Mikel Arteta says Arsenal have been pulled into a “really dangerous circle” with injuries this season, although the manager dismissed the suggestion that overtraining is to blame for the mounting absences.
Arsenal will be without Declan Rice, William Saliba and Leandro Trossard for Wednesday’s Champions League league-phase match against Club Brugge, further stretching a squad that has absorbed repeated setbacks. Trossard, who scored in the defeat to Aston Villa, had only just returned from injury but was withdrawn late on despite coming off the bench.
Kai Havertz, Gabriel Magalhaes and Cristhian Mosquera all remain sidelined, while Viktor Gyokeres is only now edging back after a spell out. Arsenal have also made a change to their Champions League squad, with Gabriel Jesus, recovering from cruciate ligament surgery, replacing 15 year old Max Dowman, who was injured while playing for the Under-21s against Manchester United.
Asked if injuries were the result of excessive training load, Arteta pushed back. “No, because we do not train,” he said, highlighting the lack of time between matches. He explained that the squad trained for only “20 minutes” on Tuesday. “The fact that you are missing players means you are loading other players more as a consequence. It is a really dangerous circle that one.”
Arsenal have faced similar issues in recent seasons. Havertz and Bukayo Saka endured long absences last year, while centre back Gabriel missed a crucial spell at the end of the campaign.
Arteta said the club’s medical department continues to analyse the causes, pointing in part to the sheer number of minutes key individuals have accumulated. “Some of the players have played over 150 games in two seasons, so it starts to get overloaded,” he said. “You start to ask them again and again and again to do that and at some point they will break down.”
The manager insisted he is satisfied with the internal processes in place. “I am really happy with what we are doing in terms of the medical stuff and everything that we are trying to bring together,” he said. “But sometimes we need some things to go on our side.”
