The next month will be a big test for Arsenal’s squad, but they must rest and rotate if they are to finally end their Premier League title drought and compete in Europe.
Arsenal signed all of these players in the summer to ensure they had enough strength in case injuries hit. They can’t afford another season when injuries, player absences, and layoffs hurt their season and their chances of winning a trophy.
But now they need to put trust and belief in their team to get through a tough month of battle. William Saliba suffered a knock in training on Saturday, 24 hours before the game against Chelsea, but is expected to be only a minor problem and a short-term layoff.
Sadly for Arsenal, Gabriel is already sidelined (he sustained an injury while on international duty with Brazil), which leaves four members of the current squad absent.
Kai Havertz is still sidelined and could return to group training within the next week or so. Leandro Trossard also missed the match against Bayern Munich with a calf problem.
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They now have Martin Odegaard, Victor Gokeres and Gabriel Jesus back. Odegaard and Gokeres joined Chelsea and showed great performance.
Jesus scored a goal in a closed-doors game, but by all accounts he played well, became very sharp, and came back really motivated.
This is good news ahead of a very busy period for Arsenal, who face Brentford on Wednesday, Aston Villa at lunchtime on Saturday and a long list of fixtures in the Champions League and Carabao Cup.
What is clear is that Mikel Arteta needs to rest and rotate within a squad that many consider to be the deepest and best in the Premier League. But it’s best only if you trust all of your players.
That will be tough for Arteta. Because a manager always knows his best players, his best line-up, and the problem is putting faith and trust in players who may not be at their best because of lack of playing time or game time.
The other reality for Arteta is to avoid a repeat of last season, when Arsenal’s season was ruined by a shocking and devastating injury list.
That will no doubt mean reducing training volume to avoid further setbacks for Saliba and to ensure the players are not at risk of fatigue and fatigue.
Bukayo Saka played so many minutes and was asked to play so many games, which definitely played a role in why he suffered a serious hamstring problem and got injured.
Arsenal have a lot of depth at the moment. Piero Hincapie looks like a top player. They shouldn’t have given Chelsea an unnecessary free-kick, but it turned into a corner and led to a goal, but it looked great.
Cristian Mosquera is also an excellent representative for Mr. Saliba. Noni Madueke has really stepped up. But to be honest, Gabriel Martinelli performed better off the bench.
Christian Norgaard is rarely observed. You have to wonder if Ethan Nwaneri, one of the most promising players in the country, is frustrated.
Miles Lewis-Skelly started against Bayern Munich but struggled. He joined Chelsea and was booked early on. You need to understand his feelings because he is not in rhythm. It’s because he’s probably struggling to gain confidence and when it takes time, he’s probably trying a little too hard.
It would be impossible to maintain the same line-up from Chelsea to Brentford to Villa. That’s why Arteta must now trust his team and avoid the setbacks of last season.
Interestingly, Arsenal are by no means the worst when it comes to injuries. They currently have four on Ben Dinary’s excellent Premier League injury list. Nine teams are fewer than that. Eight people have more.
This is great considering Arsenal’s schedule and tough fixture list. But we have a really tough few weeks ahead of us, and it’s time for the team to show their true potential.
They have more players, better players and perhaps lessons were learned from last season to ensure they win the major trophies they covet.
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