Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has revealed why he played Brazilian full-back Andre Santos in the match against Olympiakos in the Champions League.
The left-back ended up getting a serious ankle injury prompting many to voice their concern at why Wenger played our only fit natural full-back in essentially a game worth nothing to the gunners.
Wenger said on the situation:
I took a gamble because I did not want to be accused of just throwing the game away and I felt that therefore you needed a solid defence. I wanted to be fair to the competition.
Analysing him he came [into the squad] later and played less games than the others, and that’s why I played him. But I had a long hesitation before I picked him, believe me.
I felt he was a bit tired in the game before, and he had problems finishing the game. The way it happened to him it could have happened to anyone. It was not a kick, there was no contact, he was just on his own. He ruptured his ligament.
It is very disappointing because it is first of all sad for the player and sad for the Club. It hits us in a position where we of course already have many injuries and where he improved from game to game.
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The length of the injury is very sad as well because he is three months out. The only good news is that the surgery went well and so he should recover quickly.
The Brazilian faces a lengthy three months on the sidelines, but the good news is that Gibbs is ready to return in approximately a weeks times. But with his horrendous injury history one feels that it will only be a matter of time before he finds his way to the injury table again. But hopefully he can stay fit for a long period of time! He is definitely a player that needs to get some consistent playing time considering his history.
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