Mid Season Review - Squad Strength aka Injury Saga

   We are past the midway mark of this season and, I think, its time to reflect where and how we stand at this point of time. The journey till now has been like a bumpy ride but somehow, perhaps by the grace of God, we have survived the outcome of some big mistakes made by management in team building this season. Initially, the squad was looking thin in every area except Strike force which was looking heavily bulked up till we loaned out Podolski to Inter Milan.
   We have been dragged to the depth of the squad in every department especially in defense where we have been forced to have eight combinations of back four until now. Mertesacker and Chambers have played the most. Injuries in this department forced players to play out of their positions. Such was the plight that we used Coquelin at left back in League Cup tie against Southampton. But our lack of depth here proved as a good opportunity for Bellerin to claim a stake in the first team and he grabbed it with both the hands. Wenger gave him few starts and he seems to be getting better with every game. Besides, youngster Stefan O'Connor also got some minutes notably in his debut against Galatasaray in the second half of the game. But Now the scenario looks better. For the first time, we have all the defenders available and we're being linked with Winston Reid and Loic Perrin in this window. We definetly need to get at least one of them to challenge for title and have a better second half of this season.
   Moving on to midfield, we have a similar story. We were stretched to the limit. Almost every one has been injured during some part of the season. Özil, Ramsey, Wilshere, Arteta, everyone besides Santi Cazorla. Initially Coquelin seemed to be surplus and, therefore, was loaned but had to be recalled. (His pairing with Flamini versus West Ham United angered the fans. But he won them with good performances vs WHU, QPR and Hull City.) We paid a heavy price for this crisis which resulted in substandard performances and inconsistent form. And the scenario now still looks delicate. We only have Santi, Coquelin and Rosicky fit. Maybe Ramsey and Flamini will be available for the game vs Stoke. Well, what else can we say! Let's hope they are back!
   Finally the Attack! Here we have been blessed with 'Sanchez the Superman'! This beast has played almost every game of the season and has scored and assisted over 20 goals till now. He has had got able support of either Welbeck or Giroud and Chamberlain throughout and sometimes Sanogo but our attack, despite of them all, has mostly looked like a one man army. Our Great bench strength has not had let us been affected much by injuries. And at this point of team, I think, Wenger needs to rest Sanchez (which he can afford due to availability of all other players) to avoid him losing through injury.
   Forget to mention GKs, where we didn't had Ospina for greater part of season. Even Szczesny got injured, which forced us to get Youngster Ryan Huddart on the bench for few games with Martinez in goal. Now, everyone is available!
   For final verdict, it can be said that we are in good situation in every area besides midfield which looks bleak but manageable (though I would like to see addition of a world class DM in this window). Let's hope that we would no longer have to fight this injury bug so that we can focus better on playing and winning.
   On Twitter @Saram297