Is it something more than just bad luck causing Arsenal’s injury problems?

Over previous seasons Arsenal have had large amounts of bad luck with injuries. Only last season, Robin Van Persie broke his metatarsal just as he was hitting top form and missed the second half of the season. William Gallas got an injury that mysteriously kept him out for months. This led to a defence that had no stability and little depth. The season before Abou Diaby suffered a horrific injury and Lauren missed most of the season. The season before Gilberto suffered a strange back injury that perplexed many experts and he was kept on the sidelines for months. Now is this bad luck, or is there something more in it? The two possible answers could be: Wenger picks out injury prone players in the transfer market or the arsenal physios and staff at the training ground and the complex itself needs sorting.

Both points have different things backing them up. The first point about Wenger’s choice of player is an interesting one. Tomas Rosicky for example has had a bad history of injuries and rarely completes a season unscathed. Robin Van Persie has had an injury disrupt every season he has been at Arsenal Football Club. Emmanuel Eboue is very lightweight, suffering a knock away in Prague he is now out of the trip to Blackburn. Last season he went through a similar time nursing another ankle injury. Theo Walcott came to Arsenal with a partly dislocated shoulder but hopefully that is laid to bed. The list could go on but these examples alone put down a good point that Wenger has picked out light weight players. Is this his fault? Obviously it is the player himself that has the problems. If Wenger likes a player should he be put off buying him due to his past injury record? I’m sure Wenger weighs up the options before buying anyone but do you see him going anywhere near Michael Owen after his injuries? It all comes down to whether what they offer outweighs the time on the sidelines. With Rosicky it seems he can’t get a major run of games together without an injury hampering him. Therefore does he provide enough to warrant a place in the squad? That’s up to Arsene but I would be worried about the injury proneness of some of his squad.

How to address this? For a start Wenger could order his fitness team to analyse certain players completely, checking for certain problems inside the player’s body. Any muscular strain, however big or small could cause such thing. With this spotted certain treatment could well improve this players reaction to physical sport. Surely it is no coincidence certain player suffer such injuries more than others. Top doctors Arsenal could get in would at least be worth a shot at finding any troubles or differences in the make up of these players’ bodies.

The second problem could well link to this. Certain players might be more injury prone but they have to be triggered somehow. Injuries suffered at the training ground may be to do with collisions in practice. This is the player himself and their body make up as discussed. However if they suffer injuries in a massage for example then the staff member needs to be looked at. If they suffer it in the gym then their workload needs looking at. If they suffer it in the special pools and therapies at London Colney then these needs to be analysed. The luxuries the players get must not come before the success of the team and after all the players need to be on the pitch for this to happen.

Obviously luck plays a part and may be the sole reason for the countless injuries. However there must be more in it with the amount Arsenal alone seem to suffer. It could be the modern boot, a debate I do not intend to touch upon as many have already gone there with no real success. I just hope Wenger decided to give it some sort of thought, whether he changes training schedules or orders his players to wear boots from the past which offer more protection, I really don’t care as long as the players are given the best possible opportunity to get on the pitch as much as possible.