Gabriel Jesus and Thomas Partey injury latest, 2023 Ballon d'Or opinion & your questions answered | Chris Wheatley Show.
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00:00 Yeah, we didn't want to gloss over that performance, but it was a pretty comprehensive win in the end.
00:05 I think there was a few notable points to kind of mention from the game.
00:09 Eddie Enquetia getting a hat-trick. He filled the boots of Gabriel Jesus pretty well.
00:15 A lot of fans not quite sure if he's ready to be that main man for Arsenal up front,
00:22 but again, he took his chance when he was given it and a really good hat-trick from him.
00:27 A couple of cameo appearances as well. Cameo goals from Fabio Vieira from the penalty spot
00:33 and Takahiro Tomiyasu, who scored a good goal. Really good all-round performance, of course.
00:40 I think Sheffield United not looking in a particularly good position right now in the Premier League,
00:46 but for Arsenal, I think they did the job. It was a good three points.
00:51 And now onto that EFL Cup game against West Ham on Wednesday.
00:56 Obviously, you mentioned that Gabriel Jesus missing at the weekend.
01:00 Eddie Enquetia stepping in to wonderful effect.
01:03 Just wondering if you've got any kind of injury update on Jesus
01:06 and when we can expect to see him back in the Arsenal shirt?
01:10 Well, luckily, Mikel Arteta has just had his press conference ahead of the West Ham game.
01:15 He's spoken a little bit about Jesus' injury.
01:18 He said he's not going to put a time frame on his return because he's did it before and he got it wrong.
01:25 So he said that there is a need for him to be cautious.
01:28 The medical team are going to be cautious with his injury.
01:32 He's pushing everybody. Jesus is pushing everybody.
01:35 He wants to be back as quickly as possible and we need him.
01:39 So not quite clear how long he's going to be out for, although in the previous press conference,
01:44 he did say Jesus is going to be out for a few weeks.
01:48 At the moment, though, we don't know exactly how long,
01:51 but it does seem like it's going to be a couple of weeks at least.
01:55 This is something we spoke about on here before, Chris,
01:58 but obviously Gabriel Jesus hasn't had the most unblemished injury record since he's joined Arsenal.
02:04 And we know that he's a wonderful player and when he is fit and firing, he's a real, you know,
02:08 admission to this side. Do you think his continued injury issues perhaps necessitate the signing of another striker
02:16 even more than they would if he were fit?
02:20 Yeah, it's a really good point, Chase. I think when you look at Jesus,
02:23 and you know, he was fantastic at Manchester City,
02:26 but perhaps there was a part of Pep Guardiola which kind of knew Jesus had a history of injury problems.
02:33 Maybe that kind of eased the pain of selling a very talented striker to Arsenal.
02:39 But you look, he's a really good player.
02:42 When he's been fit this season, he's really shown exactly how good he is.
02:46 And I think he is, if he's fully fit, can propel Arsenal to, you know, that Premier League title perhaps.
02:53 But at the moment, he's struggling again with injuries.
02:56 So, yeah, I think Arsenal will be certainly looking at least in January for that front player, that forward player.
03:04 We've already spoken about the names. Most of them are out already in the public domain.
03:10 The likes of Eve and Tony is probably the main one.
03:14 But yeah, it will be interesting to see exactly what happens in January.
03:18 But at the moment, Jesus, yeah, is just focusing on recovering from his injury.
03:24 Another man who's sort of been in and out the side this season is Thomas Party.
03:29 Obviously, we know he missed the Champions League clash last week.
03:33 Just again, wondering if you've got any sort of update on his progress and, you know,
03:37 when we can sort of expect to see him consistently back at Arsenal shirt.
03:42 Yeah, so with Jesus, it's that hamstring and with Thomas Party, it's a thigh injury.
03:48 Again, he's going to be out for a few weeks.
03:51 And yeah, it's a kind of common occurrence with these a couple of these Arsenal players
03:57 that you do seem to get these kind of muscle injuries from time to time.
04:00 Party in particular has had a lot of injury problems since he joined Arsenal.
04:05 You do wonder as well if that will factor into Mikkel Arteta's thinking in the summer transfer window.
04:12 Perhaps there was a lot of interest in Party from Saudi Arabia in the summer.
04:17 There was a lot of rumours, a lot of talk.
04:19 But in the end, Arteta said, you know, there was no chance that he was going to leave.
04:23 He's an important part of the team.
04:25 And in fact, Arteta said that again in his press conference today.
04:28 He said that he's a really important player and they're going to push him to get him back
04:34 as soon as possible.
04:36 So he's out for a few weeks, Thomas Party.
04:38 Fortunately for Arsenal, they have a lot of good midfield options, don't they?
04:42 After signing Declan Rice in the summer.
04:44 They've got the likes of Martin Oerdegaard, who's suffering from a minor knock as well.
04:48 But they do have a lot of options there.
04:50 And then Fabio Vieira, as I mentioned, came on against Sheffield United and scored.
04:55 So lots of options in that area.
04:58 Obviously, it's a bit of a tricky question, this one, Chris.
05:01 But, you know, you talk about the sort of repeated muscular injuries that we're seeing
05:05 in Arsenal players.
05:06 To an extent, is that unfortunate?
05:09 Or do you think that there is maybe something to be said about the sort of workload that
05:12 they're being put through, potentially the manner in which they're training, perhaps?
05:16 Yeah, I mean, it's difficult to say, to be honest, without being in those Arsenal training
05:22 sessions.
05:23 But I do feel like it's a kind of bigger picture thing to look at in the Premier League.
05:29 There's been a lot of injuries this season, even last season, a lot of muscular injuries.
05:34 And I think a part of that is because of the scheduling.
05:38 Players play so many games for club and country.
05:41 So Premier League players, of course, most of them are international players.
05:45 I think that is definitely one of the reasons behind it, you know, the scheduling.
05:50 The training, though, that's something which is kind of difficult to assess without being
05:55 in those kind of sessions.
05:56 But we know that Mikko Latté is an intense coach.
05:59 I think his sessions are really dependent on the fixtures.
06:03 Like most coaches, if they have more than one game in a week, the players probably don't
06:07 train as hard.
06:09 So, look, I think with Partey, for example, he's a player who's getting into his 30s now.
06:13 So I think that might have something to do with it.
06:16 But he didn't have many injury problems at Atletico Madrid.
06:19 It's worth noting that.
06:21 But yeah, of course, it's an interesting point to look at.
06:24 But at the moment, I think Arsenal have done OK with injuries.
06:27 They've had that unfortunate ACL injury to Uri and Timba on the first game of the season.
06:33 But other than that, I think they've been OK with injuries so far.
06:38 But, you know, these kind of muscular problems, they do always seem to come about in November,
06:43 December time when the schedule gets a bit tough.
06:47 And just quickly, obviously, you mentioned there Martin Urdekard carrying a bit of a
06:51 minor knock.
06:52 Are there any other sort of press and injury concerns for Arsenal at the moment?
06:55 Have they got a relatively clean bill of health?
06:59 Yeah, relatively clean bill of health.
07:02 I think at the moment it will be maybe a few changes for that West Ham game on Wednesday
07:09 night.
07:10 It's a Carabao Cup, last 16 tie.
07:12 I'm sure Arsenal will want to go all the way.
07:14 Mikel Arteta has probably seen the remaining teams in the pots.
07:20 And I think Arsenal probably almost certainly one of the favourites to win the trophy.
07:25 So he's not going to go too weak.
07:27 But looking ahead to that game against Newcastle on Saturday, I think there will be at least
07:33 a couple of changes.
07:34 But Declan Rice, Mikel Arteta did say he's likely to play against this former club.
07:39 So that would be an interesting one to look out for.