Arsenal: Mesut Ozil, Injuries and Cup Ties From Hell

Now that Arsenal are officially out of the UEFA Champions League for yet another season, the Gooners can focus on the two other trophies they have a chance of obtaining this season, the FA Cup and the English Premier League title.

Obviously the FA Cup is going to be the easier of the trophies Arsenal can win this season, but any Gooner will tell you they would rather the EPL title than an FA Cup title, but after 9 years with out a trophy, we will take anything at this point. 

But between tough cup-ties, injuries, inconsistency and a lack of intensity in certain games that is puzzling, this second half of the season has been one of the more stressful one for us Gooners. 

I am not sure how serious it is but it seems that Mesut Ozil is not only a “flop” as per this absolutely abhorrent and foolish newspaper back page from the UK:

but he may be out for a few weeks do to a hamstring injury.

Bad news is we need all the players we can get right now because not counting Ozil we are already missing Jack Wilshere, Theo Walcott, Yaya Sanogo, Aaron Ramsey, Kieran Gibbs and Nacho Monreal with injuries. How many injuries can one team sustain and really fight for trophies?

Well I guess we will find out this season, much like we find out every season because the injury bug always seems to hit Arsenal harder than most. 

The only good new is that with the hamstring injury Ozil will get a rest and he will be out of the media’s cross hairs for a while.

Lucky for me I live in the U.S. so Arsenal coverage here is literally non-existent unless something crazy happens like the Alan Pardew head-butt a couple of weeks back.

So living here I am in my own Arsenal hatred immune bubble, but the players and fans from overseas aren’t so lucky.  

With the injury Ozil will be back in a few weeks and it will be long enough for the media to hopefully calm themselves because the Gooners should be doing well upon his return. 

Then we come to the question about how well in fact the Gooners will be doing in the League once Ozil and Ramsey come back from injury. Arsenal’s road through the Champions League and FA Cup has not been an easy one.

Here are the teams Arsenal have faced in both cup competitions thus far: 

Champions League: Napoli, Borussia Dortmund, Olympique Marseille and of course the best team in Europe, FC Bayern Munich. We were drawn in the toughest group then we had the pleasure of meeting the holders in the very next round. Fun. 

FA Cup: Tottenham, Liverpool, Everton and by some miracle avoided playing Manchester City because Wigan pulled off the victory. 

The cup competitions haven’t been kind to Arsenal but with an easier road to the Final at Wembly Stadium, both the Semi-final and Final will be in London so Arsenal will not have to travel.

Although the FA Cup is the best shot of Arsenal ending their trophy drought, the Premier League crown is the trophy I really want this season. Because even if Arsenal win the FA Cup which is not a certainty, the talk will be that Arsenal won the lesser of the treble trophies. 

But how realistic is winning the league? First, Arsenal sits 3^rd on the table, which is actually 4^th because Man City has 3 games in hand on leaders Chelsea, and two games in hand on Arsenal and Liverpool.

We’ve already taken our thumping from Liverpool at Anfield and we’ve also taken our thumping at the Etihad, so both of those places are out of the way.

The best thing Arsenal have working in their favor is both Chelsea and City have to go to Anfield, and with Liverpool only being in one competition this entire season, they are always fully rested and ready to go.

The more dropped points that our rivals have against each other the better we are. 

There is still hope for two trophies this season and obviously I want the lads to hoist the EPL title over the FA Cup, but as long Arsenal win any trophy this season I will be a happy supporter and hope they build on this season. Heads up Gooners, we still have a lot of season left to play. 

And as always, “In Arsene We Trust.”

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