The Soccer Blog: Djourou to Return?

Tuesday, 15 March 2011

Djourou to Return?

By: Martin | March 15th, 2011
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Didn’t see this coming.

Apparently Johan Djourou has undergone a whole battery of tests after his injury against Manchester United, which Arsene Wenger said after the match would keep him out for the rest of the season, back in his native Switzerland. And the Swiss FA are now saying that the injury was not as serious as originally feared and believed. They say that while the shoulder is dislocated, there is no bone or nerve damage, and the ligament damage is not as serious as previously thought. And they’re actually saying that he may be available for Switzerland’s friendly match on March 26.

It’s hard to know what to believe at this point. But you’ll recall that back in February against Newcastle, Djourou injured his knee and it looked quite bad as he limped off (his absence was a big reason we dropped 2 points that day, remember). The Swiss FA originally posted a statement to their website that he was out a month, but quickly took it down after only leaving it up a few hours. A few days later they said the injury was not that serious, and he was actually back within a week. So we’ve been down this road a little bit with them before. I don’t know — maybe it’s because the Swiss seem like a no-nonsense, trustworthy bunch, and I can’t think of any reason they would have to put out inaccurate information on a player’s injury, but I’m hopeful about this. If he can come back after the international break for our final 9 matches, that would be a massive, massive lift to the squad. So let’s keep our fingers crossed, yeah?

Elsewhere, while nothing official has been announced, it does appear that the Lehmann thing is actually going to happen. And it must be said, he’s saying all the right things — he has said that we can still win a title, and that there is no competition between him and Almunia, that he is just here to be a back-up, etc. While he is a fierce competitor and I’m sure deep in his heart he wouldn’t mind playing in some key matches down the stretch for Arsenal, it’s nice to hear that he understands his position and why he’s being brought in.

The more I think about this, the more I think it’s a good move. No, he’s not a world-beater; yes, I will be very concerned if we do have to rely on him. But what other options did we have? James Shea? No offense to him, but I’m not sure he’s really ever going to be Arsenal-quality, and do we really want to have to turn to a 19 year-old who has never played for the first-team in an important match at the end of the season? Any of the other emergency loan options floated around were equally uninspiring — the fact is that if any of those guys were very good, they wouldn’t be available for an emergency loan in the first place. And with an emergency loan from another club, the new player would have to get acclimated to the new club, the coaches, the facilities, his new teammates, etc., just in time for the loan to end. Whereas with Lehmann, all we have to do is set up his locker and tell him what time to show up — he knows where to park his car and where to go, he knows the coaches and the staff, and he knows most of the players on the team.

And also, the hope is that, like Slo did when he came back at the end of last season, he provides some mettle and leadership. He hopefully won’t even get on the pitch, but having a guy around who started every match for the Invincibles team, who made a number of key saves which won the FA Cup for us in 2005 when we were badly outplayed by United, can only be a good thing. He’s a link to more successful times, and he’s never been shy about expressing himself, so the hope is that he’ll give the team a bit of a lift and some experience and leadership that we may be lacking. We’ll see.

That’s about all the news we have for today — let’s all keep our fingers crossed that this good news on Djourou turns out to be credible.

And finally, just for laughs’ sake, here’s a video of Lehmann relieving himself during a match:

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Some Related Stories:Good Injury News on Djourou; Bendtner Calls Future in Doubt; Barcelona Give Up Pursuit of Cesc, Skeptical Question Mark?Ramsey And Almunia Return for Reserves — What Now?RvP Got a Dodgy Knee; Cesc Targets Barcelona ReturnWenger Considers CB Signing, Plus the Return of King HenryJack Picks the Right Role Models; van Persie Tug of War Continues; Players Return from Injury

Category: Arsenal News, Injury Report, Johan Djourou

Tags: Arsenal News, Injury Report, Johan Djourou
Tweet « The Return of Mad Jens? | Home | Zak3Great news even for neutral footy fans. What a character this guy, hope he gets some appearances just to do something crazy.SairaxUh yeah, so....BBC Sport reporting this interesting tidbit of information (from BBC Sport David):

#Arsenal say SwissFA info on Djourou "inaccurate". #Afc expect him to have surgery after seein specialist Thur + wd then miss rest of seasonMartinUgh. Damn you, Switzerland. I'm going to go steal a Swatch and pound it with a hammer.Homey_MillsMy guess is he'll be back in time to get re-injured on international duty. And then be out for the rest of the Arsenal season.mobbdeen"The Swiss seem like a no -nonsense trustworthy bunch..."

I Just had a Massimo Bussacca flashback. Ugh...MartinHmmm. Good point. In my mind's eye, I had imagined all the Swiss doctors looking exactly like Roger Federer, but Bussacca is a much scarier proposition.GunneronThe video of Lehmann pissing is just fucking Hilarious. Well it was not for nothing they called him
Mad Jens. Hope his return will bring something to the dressing room just like Sol's apparently did last seasonSairaxSpeaking of Djourou, I thought I'd share this little gem that I came across last night. I should warn you...can't...unsee...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v...tinomuvonga mAt the second time of viewing I still don't understand what I have just watched.MartinI believe, sir, that you just watched a Johan Djourou sex tape. Twice.Illinois GoonerWhat!? That was hilarious.tinomuvonga mI'll take Djourou's return with a grain of salt.
sandra350The return of Mad Jens is not only a wonderful boost to Arsenal, it's a fantastic boost for football in general just for the entertainment value.Mjc"...his absence was a big reason we dropped 4 points that day..."
It was a horrible way to snatch a draw from the jaws of victory, but I think you're exagerating the number of points dropped...!!!MartinHa, yeah -- got "dropped 2 points" and "conceded 4 goals" mixed up in my head. It's fixed now. Although it did feel like we had somehow dropped 4 points...MjcCouldn't agree more...!blog comments powered by Disqus