Mikel Arteta has turned Arsenal from a struggling side into title contenders during his time in charge, but he saw his team’s unexpected challenge collapse last season.
Arsenal led the Premier League for most of last season, but their Europa League elimination against Sporting CP saw the Gunners lose William Saliba and Takehiro Tomiyasu for the rest of the season in the same game.
Gabriel Jesus, Thomas Partey and Oleksandr Zinchenko also suffered injuries in crucial parts of the campaign, and Arsenal’s performance levels and results dipped when faced with these absences.
Arteta is keen to avoid the same problems costing his side again, with Arsenal currently top of the Premier League, and it has now emerged that he is doing something differently to ensure that injuries do not become a huge issue.
Mikel Arteta is adapting Arsenal’s training intensity
A report from The Daily Mail has now revealed that Arteta is concerned about the workload of some of his players, and they are implementing training strategies to combat fatigue and further injuries.
In what will be a busy schedule in the next few weeks, Arteta will carefully manage how much training each player is doing, with Tomiyasu a player flagged up as a risk following his withdrawal against Wolves.
Some players are even undertaking private training sessions to maximise their fitness and avoid muscular injuries, which has been a common problem this season.
Arsenal’s injury problems
This campaign has already seen Jurrien Timber, Thomas Partey, Emile Smith Rowe, Fabio Vieira, Gabriel Martinelli, Gabriel Jesus and Zinchenko miss several games through injuries, and these constant issues can be disruptive despite Arsenal operating with a bigger squad than last season.
There is a lot of depth in attacking areas, as the likes of Leandro Trossard and Eddie Nketiah can provide strong cover, whilst Jorginho has been useful in midfield.
Arsenal are not blessed with big numbers in defence, and so far have been fairly lucky to not lose anyone beyond Timber to a long-term problem, but they will sweat over Tomiyasu’s potential absence against Luton Town tonight.
With a difficult trip to Anfield to face Liverpool coming up before Christmas, Arteta will not want any fresh injury problems, and will likely rotate his players and ensure a lighter training schedule ahead of the clash on December 23rd.
If Arsenal can keep their key players fit, and Saliba, Declan Rice and Bukayo Saka in particular, they will hope they can sustain a title challenge for longer than they did last season.
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