Wenger’s obsession with injury prone players
Upon hearing news of an injury to a player who plies his trade for the club you support the default reaction is to feel concern toward the victim and the state in which it will leave team. And yet when I heard that Tomas Rosicky was to be out for a further three months due to a thigh injury I felt no remorse.
It’s not because I dislike Rosicky or that he is not a good player. It is more the fact that it is no great miss to the team because the player very rarely features for the team in the first place due to a ridiculous injury record dating back to 2006, his first season at Arsenal. In short, in 10 years the man known as little Mozart has made 246 appearances on the field, starting 158 times. To put that in perspective Laurent Koscielny joined in 2010, four years after, and has 227 starts under his belt, with 233 appearances in total.
Tomas Rosicky is ruled out for up to 3 months due a thigh injury. Another to add to his collection… pic.twitter.com/y8v7lA0Xpg
— Betfred (@Betfred) February 5, 2016
So yes Rosicky has talent but I stop short of the cliched “he was a great servant to our club” accolade that most fans will undoubtedly spout. Because a servant would suggest someone who is relied upon on an every day basis in order for an establishment to run smoothly. That is certainly not the case with the little Czech midfielder. Collecting a substantial wage for spending a large amount of your employment not working is not someone I would call a servant - it is quite obviously the opposite.
I use a simplistic analogy to put this into perspective. If you go to work basically every day and yet there is a colleague who is only there a third of the time but still gets paid as much as you do (if not more), how will you feel about that situation? How will you react? Will that motivate you to work harder or work less?
But never-the-less that is not the subject’s issue, it is the issue of the manager. If someone at your place of work was taking way too much time off and halting productivity the manager would sack them and let them go. And this is where Arsene Wenger differs. Wenger hoards injured players like old newspaper clippings to remind himself that at one point in history times were better.
Wenger’s loyalty is often his biggest weakness. Instead of terminating contracts and replacing failed stars with new and improved ones he remains diligent with what he has and the ways things are. Is Arsene Wenger obsessed with injury prone players? Perhaps not, why would that be logical. What is clear is that he has a loyalty and belief in players that often extends pass rational. Rosicky isn’t alone.
Abou Diaby is perhaps the worst case in history, even worse than Darren Anderton, and yet whenever his contract came up for renewal Wenger was happy to extend his time at Arsenal despite a horrible injury record and laughable match play stats - in the 350 games Arsenal played whilst Diaby was in the squad he only managed 124 appearances, just 35%.
A list of Abou Diaby’s injuries which has kept him out for 225 weeks. [@BR_UK] pic.twitter.com/9rh2u9B4Vl — FourFourTweet (@FourFourTweet) March 31, 2015
Then there was Robin Van Persie. He was injured for the majority of his time at Arsenal before having one amazing injury free season in which he scored 30+ goals and helped Arsenal maintain their top four status. The next season he was gone to Manchester United, helping them win the league. Loyalty isn’t always repaid.
Then there is the current crop of injury prone players that remain at the Emirates; Theo Walcott, Keiran Gibbs, Mikel Arteta and Danny Welbeck. One player who I have left out is Jack Wilshere. He is Mr Arsenal, a product of the youth system but the sad news is he is a crock who rarely plays and yet he has just been handed a £110,000 a week contract. In his early years Wenger overplayed him and he is now paying the price. Thus Wenger feels obligated to extend his time at Arsenal even though he will never be an important factor on the field, this despite all his talent.
Perhaps the most blatant example of all this is when Wenger purchased a certain Kim Kallstrom in the January transfer window knowing he would be out for six weeks with a broken back. In fact, a few decent signings might have pushed the Gunners over the line. Arsenal are not the victim an unlucky injury hoodoo that rears its ugly head every season, in fact the contrary, it is often self inflicted.
