Crippling Injury Crisis
As painful as losing Fabregas was, fans could take comfort in the fact that Arsenal had a ready-made replacement waiting to fill that hole in the shape of Jack Wilshere. His movement, range of passing and uncanny ability to weigh in with the odd important goal had already invited comparisons with the former skipper - something that had been recognised by then England manager Fabio Capello, who made the teenager a first choice for the national side for much of World Cup qualifying. Wilshere is a class act and the only truly word class midfielder in the current Arsenal squad (on his day,
maybe Alex Song is in that category), which meant the pre-season stress fracture injury which kept him out for the entire season was a horrific blow to the team's aspirations. Any team in the world would have missed the 2010-11 PFA Young Player of the Year, but coming along with the loss of the team's other two uber-talented midfielders was a cruel twist of fate. And one from which Arsenal did very well to recover. The newly acquired Arteta helped alleviate the burden of his absence a little, as did an improving Aaron Ramsey and the late-season rejuvenation of forgotten man Tomas Rosicky, but Wilshere's loss cast a shadow over an already gloomy campaign. And he wasn't the only one missing: France midfielder Abou Diaby also spent the season on the treatment table, Gervinho was taken out of the team by injury, suspension and the Africa Cup of Nations, whilst Arsenal underwent a torrid mid-season dip in form as the direct result of losing ALL their full-backs. Alex Santos, Kieran Gibbs, Carl Jenkinson and Bacary Sagna (now injured again) were all in and out of the side (usually out) meaning that various centre-backs and youth team players were forced to make a go of it out of position. Still, no matter how bad it got, at least Wenger avoided having to play Sebastien Squillaci...