As I’m sure you’ve heard, Van The Man Persie looks like he’s out for around 6 weeks after getting injured on International duty playing for Holland. He suffered ankle ligament damage after a challenge from Italy’s Chiellini only 10 minutes into the match. I haven’t seen the incident myself, so can’t really comment on whether you could class it as reckless, or whether it was just an accident.
But I suppose that doesn’t really matter – the bottom line is Robin will be out over the festive period.
And with Bendtner out, it’s time for Eduardo to lead the line.
During the start of the season when Eduardo was playing (usually on the left of a 3 man attack) I always though he would be more suited playing down the middle. But obviously that was Van Persie’s role so he wasn’t going to get much action in that position.
But now you would have to assume (with Bendtner, Vela and Theo also out) that he’s going to have a long run as our target man.
And is that such a terrible thing?
Eduardo is a wonderful finisher and you can tell he’s still finding his feet this season, so to speak. His application and positioning has been good but his finishing (by his standards anyway) has been poor. Against Spurs, he had three decent opportunities to get on the score sheet and a typical Eduardo would have buried all three. So hopefully being the main man and having players like Fabregas and Arshavin providing top class service will mean he won’t take long to get his form back.
As they say, form is temporary but class is permanent.
Injuries are a part of football, so we have to prove we have the squad to compete at the very top.
There’s no doubt that Robin has been a massive part of our good form this season (with a reported 8 goals and 8 assists already) but I am confident that Eduardo can fill that void.
In November and December the football gets tighter and tighter, and Eduardo’s killer finishing will be needed more than ever.
But can Eduardo (and Rosicky) handle 3 games in 7 days, week after week? I have my doubts.
I share your concerns. Eduardo has not been finishing just like Eduardo of old and I am VERY concerned. In the past, you would stake your house, wife and dog that he’d score when he’s on on one with a goalkeeper…not these days
RVP has been immense so far this season and losing him during the most congested period of fixtures is definitely a blow.
I really hope a run of games as the first choice striker will help Eduardo recover some of his form… I just hope all these injuries don’t reveal the frailties in the depth of our squad.