Arsenal was beaten 2-1 by West Bromwich Albion in the Premier League on Saturday and lost two more players to injuries on a day when everything went wrong for the Gunners.
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“Now we cannot change it and the only thing we can do is bounce back on Tuesday night”.
Arteta and Francis Coquelin limped off to add to Arsenal’s injury woes ahead of their must-win Champions League game with Dinamo Zagreb on Tuesday.
The emergence of Adnan Januzaj at Manchester United serves as a good reason as to why Wenger should give his youngsters a go in the Premier League.
The games do not get any easier for West Brom in the run-up to a hectic Christmas schedule.
The Gunners looked on track for a routine win at the Hawthorns as Olivier Giroud headed home the opener after 30 minutes, but the Baggies responded just moments later through James Morrison.
Prior to yesterday’s clash with West Brom, Arsenal were already missing Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain (hamstring), Danny Welbeck (knee), Tomas Rosicky (knee), Aaron Ramsey (hamstring), Theo Walcott (calf) and Jack Wilshere (ankle). The 24-year-old was pivotal for Arsenal’s upsurge over the past year and his unavailability will be felt in the defensive midfield position where he has been one of the most consistent players in the division. I believe we lost a fraction of focus when we were 1-0 up.
Early signs suggested Coquelin had damaged his knee ligaments, and Wenger has confirmed the midfielder will be out for at least two months.
The visitors continued to dominate possession and substitute Joel Campbell missed a great chance to level on 67 minutes when McClean slipped as he tried to cut out a Cazorla cross to the back post and he was left unmarked in front of goal but scuffed his shot wide. “We were 1-0 up in the 28th minute and then 2-1 down before the 45th, so our defending on that level was very, very poor”, Wenger was quoted as saying by the local media. “The lads deserve it for the effort and commitment, but we’ve played better and done better and not got the results”.
“It was a very bad afternoon for us”, said Wenger. Arteta, who came off the bench to replace the injured Francis Coquelin, fouled Salomon Rondon outside the area.
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In a desperate time like this with fixtures coming thick and fast towards the Christmas period, is now the time for Arsene Wenger to turn to his youth ranks?
