How Arteta might have dropped the ball after Saka sidelined with injury
Arsenal are off to another fast start in the Premier League. Unbeaten in their first eight games, the Gunners sit second behind North London rivals Spurs, and two points ahead of defending champions Manchester City having notched up a lauded 1-0 victory over last year’s title race rivals. Mikel Arteta is making no secret of his determination to wrestle the Premier League crown away from the Cityzens this term and with a decent run of fixtures lying ahead of them, Arsenal have a prime opportunity to consolidate their position of strength.
However, if they are to capitalize the Spaniard must err on the side of caution. An issue that has cropped up time and time again under the 41-year-old’s tenure is the matter of squad rotation and the young manager’s persistence with certain players appears to have come back and bit him. England International Bukayo Saka holds the record for the most consecutive Premier League appearances in club history with 87. However, after failing to last the full 90 minutes in the North London derby, concerns arose that the forward might finally be succumbing to burnout as the accumulative knocks began to take their toll.
Those concerns crept up once again when Saka was noticeably absent from the starting lineup in the Gunners’ most important game of the season against City at home. The winger was also forced to withdraw from the England squad following the hamstring injury. As a result, he is a big doubt for the upcoming Premier League encounter at Stamford Bridge. So the question is simple, has Arteta gone to the well with Saka one too many times?
On one hand many Gooners could sympathize with Arteta’s approach to his team selection. It might sound like an obvious thing to say but at the end of the day it’s true; if you put your best team out on the pitch you’re more likely to win games of football and there are fewer better players at Arteta’s disposal than the young England forward. Since becoming part of Arsenal’s senior team the 22-year-old has scored 43 goals and chalked up 45 assists making him one of the club’s chief contributors over the last three seasons. He played an integral role in the team that netted 88 goals in the Premier League last term and is justifiably recognised as one of the best players the league currently has to offer.
Understandably people would be slightly perturbed if his name wasn’t on the team sheet but as we know, it’s never that simple. Squad depth was one of the reasons the club eventually came undone in their quest for the Premier League last year, and ultimately it was the reason why City were able to maintain their grip on the title for the third consecutive season. Arteta went about addressing those issues this summer and did so expertly bringing in the likes of Declan Rice, Jurrien Timber, David Raya, and Kai Havertz to provide some much-needed competition for places and give him plenty of options going forward. Such was the success of the recruitment this summer, sites with UK betting offers have Arsenal at 3/1 to win the title this season.
Courtesy of that most recent transfer window, Arsenal now have an embarrassment of riches in attack. Gabriel Jesus, Gabriel Martinelli, Eddie Nketiah, Leandro Trossard, Riess Nelson, Martin Odegaard, Jorginho and the aforementioned Havertz collectively offer Arteta the luxury of rotating his squad, a luxury he did not necessarily have last season and a luxury that proved pivotal in determining the destination of the title. So while almost everyone understands Saka’s importance to Arsenal’s performances, what is not as easy to comprehend is why Arteta has been so unwilling to rest him, particularly for typically less strenuous fixtures.
With Arteta all but confirming Saka’s absence for the game against Chelsea at the weekend, his approach to the situation has come under the microscope. While his record of 87 consecutive Premier League appearances is certainly commendable, when you delve deeper into the detail surrounding his showings, it almost seems inevitable that we would arrive here. Since the forward last missed a game as an unused substitute against Newcastle all the way back in 2021, Saka has started all but four of Arsenal’s Premier League matches and come on as a substitute in the other four encounters. In that run he has played the full 90 minutes in 44 of those matches and while he has made 50 goal contributions in that spell, that is simply too long a stretch without a rest. It’s almost a miracle that he hasn’t pulled up with an injury before now. Former Arsenal defenders Emmanuel Petit and Mikael Silvestre certainly feel so and have openly criticized the manager for his poor handling of the situation.
Speaking to bettingexpert.com, Silvestre said: “Saka is playing too much. He has not been given enough rest. He needs to be given some rest if Arsenal want him to be there in March and April, which is when the team will really be competing in the important games for the title and in the Champions League. He needs to recharge the battery and recover to be on top every week.” Speaking with Compare.bet, Petit echoed much of Silvestre’s sentiments saying: “Arteta is definitely overplaying Saka. This is exactly what happened last year where the players were playing too much and they looked tired by the end of the season. They have such a good squad and quality players on the bench but Arteta doesn’t make substitutions often enough or early enough. I’m still wondering if some players in the dressing room are not of the level to play consistently for Arsenal because Arteta keeps relying on Saka and now he has got injured.”
Since the injury occurred, Arteta has been barraged with criticism for his decision-making and his attempts to downplay the effects of consistently playing Saka is an understandably frustrating one to swallow for Arsenal fans. However, one thing worthy of consideration is that the Spaniard has got everything spot on in the league so far this season and this is exactly the kind of scenario the summer transfers were brought in for. Trossard will likely be the man tasked with filling in for the England International as he begins his road to recovery and even in his short spell at the Emirates we have already seen he is more than capable of putting in big performances under pressure. While the current situation feels like it could have easily been avoided, Arteta’s astute business ensures the club are well positioned to compensate in the forward’s absence. Still, the Gunners will be hoping for a quick return for one of their most valuable assets.
