Theo forced to have operation
20 Nov 2008 - 13:22:22
Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger has confirmed that Theo Walcott was forced to have surgery on his dislocated shoulder on Thursday morning.
The 19-year-old suffered the injury on Tuesday during training in the build-up to England's friendly international against Germany and will be sidelined for at least three months.
However, Wenger has refused to blame the Football Association for Walcott's injury, saying: "I'm disappointed because he is an important part of the squad, but that could have happened in training here. It was an accident that could have happened anywhere.
"I do not blame the FA for that. It was accidental in training and I accept that.
"In a moment like that you do not think about compensation you think about how you can replace the player."
Earlier in the week, the Frenchman had been critical of the timing of the latest round of international friendlies, saying: "It is particularly not welcome at the moment because it is at a period where you want your players to recover a little bit.
"And the week after is Champions League so it's not well positioned. We have some players that will not even be back for Man City.
"I don't see what you gain from this friendly because there is no (World Cup qualifying) game.
"You can explain a friendly to prepare for an official match but after this there is no international game for four months."