Mikel Arteta sends warning to Riccardo Calafiori as cause of Arsenal injury crisis is revealed

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Arsenal are currently in the midst of a defensive injury nightmare ahead of taking on Monaco in a Champions League clash on Wednesday evening.

Mikel Arteta will have to cope with a number of absences at the back when his side take on the French outfit. 

Riccardo Calafiori, Gabriel Magalhaes, Jurrien Timber, Oleksandr Zinchenko, and Thomas Partey are all struggling for fitness, whilst Ben White and Takehiro Tomiyasu are longer-term absentees. 

Arteta has explained Gabriel’s injury, and has now provided further details on Calafiori’s own road to recovery. 

• READ MORE: Everything to know on Arsenal’s Riccardo Calafiori from his girlfriend to tattoos

Mikel Arteta shares Riccardo Calafiori injury warning ahead of Monaco

The Italian defender has faced a number of fitness issues since his arrival at Arsenal in the recent summer transfer window. 

However, Arteta is determined to give the player the best chance of recovering fully this time around. That process invites challenges of its own though, due to Calafiori’s personality and desire to play.

As quoted by The Standard, Arteta explained ahead of this Champions League outing: “We need a cage there because he wants to go out, train and play. We need to calm him down because he is so willing.

“It is the way he is, the way he plays. It started with the national team with a kick, then he had the knee issue. After that he lost a lot of things. Because of the injuries he had to play more than we wanted. And then he got the issue in his groin.”

Why Arsenal have so many defensive injuries

In the aforementioned report, Arteta also provided an explanation as to why so many of his full-backs are struggling to remain fit.

He said: “It depends on two factors, tactical and in relation to what we do, who do we release on the high press and what do they have to do in terms of attack.

“But certainly at least it is different to playing as a holding midfielder. That is something that is not ideal but we are trying to cope with it.”

Arsenal will field an unfamiliar defence against Monaco, and there needs to be work done behind the scenes to address the root cause of this injury crisis, even if that means that the manager has to adapt his tactics and alter the instructions he gives to certain players.