When Robin van Persie was stretchered off ten minutes into The Netherlands’ friendly against Italy on Sunday I, like many other Gooners, feared the worst. Just as Arsenal’s talismanic striker was hitting his straps and finally building towards a truly injury-free season, he was scythed down by defender Giorgio Chiellini and left in a crumpled heap.

It looked bad immediately, and in the days that followed there were a slew of hyperbolic headlines proclaiming that van Persie would be out for the season, or ‘months’ at best.

Now the dust has settled it seems as the injury to van Persie (who has scored eight goals in his last eleven matches) is not as serious as first thought. Speaking to Dutch television station NOS, the 26-year-old said “The prognosis is that I will be out for four to six weeks”. The official word is that van Persie has suffered a partial ligament tear and will be treated in Amsterdam by renowned ankle specialist Professor Niek van Dijk.

While van Persie’s injury is far from good news for Arsenal fans, it does not signal the end of the Gunners’ recent streak of form. Manager Arsene Wenger must motivate the rest of his side, particularly the likes of Eduardo, Nicklas Bendtner and Carlos Vela, to step up and fill the void in RvP’s absence.

This injury has provided Eduardo the platform he will need to finally string a run of games together as striker. The Crozilian hitman has only featured sporadically up front (mostly off the bench), with the bulk of his appearances coming in more of a wide forward role. Eduardo can do a job on the flank, however this wide position does not give him the opportunity to showcase what he is best at – finding space in the box and finishing.

With Theo Walcott still nursing a knee complaint and Nicklas Bendtner needing another month to recover from groin surgery, the Gunners will be short of firepower up front. As well as Eduardo, the likes of Arshavin and Fabregas must continue their fine form and compensate for van Persie’s absence.

The ability to remain strong in the absence of key players is the hallmarks of a champion squad, and Arsene Wenger must motivate his assemblage of superstars to bounce back from this latest bunch of injuries if they wish to maintain their quest to bring home the first piece of silverware since 2005. If anyone can do that its Monsieur Wenger, and I have full faith that this talented squad can band together and mount a real title challenge.

This entry was posted on Monday, November 16th, 2009 at 12:33 AM and is filed under Arsenal, Arsène Wenger, Eduardo, Robin van Persie. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.