Former Arsenal midfielder Tomas Rosicky announced his retirement on Wednesday, having struggled to make an impact at boyhood club Sparta Prague during his return.
His Arsenal career was somewhat similar, as the moments of brilliance he was capable of and showed on occasion were sporadic due to his terrible luck with injuries.
That’s been somewhat of a theme with Arsenal midfielders in recent years, as the Gunners have struggled to find long-term solutions in the position because players would constantly be missing time due to injury.
Here’s a look at Rosicky and four other midfielders whose Arsenal career was blighted by fitness issues.
TOMAS ROSICKY
Rosciky joined Arsenal in 2006 and left in 2016. In those ten years, he made only 170 Premier League appearances, in a total of 246 total appearances for the club.
When fit and in form, Rosicky was a delight to watch. He could glide through midfield, finding pockets of space to receive the ball and move it on, having an eye for a killer pass. The Czech Republic international could also strike the ball powerfully with either foot and scored some excellent goals for Arsene Wenger’s side.
Unfortunately, he never completely fulfilled the promise he showed at Arsenal due to his injuries. His first season at the club was the only one where he was close to full fitness, and he never hit the 30 mark for league appearances in a season. He lost two entire campaigns to injury, meaning his undoubted class was seen only fleetingly in the Arsenal midfield.
Injuries prevented Rosicky from truly leaving his stamp on the Premier League.
SANTI CAZORLA
It might be a harsh moniker, but Santi Cazorla could easily be called the new Rosicky. The Spaniard is only four years younger than his former teammate, but the two players’ brittleness is remarkably similar.
It’s a shame, because like Rosicky, Cazorla can claim to be one of the best midfielders of his time in the Premier League. When he has been fit, Cazorla has oozed class. Louis Van Gaal made Cazorla the focus of his Manchester United team’s strategy to beat Arsenal two years ago, having Bastian Schweinsteiger man-mark the Spaniard, to disastrous results as Arsenal won 3-0 – but it was a testament to the fear factor Cazorla added.
He was also responsible for Arsenal’s best result this decade, the 2-0 away win against Manchester City in 2015, when he scored one goal and created the other, while generally running the show in a superlative performance. Alas, such displays have been few and far between since then, as he has suffered setback after setback while dealing with injuries. He hasn’t kicked a ball in anger in over a year, after suffering his latest injury in Arsenal’s Champions League win over Ludogorets last season.
Cazorla has missed the better part of the last three seasons.
ABOU DIABY
When it comes to injuries and Arsenal midfielders, no player has borne the brunt of jokes as much as Abou Diaby. He made just over 100 appearances in 10 seasons with the London club, and the remarkable thing about that statistic is that most people would be surprised to know that he even got to 100.
Diaby was signed in the 2005-06 season and immediately evoked comparisons with Arsenal legend Patrick Vieira. Wenger placed immense faith in the Frenchman, believing that Diaby had the talent and drive to live up to the lofty comparison. Unfortunately, he suffered a severe ankle injury in his first season, being on the receiving end of a horrendous tackle against Sunderland, and he was never the same player after that.
Every time he made a comeback, Diaby would suffer a fresh setback, and while Wenger kept his faith in the midfielder, even offering Diaby a contract despite the amount of time the Frenchman kept missing, but Arsenal finally let him go in 2015. He joined Marseille that summer but made only four appearances that season, and then suffered a fresh injury last October. The nightmare continues.
Injuries derailed Diaby’s career before it could take off.
JACK WILSHERE
Jack Wilshere became a first-team regular in the 2010-11 season as a precocious teenager, and an impressive performance in the Champions League against Barcelona that season led him to being spoken of as an heir to Paul Scholes in the line of gifted English midfielders, and an equal to the star-studded Barcelona midfield he outplayed that night.
Whenever he’s had a run of fixtures, it’s fair to say Wilshere has justified the hype. However, he’s been injured far too often, to the extent that Wenger was happy to let him go on loan to Bournemouth last season in order to get regular first-team football. Unsurprisingly, he would suffer injuries with the Cherries as well, never getting the chance to maximise the opportunity afforded him.
At least now it looks like Wilshere is on the verge of breaking through again, impressing in the Europa League and Carabao Cup this season and thus earning a Premier League start. Considering his age, there’s still plenty of time for the Englishman to turn his career around, although it may not be at Arsenal given his contract expires at the end of this season.
Wilshere is still only 25, so if he can maintain fitness he could have a long career.
CESC FABREGAS
The Cesc Fabregas-Arsenal narrative has been poisoned by his acrimonious transfer to Barcelona and his decision to join bitter rivals Chelsea after that, so it’s easy to forget what he represented at Arsenal.
Fabregas was at one point in time the best youngster to come out of the Arsenal set-up, and then a brilliant midfielder. His first few seasons at the club saw him become an instant star, and a representation of all the hope that came with Arsenal’s proposed youth revolution.
But his later Arsenal years were pockmarked by fitness issues, as he failed to hit 30 league appearances in any of his final three seasons before leaving. Each season saw him suffer an injury and then be out for longer than expected as he struggled to return to full fitness.
Since then, Fabregas has rounded into one of Europe’s best midfielders, and has largely been injury-free, but his move away from the Emirates Stadium isn’t the only reason his Arsenal career is a case of what might have been.
Fabregas’ later years at Arsenal were marred by injuries.
