International breaks are not always to the liking of club coaches. And it is certainly not Mikel Arteta who will say the opposite. As the Premier League prepares to resume its rights after three weeks of interruption, Arsenal has reason to harbor some regrets. Currently second in the championship, the Gunners hoped to take advantage of this break to recover their strength before tackling a new series of particularly demanding matches including the Champions League. But ultimately quite the opposite happened. With many internationals mobilized from all over the world, the London club has seen its infirmary fill up as the days go by. And the results are particularly worrying since six players were affected by physical problems during this period. Enough to make Arsenal one of the big losers of this international break.
Because the list of players concerned is particularly long. Piero HincapiĂ© was the first to withdraw, missing the entire gathering with his selection. In the process, Kai Havertz was also forced to leave the Germany group led by JĂŒrgen Klopp prematurely, after a hamstring injury suffered against the Netherlands. And the bad news didn’t stop there. Max Dowman, Ezri Konsa, Christos Tzolis and Martin Ădegaard have also encountered physical problems, although some scares would be less concerning than others. In total, six players were affected by injuries or discomfort during this international break. A real headache for Mikel Arteta, who will now have to assess everyone’s condition before returning to the Premier League pitches.
Six injured players!
And the most frustrating thing for Arsenal is that its players were not even the most in demand during this break. According to figures relayed by the Daily MailGunners internationals have played an average of 177.1 minutes each, only the thirteenth total in the Premier League. A figure ultimately quite far from that of Tottenham, who dominates this ranking with an impressive average of 254 minutes per player called up. However, Arsenal is among the English clubs sending the most players to the selection, in the same way as Liverpool, Manchester City or Manchester United, also taking into account the different categories of young people. But unlike some of its competitors, the London club has mainly accumulated bad medical news, without this being able to simply be explained by an overload of minutes played.
A situation which inevitably comes at the worst time for the Gunners. Second in the Premier League, Arsenal intends to stay in touch to defend their title, but will now have to deal with several uncertainties within their squad. And in a championship as physically intense as the Premier League, where matches will come quickly one after another, these potential absences could be costly. Especially since the depth of Arsenal’s bench has regularly been singled out in recent seasons. Mikel Arteta will therefore have to find the right solutions to limit the damage, while hoping to quickly recover his players. One thing is certain: after three weeks without a championship, and before facing Leeds this Saturday, the Spanish technician would probably have preferred to find a healthier group.
