Arsene Wenger has revealed the team news ahead of Arsenal’s game against Stoke City.
The manager confirmed that Mesut Ozil was back in the reckoning and could even be a surprise inclusion in the team to face the Potters.
Arsene said, “He will have a training session on Friday with the squad. He will certainly be available for selection on Sunday. Will I start him or not? I havena t decided yet.”
Regarding the rest of the squad, Arsene gave the following update.”The team news is that Ramsey (hamstring) is back in training, Ozil (knee) is back in training and Flamini (groin) is back in training. Wea ve got three players back. Welbeck (thigh) is still not available for Sunday because he is a bit short. Maybe next week he will be available. Giroud is back from suspension. So we have a bigger squad than last week.”
Whether that bigger squad will translate into 3 points is the question that will be on everyone’s mind. Fans would also be looking forward to the combination of Alexis, Cazorla and Ozil to provide some magic up front.
Regarding the impact Ozil might have on the team, Arsene said, a Ita s a frustrating season for him as he has not contributed yet. It was not a convincing start. He played six games, scored one goal against Aston Villa.
a What we pay for today is our slow start of the season because in the first six games of the season we won two games but we dropped too many points.
a There is now an opportunity to come back into the team and contribute to the team. When you are a football player you want to play games.
a He is ready. What he is is hungry. They come back from the World Cup and when you come back having won the World Cup, even if I gave them the holiday they needed, the hunger is a bit artificial.
a You have to be frustrated from competition and slowly get back to realise how much you miss it to come back to normal. I had that before with former players.
a Today he looks hungry a he worked extremely hard to come back. He really pushed himself to the limit of what you can absorb physically.a
Arsenal fans will be hoping that hunger would translate into some great performances on the pitch, with only Alexis and to an extent Cazorla the only ones who seem to be putting in flawless performances week in, week out.
