injuries …

  4. @ Carlos – Nice video but I think it cuts off the second goal? Nasri went VERY close to scoring, a sneaky little finish under the goalkeeper who just got in the way. Well done to France though.

  5. Unfortunately you’re right about the 2nd goal. Also I did not find Karim Benzema’s shot that hit the post (from outside). Yes. Samir had a good game. I never thought I would support the France national team, but I really did yesterday. I only missed Sagna from the team.

    The link about both goals: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qpOdqflSNvQ

  6. Scrolling and rolling through the NewsNow headlines I was intrigued to see one of the top stories in the last couple of days was one that involved Lassana Diarra ‘demanding a January move to Arsenal or Tottenham’.

    It was from the Metro newspaper and I would to know how the story came about. Could it be possible that Diarra would come back to the Arsenal? I can’t see it. But would I have him back? I’m not sure!

    I know he was a little fucker when he was here but if he had been a little more patient I have no doubt he would have developed into one of the top defensive midfielders in the world and been a crucial player for us.

    I could kind of understand why he wanted to leave us after only five months at the club. It must of been frustrating to sit on the bench despite having obvious quality.

    He was in the same situation at Chelsea before he joined us so he probably felt he was just switching one bench for another. The splinters in his arse must have been excruciating.

    I think Arsene Wenger dropped a bit of a clanger here. Despite the fact Mathieu Flamini was playing out of his skin, Diarra should have been given more game-time because Flamini’s future wasn’t secure at Arsenal as his contract was running out at the end of the season.

    Since his departure Lassana Diarra has been less than complimentary about Arsene Wenger. That’s what makes this story about him coming back appear more fishy to me than Diarra’s dolphin shaped head.

    He seems to get upset when he isn’t played and is up to the same tricks now at Real Madrid. Threatening to leave another club again gives me the impression he throws his toys out the pram rather quickly.

    The question I’d like to ask is would you take him back? On the pitch I rate him very highly and in my opinion he is one of the best in his position. The question is his attitude. It’s clear he can be a petulant little bastard but I think if he is playing regularly then you wouldn’t get a peep from him.

    I’d take him on loan, if possible, to test the attitude

  7. re: Diarra
    how many clubs has this player graced in the past five years? He seems to be a disruptive talent and not suited for Arsenal.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.