Arsenal defender Johan Djourou may have only slight knee injury
by Ted Harwood on Feb 9, 2011 10:31 AM EST
in Team and Club News
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According to a report in today's Guardian, Johan Djourou's knee injury might be far less severe than many Arsenal supporters first feared. If the physio for the Swiss national team is to be believed, the 24-year old center half could (emphasize "could") be back even for Wolverhampton:
...the Switzerland physio, Cuno Wetzel said: "Djourou's knee injury is clearly not as bad as first feared.
"The player suffered very painful bruising on the knee but, if the healing process runs as it should, he could probably begin training in less than one week."
If this is indeed the case, pulse rates will slow down all across North London. Arsenal's doctors have not yet examined Djourou, and there is no official word from the club itself yet. Arsène Wenger will probably play it safe and start Sebastien Squillaci and Laurent Koscielny against Wolves on Saturday, in being that the Midlands club have one of the less threatening attacks in the Premier League this year.
With Thomas Vermaelen coming nearer to fitness again, if Djourou is indeed back to full strength soon, Arsenal may (knock on wood) receive a big morale boost by the end of this month.
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well lets hope its only slight
Sagna went down with a late injury late on for France
Chuck Norris doesn't need a bat.
he just roundhouse kicks the ball out of the park.
If its a facial injury it probably won't be too bad. Long as he can see and doesn't have another concussion.
Theo was bleeding out of his eye for a bit too.
by Roa on Feb 9, 2011 5:45 PM EST up reply actions
don't know... looked across the room to see him on the ground. looked like he walked off okay.
Chuck Norris doesn't need a bat.
he just roundhouse kicks the ball out of the park.
For all of our defensive problems, Djourou has been a great development this season
And Squillaci has become the new Silvestre. It’s amazing how much worse our defense becomes when he plays with Koscielny.
But when he's with Djourou he's alright
Djourou is more open to playing deep than Koscielny, which, because of his lack of pace, is something Squillaci prefers.
Although playing deep invites pressure, it does remove the chance of getting done by balls over the top.
Also, although playing deep concedes more shooting chances, the chances aren’t as good as the ones conceded by a high line; a high line, if beaten, will concede chances close to goal; a deep line will force shots to be made from the penalty area and are easily saved.
To summarise, Djourou makes everyone better; he’s an all around defender
Squeezed to Song and Bendtner and Song and Nasri oh lovely lovely lovely!
-Peter Drury, the one time his commentating has ever been acceptable.
He's also quite good on set pieces
With his height he can get his head to balls that Koscielny or Squillaci probably can’t. It’ll be interesting to see who Wenger will pick to team with Vermaelen once he gets healthy. Koscielny was preferred earlier in the season, but has Djourou been impressive enough to drop Koscielny to the bench?
Not to mention that the Djourou-Koscielny partnership is going to be a tough one to break
My bet is Vermaelen is eased into play time this season and next season we get a healthy rotation of the 3.
The thing about Vermaelen and Koscielny
is that they’re two similar players in terms of marking style.
"He’s a clever player, quick over the ground, quick with his feet and looks to be the complete defender.
“I think we can work together well, he’s right-footed and it’s often better to play one left-footed and one right-footed defender together. That’s the boss’s choice.
we all like to mark tightly. Johan is big of course, but myself and Laurent aren’t as tall but we all look to play with our feet, and we are all quick.
“We are all quite similar so we should be able to work together well.”
From here
Squeezed to Song and Bendtner and Song and Nasri oh lovely lovely lovely!
-Peter Drury, the one time his commentating has ever been acceptable.
by Aidan Gibson on Feb 10, 2011 6:43 AM EST up reply actions
Huh. That didn't work out
Anyway, Vermaelen and Koscielny are both similar in terms of marking style, and they both like to play a high line, which helps with Arsenal’s pressing game. So, you can end up having rotation between the defenders, though, eventually you want to have a first choice of 2.
Squeezed to Song and Bendtner and Song and Nasri oh lovely lovely lovely!
-Peter Drury, the one time his commentating has ever been acceptable.
by Aidan Gibson on Feb 10, 2011 6:44 AM EST up reply actions
I am of the opinion that Djourou should be 1st choice with Vermaelen, if he every gets fit. I am a big fan having slightly differing styles at the back that two very similar players. I don’t like the idea of Kos and Verm who both attack first and can be caught out with balls over their heads, kinda like the Gallas and Toure partnership had problems.
To me Djourou and Verm or Kos could be the Arsenal replica of the Carvalho/Terry pairing at their prime, which is one of the very best ever. (and it pains me to say that to no end. I HATE Terry) If Djourou was English the entire country would be calling him the new Terry. Except he has the potential to be better.
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