Morning.
Let’s start with the news that Arsenal confirmed yesterday that Gabriel Jesús had knee surgery. A statement said:
Gabriel Jesus has undergone successful surgery on his right knee after sustaining an injury during the World Cup group stage match Brazil vs Cameroon on Friday.
Gabby will now start her rehab program. Everyone at the club is rooting for Gabby and will work hard to get her back on the pitch as soon as possible.
Interestingly, there is no set timeline for his return and details of the injury itself are vague. I suspect they have a rough idea of how long that will be, the three months discussed elsewhere seems fine, but as we know Mikel Arteta doesn’t really like to share a lot of injury information. Whether it’s because they think it might affect what they want to do in the market, or because they just don’t want to say it out loud so it becomes an excuse or something, I don’t know.
Brazilian Goal have released more information, saying (via Google Translate): Gabriel Jesus had a meniscus injury and a partial collateral ligament injury in his right knee. There was no break.
The implications for Arsenal are obviously quite serious. He has been a pivotal figure in our season, for reasons that have been discussed many times, and now it will be fascinating to see what the club does in the January window. There is no doubt in my mind that we have to do something. Whether it’s another centre-forward, a winger or even both, I’m not sure, but we definitely have to react to this.
As it is, our main striker is out of action for three months, and our two main wing players are still at the World Cup with their countries. Like most of you, I’m going to be on tenterhooks every time Brazil and England play. I leave everything crossed so that Gabriel Martinelli and Bukayo Saka return without injuries, but it is possible that they can go deeper in this tournament. The World Cup final takes place on December 18, and let’s not forget there’s also a third/fourth-place playoff that could see those players involved as well. We play West Ham on December 26, and if those two are involved to the end in Qatar, there’s little chance they’ll be able to play for us on that one.
So it’s not inconceivable that we could face West Ham, with games against Brighton (A) and Newcastle (H) in quick succession, with a forward line of Eddie Nketiah, Emile Smith Rowe fit again (all going well), and, I don’t know, Reiss Nelson? As an Arsenal fan, he makes me root for France and Croatia a lot in the quarter-finals, but let’s see what happens. There’s nothing we can do by the end of December anyway, except muddle through with what we’ve got, when we know exactly who he is, but this World Cup break and these few weeks will allow us to move quickly in January.
You’ll have seen the photos and stories about Arteta and Edu spending time in the US with Stan and Josh (and Tim Lewis). Hopefully, amidst all the smiling selfies, there was some serious work on our January plans and how to deal with the absence of one of our most important players. There are moments in a season that feel pivotal, and this is definitely that.
I would also say that the absence of regular football combined with the obvious need for Arsenal to be active in the transfer market, you will see an explosion of rumors and gossip. As always, the credibility of many of these stories will be questionable, but it would also be very easy to make a decent case for interest in all types of players. That is, keep a close eye on sources that have provided good information before, and be prepared to take a lot of it with a very strong pinch of salt.
—
In the World Cup, Morocco is classified after beating Spain on penalties. I thought they could push the Spaniards to the end, and their shots from the spot were… hit. A tiny little half Panenka to win it. Oooof. The complaints from Spain after the game about the Moroccan approach really don’t convince me. If you make 1000+ passes and don’t score a goal, that’s up to you, not the opposition, which doesn’t detract from how hard Morocco worked to prevent it.
As for Portugal defeating Cristiano Ronaldo and then destroying Switzerland 6-1, you have to laugh. It’s almost like they play with a freedom and energy that you can’t get from an egomaniac of almost 40 years. Maybe there is a bit of correlation and causation, but it was a great result, and what a hat-trick for Benfica striker Goncalo Ramos. How long before he’s linked with a move on us? We need a striker, and after all he speaks Portuguese. I give it a few hours.
It also means Granit Xhaka’s World Cup is over, let’s hope he’s not too dejected by her departure. Well, that’s all for now. There’s a two-day break from the World Cup action that will need to be filled with real life and whatnot.
Good luck to all.
