Van Persie & Metatarsals

It was announced after the game that Robin Van Persie had fractured his foot when scoring the goal. So that explains the limping afterward and the fact that he wasn not really much involved. Arsene Wenger said he had hoped not to use him because of his ankle injury, but now he's out for at least 6 weeks with his 5th metatarsal fractured. No one knows exactly how it happened, but it did, and it brings up the immediate question of whether Van Persie's equalising goal was worth not having him for a few months. I'd say yes.

Footballers and metatarsals are funny things. Some of the most high profile injuries have been metatarsal related - David Beckham before the 2002 World Cup when Aldo Duscher of Deportivo crunched into him during the Champions League, and and Wayne Rooney before the 2006 World Cup when he went down in a heap after a tackle by Paulo Ferreira. The whole of England gasped and sighed in 2002, and they did it again in 2006, because their heroes were endangered. Eventually both Beckham and Rooney were declared "fit" for each of those tournaments, but it didn't matter because England were pure crap anyways.

In the spirit of good old jingoism, the BBC prepared this great page on metatarsal injuries in football. It's worth a read.

It's bad news for Arsenal, because Van Persie is the top scorer this season, and he's score some crucial, crucial goals. He's also the only left-footed attacking player, and that balance will be missed. The problem with this type of injury is also that the healing times are crazily inconsistent. 6-8 weeks is supposed to be a sort of predicted recovery period, but means nothing. Here's why:

David Beckham (2002): Second metatarsal - predicted 6 weeks returned 7 weeks later
Gary Neville (2002): Fifth metatarsal - predicted 6-8 weeks returned 21 weeks later
Danny Murphy (2002): Second metatarsal - predicted 6 weeks returned 21 weeks later
Scott Parker (2004): Second metatarsal - predicted 8 weeks returned 34 weeks later
Steven Gerrard (2004): Fifth metatarsal - predicted 6-8 weeks returned 10 weeks later
Wayne Rooney (2004): Fifth metatarsal - predicted 8 weeks returned 14 weeks later
Ashley Cole (2005): Fifth metatarsal - predicted 6-8 weeks returned 12 weeks later
Michael Owen (2006): Fifth metatarsal - predicted 6-8 weeks returned 17 weeks later

So it's quite possible that RvP's season could be over. We will just have to wait and see (and hope).

Arsene Wenger has said in the past how he is very critical of bladed boots (like the Adidas ones), because they can cause injury, and Ashley Cole and Gael Clichy both had identical injuries wearing those boots. Rooney did too, and so did Roy Keane, so there is something in that. Footy Boots has done a great overview of the bladed boots/injuries extravaganza that is worth a read. They say that the ongoing tendency to make boots more and more lightweight and flexible has basically contributed to more injuries because of lack of support of the foot. If you've bought boots consistently over the last 10-15 years, then it's something you'd definitely notice.

Footy Boots: "The metatarsal injury was unheard of years ago, now with modern ligtweight foortball boots its responsible for 30% of long term injuries."

Anyhow, the good news (sort of) for Arsenal fans is that this is the one position for which there is great competition. After Henry and Adebayor, there's Baptista and Aliadiere. Just last week Wenger was saying how he wished he could give Ali more playing time and how he needed chances to show how good he is, and this will have opened the door. Baptista has been hungry and waiting as well, and this will help. Theo Walcott can (and probably will eventually) play as a striker, so there's no lack of options. Van Persie will certainly be missed, but this is a great chance for the other lads to stake a claim. Especially Aliadiere who has been unfortunately beset by injuries and rubbish loan moves throughout his career. He is the king of the reserves and the Carling Cup, but he needs to start having an impact in the league.