The Soccer Blog: Verma Talks About His Injury Woes; Martin Makes His Podcast Debut

Wednesday, 16 March 2011

Verma Talks About His Injury Woes; Martin Makes His Podcast Debut

By: Sairax | March 16th, 2011
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Things are pretty quiet today on the Arsenal front. We’re still waiting for confirmation of Jens Lehmann’s emergency signing. Then again, the official website tends to lag behind the rest of us on these matters so expect confirmation from them sometime in May. In any case, it looks to be set and Keown thinks it could be good for us, so expect the mad German to be on the bench this weekend.

On the injury front, we thought yesterday that Djourou would be fit sooner than later due to reports coming out of Switzerland. Turns out, we’re not that lucky. I blame all of us for thinking we could catch a break on injuries. Djourou will be undergoing shoulder surgery this weekend after dislocating it in the Man United game. After the Swiss started speculating about Djourou being back for the upcoming Swiss international friendly, Arsenal came out and strenuously denied any claims that he would be fit soon and that he will be having scans after his upcoming surgery. Thank you for crushing my hopes and dreams yet again Arsenal. Though maybe Djourou should be more careful during his extracurricular activities so as not to aggravate any existing injuries.

Thomas Vermaelen has come out and talked about his lengthy spell on the sidelines this season:

“I feel no trouble in the Achilles tendon itself, but the muscles around it still need to be made stronger,” he said. “I do not know when I will be back.

“At first they said I would need four or six weeks after the operation. But it soon became apparent that it would last longer. I’m not even in training. I’m still working on my exercises to come back. This is a tough mental test.

“I relapsed six times,” Vermaelen told the Belgium paper Het Nieuwsblad. “That was hard. Every time I had a goal to come back, but that was then broken again and again.

“I am now cautious. It is frustrating that I cannot play. I had never been injured for so long. On some days it’s mentally very tough but I see this as a test. Perhaps it is also good for my career and it will make me stronger mentally.”

The problem with Verma was that they couldn’t figure out what was causing all of the pain in his Achilles. Turns out there was a “small tendon in the same area of his leg which has no function and not all people have”. It has been removed, but he is still struggling with his fitness. Basically, don’t expect to see him this season. It ain’t happenin’. That leaves us with Kos and Squillaci. It looks like Iggy will be put in the squad as well since Arsenal are running a feature on him on the main website, which they usually do when a player is about to come into the first team. I know what you’re all thinking and all I can say right now is, take deep breaths. Inhale. Exhale. Repeat.

On Sunday, Ryo Miyaichi, who is currently on loan with Feyenoord, played on Sunday and wore a black armband in memory of all of the victims of the disaster in Japan. He has obviously been affected by the events that have been ongoing in his homeland and he had a message of support written on his shirt, which he revealed after the game. I think I speak for all of us when I say that we are all thinking of the people of Japan, including Ryo’s family and friends, and hoping for their situation to get better soon.

Last, but not least, our very own Martin of Arsenal Offside has made his podcast debut as a guest on the Arsenal Review USA pod. In this week’s edition they talk about the Barcelona match and the Man United match. You know. All that good stuff that’s been happening over the last couple of weeks. I haven’t listened to it yet, but I’m sure Martin was great, as he is every week on this blog. You can check it out here, and feel free to share it with all the gooners you know. We’re moving on up in the world!

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Some Related Stories:JET in Talks to Go to QPR on Loan; Vermaelen Injury Now “Long Term;” Cesc, Rosicky Talk Ahead of Man City ClashArsenal Deal With Injury Woes While Competing On Four FrontsAre We Seeing the “Real Arsenal”?; Verma To Have SurgeryGibbs is Back, but Verma Remains a MysteryGood Injury News on Djourou; Bendtner Calls Future in Doubt; Barcelona Give Up Pursuit of Cesc, Skeptical Question Mark?

Category: Arsenal News, Injury Report, Johan Djourou, Thomas Vermaelen

Tags: Arsenal News, Ignasi Miquel, Injury Report, Johan Djourou, Thomas Vermaelen
Tweet « Djourou to Return? | Home | Homey_MillsAnyone want to discuss the Ferguson 5 game ban? I don't think it will really hurt their results, but it made me laugh anyway.MartinGiven what happened over the course of the week since they asked me to do it weekend before last, and we actually recorded it, last weekend, I'm pretty sure I'll never be asked back, so enjoy it while it lasts.

In all seriousness, I have that thing where I can't listen to my own voice on a voice message or whatever, it makes me cringe, so I won't be able to listen to it, you guys will have to let me know how it went. My mentally-handicapped cat was being a pest the whole time and walking all around the computer -- you can probably hear his bell jingling at a couple of points. And at one point he freaked out and started chewing loudly on some plastic in the background away from the computer, so I was trying to simultaneously lean back and take the plastic away from him and keep talking close enough to the computer, so I'm sure that segment was fantastic... But Joel and Kyle were both very nice and fun to work with, so definitely keep up with them.Homey_MillsSo you really cringe when you hear your voice? That's ok. I cringe when I hear your voice too. Whhaaahahaha.MartinMy ex used to say the same thing.SairaxJust finished. Dammit you didn't give me shoutout! *shakes fist*MartinWell, I did give you a big plug at the end, and my funniest line was a cheap dig at Canada, but they must have edited it because the question and answer type stuff was over and we were kind of just talking at that point -- but I said they should definitely try to get you on at some point, and they said probably would.SairaxCouldn't resist a dig at Canada eh? ;)Sairaxhahaha my cat bothers me when I write the blog sometimes so I feel your pain!

Listening right now, you're doing great. And whoever said you had a thick accent is a weirdo. It's like that time this girl told me she doesn't use ketchup because she finds it "too spicy". Seriously though, I'm enjoying it, well done!MartinFor background, she was from New Jersey, and claimed that people from New Jersey did not have accents. So that probably explains a lot.Homey_MillsPodcast? Wow. Pretty soon the Martin won't be able to walk down the street without being mobbed by fans.RedCapedWonderThe Martin just sounds so cool.SairaxHappy 22nd Birthday Theo!blog comments powered by Disqus