Arsenal winger Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain will almost certainly miss the remainder of the 2013 season with the knee injury that he picked up on the first day of the season against Villa.
The 20-year-old has not played since the 3-1 defeat at the Emirates, when he was substituted after assisting Olivier Giroud’s opening goal, however the injury is taking longer than expected to heal according to The Sunday People.
The Ox will not be allowed to train with the Gunners until the middle of December, making it almost a certainty that he will not pull on the red strip again in 2013.
Oxlade-Chamberlain has made 60 appearances for Arsenal since his move as a 17-year-old from Southampton in 2011, earning himself an impressive 13 senior England caps to go with 12 caps at U18, 19 and 21 levels.
With 3 goals to his name for the Three Lions, including a fantastic goal in the Maracana against Brazil, he had been tipped to make the trip back to South America for the 2014 World Cup.
However with his injury setback, and place in the team far from secured, AOC faces a huge task to be on the flight to the World’s biggest competition.
With the media hyping over the emergence of Spurs’ Andros Townsend, along with established wingers James Milner and Ashley Young vying for places, the competition out wide is beginning to hot-up.
Winger Adam Lallana was handed an international debut in Friday’s 2-0 defeat to Chile, which also saw Southampton teammate Jay Rodriquez operates from the left at times. Raheem Sterling, Aaron Lennon and Adam Johnson may all make late charges for the position.
And with Arsenal’s midfield bulging larger than ever, with a long list of star players manning the same spaces on the park, this injury setback could be an even bigger blow for the Golden Boy 2013 nominee.
Rambo hit by flu’.
Another star of Arsenal’s midfield, Aaron Ramsey, missed out on international duty this week as he sat out of Wales’ 1-1 draw with Finland due to an illness.
A sickness bug had swept the Arsenal camp before the 1-0 defeat to Manchester United last week, leaving players such as Per Mertesacker and Mkel Arteta feeling worse for wear, but it was a hamstring injury that kept Ramsey out as his side conceded a 90th minute equaliser.
Ramsey has been one of Arsenal’s best performers this season, and is the League’s highest scoring midfielder - and Chris Coleman was under no illusions that his absence would go unnoticed:
“Aaron arrived with flu. He was ill last week before the Manchester United game, as were a lot of the Arsenal lads. He didn’t improve and could not finish the training session on Friday. The way he’s been playing, he’d be a miss for any team.”
However contrary to Coleman’s claims and the claims of the media, Ramsey took to his personal Twitter account to explain that a hamstring injury was the real reason behind his absence:
“Gutted to miss the game yesterday,my hamstring was tight after training. Medical staff didn't want to risk me,will be fine for next weekend” He tweeted.
The Wales captain should be fit and ready to face Southampton next weekend.
Per recovers for Wembley
The sickness bug meant that German centre-half Per Mertesacker missed his country’s match with Italy in midweek.
The game ended 1-1 – coincidentally with German centre-half Mats Hummels scoring – with Mertesacker watching from the sidelines as Joachim Loew’s side ground out the draw.
However better news is that Mertesacker will be fit to face England on Tuesday in the rivalry clash at Wembley, meaning he will also be fit for the Southampton game next week having missed the games at Old Trafford and the San Siro.
He joined up with the squad in London today, yet domestic teammate Mesut Ozil is unlikely to appear as German coach Loew has claimed he will “try new players” before the World Cup.
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