Arsenal legend Paul Merson believes that his former side could not afford to lose Francis Coquelin but having done so, must learn to cope without him for the next three months.
The Frenchman injured himself going into a tackle with Claudio Yacob and damaged ligaments in his knee – an injury which Arsene Wenger admitted will keep him out for three months.
With the Gunners suffering a torrid time with injuries – the likes of Jack Wilshere, Tomas Rosicky, Danny Welbeck, Theo Walcott and Mikel Arteta are all out injured while Aaron Ramsey and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain are expected to make their Premier League return this weekend, Merson has questioned why it has become a reoccurring issue for the north London side.
Arsenal have to win this. I said that last week and they lost, but this is a similar game. They will miss Francis Coquelin. For all the talent they have in the team they couldn’t afford to lose him.
Every year with Arsenal, it’s the injuries. It’s not just once, this is all the time. I know Arsene Wenger doesn’t run them into the ground in training sessions. Wenger is very good with sport science, he isn’t one of those managers who will tire them.
Are they unlucky? Are the pitches too hard? Coquelin’s was unlucky, but look at Theo Walcott and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain’s muscle injuries, I don’t think they were unlucky. That’s just not good preparation. That’s not unlucky, you shouldn’t be pulling muscles.
However, Merson believes that Arsenal will beat Norwich City on Sunday by three goals to nil, claiming if they ‘get going’, Alex Neil’s side will stand no chance.
But if Arsenal get going I think they’ll have too much for Norwich.
The Gunners go into the game on Sunday knowing that if other results go their way, they could be top of the Premier League table by the end of gameweek 14.
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