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Arsenal captain Per Mertesacker could be forced to start FA Cup final
Captain Per Mertesacker could be forced to make his first start for more than a year in Saturday’s FA Cup final against Chelsea amid a deepening defensive crisis at Arsenal.
Gabriel and Laurent Koscielny were both effectively ruled out immediately after leaving the pitch against Everton on Sunday – and their respective absence has now been confirmed – but, worryingly, Shokdran Mustafi, is still not back training following a suspected concussion eight days ago.
Mustafi finished the match against Sunderland and even spoke to the media after the game but has not subsequently trained after complaining of feeling ill. The Football association’s very clear message on the subject of concussion is, ‘If in doubt, sit them out’ and there are clear guidelines over a graduated return to play. At amateur level, players should rest for at least 14 days before attempting to return.
At an ‘enhanced care settling’ of a Premier League football club, there is still a five-day process, beginning once a player is symptom-free with light training moving through football-specific exercise, non contact and then full-contact practice before playing on the fifth day. As of Wednesday morning, Mustafi did not appear to have been back on the training pitch and certainly not with the Arsenal squad. “We still have some worries,” said manager Arsene Wenger. “He’s still sick at the moment and has not trained yet.”
Arsenal had also made an exceptionally ambitious appeal of Koscielny’s red card against Everton on Saturday – which was predictably turned down – and it was also confirmed today that Gabriel’s season is over.
“Gabriel is out for six to eight weeks,” said Wenger. “We had a scare about his cruciate, but it’s only a knee ligament, so the positive is that he avoids surgery. He’s out until the beginning of August now.” Wenger did say that Alexis Sanchez was “all right”, albeit subject to a final fitness test, and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain is back training but it is the defensive crisis that will most worry Wenger.
Nacho Monreal and Rob Holding are now certain to start but, should Wenger want to retain his three-man defence, he must turn to Mertesacker.
The German has played only 37 minutes this season - against Everton on Sunday – following knee surgery last summer. Wenger says that he will assess training right up until Saturday morning before deciding whether to go back to a four-man defence.
Arsenal have won eight out of nine games since switching to a 3-4-2-1 formation that has particularly also helped the wing-backs in Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Hector Bellerin, as well as the two central midfielders in Aaron Ramsey and Granit Xhaka.
“It just shows you how unpredictable football can be because we played at home, your mind is on attacking, and on the day we lost two centre backs,” said Wenger. “It’s absolutely unbelievable and unpredictable, and we have been hit hard in a position where we will need to be strong on Saturday. We’ll have to find solutions and hopefully I will find the good solutions.”
Wenger also admitted that he had been pleased to receive the emphatic backing this week from Sir Alex Ferguson to remain Arsenal manager. “It’s welcome, because he knows the difficulty of the job,” said Wenger. “He is maybe the greatest manager that has worked in England. We had a few big rivalries but time has ended all that and I think we have a big respect. I have a big respect for him and I think he, as well, respects what I have done in the game.” And could Wenger also last 26 years at one club? “I don’t think I’ll match him on that front," he said. "But he did extremely well and what he did in 26 years is absolutely exceptional because you look at what’s happening in the game, usually the average life expectancy of a manager these days in 18 months. So our total is quite unusual.”
Wenger was also again vague on whether he will remain Arsenal manager beyond Sunday. “It will not be my last match anyway, because I will stay, no matter what happens, in football,” he said. “I want to win the cup for my club and that’s all I care about. It’s not about me, it’s about us winning the trophy and giving absolutely everything to achieve it. I don’t care about me, I care about us winning the game on Saturday.”