One other international break has had Arsenal fans nervously counting the times until the domestic football season resumes.
After defeat to Manchester City within the Carabao Cup final, Mikel Arteta can be eager to get his side back on the right track with an FA Cup quarter-final tie against Southampton awaiting when the motion returns on Saturday. They’re still nine points clear on the summit of the Premier League having also booked their place within the last eight of the Champions League.
Arteta and sporting director Andrea Berta assembled perhaps the strongest squad in English football last summer to make sure injuries don’t derail their best laid plans.
But it surely may very well be happening again. The Gunners can be without the in-form Eberechi Eze for as much as six weeks consequently of a calf problem with the club now also sweating over Noni Madueke, who limped out of Wembley wearing a knee brace after England’s 1-1 draw with Uruguay on Friday night.
Two of the club’s most influential figures were kept out of the firing line over the international break. Just hours after the Carabao Cup final defeat, William Saliba withdrew from the France squad as a result of an ankle issue. The next day, Gabriel Magalhaes pulled out of the Brazil squad with a knee injury.
It might have been much-welcomed development in north London – together with news on Saturday night that Declan Rice and Bukayo Saka were leaving the England camp without playing a minute of motion. With Jurrien Timber sitting out of Netherlands games and Martin Zubimendi and Piero Hincapie also getting back from duty ahead of schedule, Arsenal at the moment are only a goalkeeper wanting a full Withdrawn XI.
Sceptics will suggest Arsenal are simply pulling their players out of international duty to guard their very own interests, not concerned with the plans of the likes of Didier Deschamps, Carlo Ancelotti and Thomas Tuchel as they prepare their squads for battle on the World Cup this summer. But that’s unlikely to be the case.
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‘I don’t think this narrative that clubs are holding players back is fair,’ Stephen Smith, CEO and founding father of Kitman Labs which specialises in injury welfare and performance analytics, told Metro. I believe the times of a head coach of a club demanding a player stays are probably long over.’
While a plenty of players have returned to the capital, the precaution taken with Saliba and Gabriel is probably most noteworthy.
Any serious injury at this point of the season would after all be damaging to Arsenal’s treble hopes but would even have huge implications for a player’s World Cup aspirations. Allowing Saliba and Gabriel to stay at home to get better from their respective ankle and knee problems is a solutions that stands to learn all parties, with the players themselves likely having probably the most definitive say within the matter.
‘My expectation in scenarios like that is you’ve management and training staff from the French and Brazil teams interacting with the staff at Arsenal,’ Smith continued. ‘And for as much because the international coaches want access to their players now to get eyeballs on them for the World Cup, in addition they need to be sure they can be found for it. When there’s any doubt, those conversations can be going down.
‘They know Arsenal have an important run in with their coach attempting to get those athletes on the pitch as often as he can. I believe there may be all the time going to be a push and pull scenario but those teams are working together to make sure the players get through the tip of the domestic season and be in one of the best shape to affix up with the World Cup parties and be competitive.
‘Players are way more educated and way more informed. They’re aware of demands being placed on them and once they do pick up a knock, they’re concerned. They may wonder, “should I be going away to play two games with my country before going right back in with my club?” Now, they’ll pick up the phone and check with the pinnacle coaches to say “that is where I’m at and that is the support I would like”. It just isn’t a one-way piece of dialogue.’
Arsenal have been stung before. They lost Gabriel for 10 games after he picked up a thigh injury playing for Brazil in a friendly match in November – one which took place at their very own Emirates Stadium to rub a little bit of salt in the injuries.
Saliba meanwhile has had ankle issues this season, minor issues managed by the club but ones that also resulted in him missing games against Nottingham Forest back in August and Brighton in March.
‘Potential risks outweigh advantages on this scenario,’ Smith continued. ‘With Saliba’s issue, it’s something Arsenal can have been managing over a time period they usually have managed it rather well. We’re seeing one other iteration of that here, I might suspect. If it wasn’t the international break, Arsenal could have done the exact same thing to guard him as we now have seen them do that season.’
Saliba and Gabriel can be nailed-on starters for France and Brazil this summer and Deschamps and Ancelotti won’t have learned anything recent about two of one of the best defenders in Europe during this final break of the season. The identical applies for Saka and Rice after their premature England exits.
While Arsenal will clearly profit from having their first-choice centre-half pairing in north London under their watchful eye this week, there can have been a real concern over their knocks – enough for Brazil and France to agree it wasn’t well worth the risk calling them up.
Ultimately, all parties could stand to learn.
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