Morning.
Even though there’s still one game to go, it feels very end of season after the win against Newcastle. Perhaps it’s because we’ve been at home for the last game for the last few years, or maybe it’s just that the weekend trip to Southampton has so little riding on it after more or less securing second place on Sunday.
It could be completely sewn up by then anyway. If Man City fail to beat Bournemouth at home this evening, that’s it. So, I hope they’re enduring the worst FA Cup final hangover of all time. I’m sure Crystal Palace will give them a run for their money in that regard, but their hangover is a fun one. I hope City’s is one of those where the top of your head is pounding, your insides are churning, you can still taste the kebab you don’t remember having when you burp, and you can’t find one of your shoes.
That would make Sunday’s trip to the south coast a nice day out to see our old friend Aaron. Which is about as much as anyone really needs from a game at this point of the season with the table the way it is. Anyway, more on that game as the week goes on.
Meanwhile, the impact of a long, hard season is evident again in the news that Jurrien Timber requires surgery for an ankle problem, adding another name to the long list of big injuries we’ve endured this season. The Arsenal surgeon has been a busy boy since August, with various operations required for Bukayo Saka, Kai Havertz, Gabriel Jesus, Takehiro Tomiyasu, Gabriel, Ben White and now Timber. Reiss Nelson suffered a bad hamstring injury while on loan at Fulham, which needed surgery, and early on there was that shoulder injury for Mikel Merino which clearly required some intervention but I’m not sure if it was surgical.
There’s a lot going on there, and I’m certain that in the final analysis of this season very close attention will be paid to how injuries have impacted the team and its ability to win games. It’s unquestionable to me that it has been a significant factor, and that’s simply a reason, not an excuse. The wider question is how much of this was within our control to mitigate, and how much was down to bad luck or a confluence of unfortunate events.
I think you can argue that better squad management, being more willing to use some of the depth available to us might well have offset one or two of those injuries. But I don’t think anyone can definitively say with 100% confidence playing X player instead of Y player in one or two games would have prevented some of those injuries. Kai Havertz got injured in training in Dubai, and while overplaying might have been a factor in his hamstring, not to mention Saka and Gabriel, Reiss Nelson suffered the same injury despite having played thousands of minutes less over the last few seasons.
As I said though, if they are making plans for next season and ensuring the squad isn’t ‘short’ as Mikel Arteta said last week, the manager also has to be prepared to use that depth. I do have some sympathy because if you’re thinking about your team to win a game, you’re always going to pick William Saliba and Gabriel, for example. They’re the best defensive partnership in the Premier League. But can they realistically play every minute of every league game, plus Champions League, plus cup competitions if you start to get to the business end of those tournaments?
Well, Gabriel’s injury suggests you can’t, and Saliba – who has played more outfield minutes than anyone else this season – had to go off on Sunday because he felt something in his hamstring. We don’t want that thing to become the thing that his defensive mate suffered, which probably means we don’t take any chances with him on Sunday, because ultimately what’s the point? Especially if City can’t find their shoe and Bournemouth take some points off them.
The wider point about rotation isn’t just about injury prevention though. It’s also about what you can expect in terms of performance levels when you call on other players. Look at what a run in the team has done for Jakub Kiwior and people’s perception of him. If you’re coming in cold, either as a sub or a guy who fills in every now and again, chances are you’re not going to play your best football. If you’re more regularly involved, you’re more likely to play at something close to your best level.
I realise, of course, it’s not quite as simple as I’m making it out. The onus is still on a manager to win games, and there would be little forgiveness for him if he played a few so-called second choice players and we dropped points. There is no Minority Report style window where he can say as a way to justify that decision, ‘Well, because I played Kiwior in this game we prevented Gabriel tearing his hamstring in a few weeks time’.
Fans expect results, regardless of what kind of team he picks, but if next season there is a bit more fluidity in our team selections from game to game, I wouldn’t be surprised. That will be predicated on what we do this summer and how we build our squad for next season, but we have all summer to talk about that.
Right, I’m gonna leave it there for now. There’s a brand new Arsecast Extra for you below, it’s a bit croaky, but enjoy it all the same! Till tomorrow.
