Johan Djourou could well miss the Carling Cup final against Birmingham at Wembley. The inside word from the Ems is that he will be out for at least a month – although this has yet to be confirmed by the club so don’t take this as fact (much like you shouldn’t take as fact the preposterous story in the Sun today that Cesc is going to the Chavs for £50mil). Djourou’s absense begs the question: How will we cope with Brum giant striker Nic Zigic?
Djourou has been sidelined after a knee injury he picked up against Newcastle in the traumatic 4-4 draw with the Geordies at St James’ Park on Saturday. AW had previously stated that we shouldn’t rely on the Swiss stopper playing every game because of his suspect knees but that’s what we did and look where it got us.
Still, at least the boss bought a solid central defender in the window, right? Er, no. So against Wolves on Saturday, Barcelona next midweek (surely we can overcome Orient in the FAC) and the final we can choose between either Alex Song – indeed IF he is fit in time – or Seb Squillaci partnering Kozzer at the back.
But is the ariel threat of Zigic we will miss Djourou’s ability most come February 27. It’s a nightmare scenario, isn’t it? Or am I missing something? We will be 90 minutes away from silverware and getting the haters off our back over the trophyless period and yet we go into the game weak at the back. A weakness that every fan in the land saw and urged the manager to fix in the window. Jesus H Christ.
Receive a digest of our best Arsenal content each week direct to your mailbox
