I totally stole this from "The Guardian"
Arsenal fans have presumably been waiting for information on the injury Theo Walcott sustained in the first half of Saturday’s Birmingham City match. Said information is after the jump.
According to The Guardian, scans on Walcott’s knee indicate that the winger will be out for at least a month with a medial knee injury. Said injury will also keep Walcott out of England’s friendly against Brazil, which is likely the last chance any of the England fringe players have of impressing Fabio Capello before the World Cup.
I’ve long been a believer that, no matter what sport we’re talking about, players that have an knack for getting injured will likely be injured again in the future. They’re not faking injury or without a pain tolerance or TRYING to get injured, mind you; it’s just how their bodies are built, or how they roll when they’re hit, or whatever. It’s not quantifiable scientifically, but to my mind the easiest way to figure out who’s going to miss time with injury this season is to look back two seasons and see who’s missed a lot of time with injury.
To that end, Walcott is the classic “injury prone” player. He was signed from Southampton in January of 2006, but his first action in the Premier League didn’t come until the following August, the start of the 2006-07 campaign. His major injury history since then:
- March 19th, 2007: Walcott’s first season in the Premiership is cut short when a shoulder surgery that had previously been postponed was deemed necessary.
- November 20th, 2008: Walcott dislocates his shoulder during international duty warm-ups and is out for three months.
That’s not counting a couple of ankle tweaks, a thigh strain, and last year’s knee injury in March, each of which necessitated at least a two week break.
Look, Walcott’s a good player and all; the fact of the matter is, though, that at twenty he’s already had two major shoulder surgeries and has just suffered his second knee injury of the year; at some point, the benefits of having him on the team will be underscored by the drawback of never being able to rely on his fitness. That’s hurting his chance of being on the England squad more than anything at this point.
Additionally, this adds to the already star-studded injury list that Arsenal’s compiled this season:
- Nicklas Bendtner (Groin Strain) – 10/25/09
- Gael Clichy (Ankle/Foot Injury)- 10/20/09
- Eduardo (Thigh Muscle Strain) – No return date
- Denilson (Back Injury) – 12/5/09
- Johan Djourou (Knee Injury) – 3/10/10
- Lukas Fabianski (Cartilage Knee Injury) – 10/25/09
- Samir Nasri (Broken Leg) – 10/28/09
That’s a lot of players missing, with Robin van Persie (who’s also injury prone) yet to make an appearance.
FRA-GEE-LAY
Must be Italian.