If there was a single dampener to the win over Liverpool on Saturday, it would be the injury picked up by Kieran Gibbs. Arsenal’s left back went down after 78 minutes with a calf injury and could be missing for the match against Dortmund.
Whilst Jack Wilshere was ruled out of the Liverpool game on Saturday morning with an ankle problem.
After the Liverpool game, Wenger addressed the press and gave an update on the two injuries.
‘Jack has an inflamed ankle,’ Wenger explained,‘Will he be available for Wednesday? I do not know. We will have to wait until Monday to see. Gibbs has a calf problem. I don’t know exactly how bad it is.’
Hopefully both of them can be fit for the crucial game on Wednesday. As seen against Liverpool, our midfield did a fantastic job without Wilshere but Dortmund will be a huge step up from Liverpool and we really need to be at our best. The absence of Gibbs would be more critical as Monreal is not quite at the level a player is expected to be in the Champions League. Maybe Wenger will opt to bring in Vermaelen at left back if Gibbs is still out injured.
Gibbs has had a bad run of injuries and I am scared that it could affect his career. Six years ago when Gibbs broke into the Arsenal first team, he feared for his career following a foot injury he picked up.
Gibbs said, ‘There was one point when I had a scan [on the metatarsal] and I was just waiting for the doctor to say it was all clear.
‘He rang me and said, “look we are having a bit of trouble, mate”. I just thought, “Oh God, what is he going to say? Is he going to tell me I can’t play again?” A million thoughts went through my head before he said, “You just need another surgery and we should be able to get through it”.
‘When I first got the injury there was a lot of pain but I was at a stage where the adrenaline was in me.
‘When I tried to walk, my body was telling me I couldn’t. I looked down and saw a hole in the boot and there was blood leaking out. I got in the dressing room and jumped on the bed. By then I’d calmed down and the pain really hit me.
‘They cut my boot off my foot. I looked at the injury for two seconds. It was a hole, an open wound. And then I closed my eyes until I was at hospital. I didn’t look again. I was in so much pain. I was knocking back pills for fun.
‘People say about me: “He’s a good player but he’s injured a lot”. That’s something that really frustrates a player, especially when the player in question doesn’t feel like he is injury-prone. That is one of the biggest things I wanted to correct people on. I know I can play the amount of games needed.’