When ten Arsenal players withdrew from international duty in March, the debate around Mikel Arteta’s squad management immediately took centre stage. Weeks on, those decisions look either prophetic or problematic, depending on your perspective. Arsenal head to the Etihad Stadium on Sunday to face Manchester City in a title showdown that could define the entire season, and the fitness of their squad is once again the story dominating the build-up.
The lead that looked so commanding a month ago has been cut to six points. City have a game in hand. For those following bet on football games markets, the title race has swung dramatically from a procession into a genuine contest, and Arsenal are heading into the most important fixture of their season carrying a lengthy injury list.
Who pulled out
Across all 20 Premier League clubs, 23 players pulled out of the March international squads. Ten of them were Arsenal’s, almost half the total. William Saliba came out of the France squad with a left ankle injury. Gabriel Magalhaes followed with a knee problem. Leandro Trossard was ruled out of Belgium’s friendlies shortly after. Eberechi Eze withdrew from England before playing a minute. Then Declan Rice and Bukayo Saka joined up with England, were rested for the Uruguay friendly, and both pulled out ahead of the Japan game citing medical assessments.
The ten who withdrew were:
- Eberechi Eze – England
- Piero Hincapie – Ecuador
- Noni Madueke – England
- Gabriel Magalhaes – Brazil
- Bukayo Saka – England
- William Saliba – France
- Jurien Timber – Netherlands
- Leondro Trossard – Belgium
- Declan Rice – England
- Martin Zubimendi – Spain
What happened next
The results that followed made those careful calculations look redundant. Arsenal were knocked out of the FA Cup by Southampton and lost 2-1 to Bournemouth in the Premier League, results that left the international withdrawals looking entirely pointless in hindsight. The squad was managed through the break with three competitions in mind. Two of them are now gone.
They did progress past Sporting CP in the Champions League quarter-finals, though the second leg was far from comfortable, with Saka, Odegaard, Timber and Calafiori all absent. Arsenal are through to face Atletico Madrid in the semi-finals, with the Champions League odds reflecting a side capable of going deep in Europe. The Premier League title race remains alive, but with only two trophies still possible, Arteta will be doing everything he can to keep his squad fit for the matches that matter most.
The case for Arteta
Nine of the 10 players who withdrew from international duty are among Arsenal’s top ten for outfield minutes this season. These are not squad players being given a convenient break. They are the players who have worked hardest across a long campaign, and Arsenal have been burned by international breaks before, with Odegaard, Gabriel, and Timber all picking up injuries while away with their countries earlier this season.
England manager Thomas Tuchel said he had no reason to doubt Rice or Saka, adding that both had wanted to play against Japan but that medical tests made the risk too high.
The bottom line
With just five league games remaining, Arteta cannot afford a single unnecessary injury between now and May. Whether these withdrawals are the result of a brutal schedule finally catching up with his squad, or a carefully managed plan to arrive at the business end of the season in the best possible shape, the outcome is the same.
