Emmanuel Frimpong has to be one of the unluckiest youngsters in world football. After a great start to the 2010 pre-season, Frimpong injured an anterior cruciate ligament in training and was ruled out for 9 months. A harsh blow for a player who was just 18-years-old and in his prime developmental years. But he worked hard to recover his fitness, made appearances in the Arsenal first team, won the support of the fans and earned a move to Wolves this January.
Yet, just as things seemed to be coming together for him once more, he has picked up another long-term injury. In a recent game against Aston Villa, Frimpong attempted to win a header from a corner, but was caught in the face by Stiliyan Petrov. My fingers remain crossed that it’s not as bad as many are making out, but the initial prognosis seems to suggest than Frimpong will face up to three months on the sideline in yet another shocking blow to his development as a footballer.
Whilst Wolves will be disappointed, it’s Arsenal who will miss out in the long run. As an Arsenal player ear-marked for a big future he was sent to Wolves to earn valuable first-team experience. This injury will negate the effectiveness of the loan move and will be disappointing to Arsenal fans who wanted to see Frimpong get a run of games in the Premier League.
It’s difficult not to like Frimpong. He’s an Arsenal fan as much as he’s an Arsenal player, he’s tough and committed, but he’s got some flair to his game too (just see his flick for Wolves first goal on Saturday). It’s difficult to forget the image of him keeping Samir Nasri at bay during Arsenal’s Carling Cup clash with Manchester City, when he managed to make the French star look pretty anonymous. That performance encapsulated Frimpong as a fighter.
We all know he’s suited to the midfield enforcer role. His time at Wolves could have offered him an opportunity to round out his game, to grow more confident moving the ball forward and dare I suggest it, add goals to his game.
Beyond his clothesline and Twitter antics, it’s clear that he’s a real player. At the moment he’s facing yet another set-back, but with his attitude who would bet against Frimpong coming back even stronger next time round?
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i do hope he come back soon, we will miss him,
Frimpong is fine and will likely play in Wolves next game against Liverpool on Jan 31st
You can thank the cheating low life vile scum for him getting injured, petrov meant it, Henry and Frimpong were the two best midfielders on show, vile had orders to stop them – one sent off, one carried off – say’s it all really.
cruciate ligament??? … he’s got a swollen eye… what utter crap journalism!!!!
Read it properly before you jump to conclusions.