You can never totally prepare for injuries. But at Arsenal and due to its history, damage limitation should be of great concern for the management.
Arsenal put out a very good XI against Liverpool, and against Dortmund four days later, and again against Manchester United four days after that. The problem is the XI was mostly unchanged; at least the core of the attack. The two positive results over the first two games should silence those who grew concerned over the lack of depth in the team, though only momentarily. Against United, Arsenal looked lifeless in the first half. It wasn’t so much that the team lacked ingenuity – this team have shown what they’re capable of this season – but rather that many looked to be running on empty.
Arsene Wenger received plenty of criticism for his assessment of his squad following the closing of the transfer window. He stated that his squad were strong enough to deal with the rigors of the forthcoming campaign, which is true: without injury, this squad are capable. The problem is, though, Arsenal never go through a spell where the entire squad is injury-free.
The season hadn’t even started when Thomas Vermaelen was ruled out for the long term. Arsenal already needed another centre-back even with the Belgian fit; at that point, another defensive addition became a must.
Unlike others, I wasn’t overly concerned about the issue of depth in attack. Wenger’s pursuit of Luis Suarez and a small handful of other strikers was over a matter of quality, but numbers-wise, Lukas Podolski and Theo Walcott were enough to supplement Olivier Giroud’s contribution at centre-forward. Each of them had hit double figures for scoring last season.
Thus far, Arsenal have seen their attack compromised, as even with the addition of Mesut Ozil and the freedom Mathieu Flamini at holding midfield allows the other midfielders, Arsenal have not yet reached their maximum in terms of output.
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Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain is able to play a similar game to Walcott, both offering the kind of pace that is absent throughout the rest of the squad. But both have fallen to injury very quickly following the season’s start. Arsenal, with everyone fit, looked much stronger with the additions of Ozil and Flamini, but once again there is no way to properly prepare for injuries.
It brings up the wider topic as to what can be done to prevent these long-term injuries to a squad who do have the depth to go a long way. It’s a matter of training. Are all the players put on the same training regime? If so, why? Why is Per Mertesacker prepared in the same way as Theo Walcott when both are completely different?
This is what should be classed as damage limitation and not always just splashing out in the market.
Ozil has come under some questioning for his performances of late. It’s been discussed in the past that players like Ozil need fast attackers in order to demonstrate the full flight of their capabilities. Playing keep ball is one thing, but fundamentally it’s about converting that possession into goals. As an example, look to Ozil’s contribution in the first half alone against Sunderland where he put Walcott through on goal at least three times.
Another issue is that due to injuries – notably of Podolski, Walcott, Santi Cazorla for a long period, and Oxlade-Chamberlain – Ozil has had to play the full ninety for majority of his time at Arsenal up until this point. That wasn’t the case at Real Madrid. Jose Mourinho often substituted Ozil around the 70-minute mark. Such was the regularity of the substitutions that it became less a matter of tactics and more about keeping Ozil fresh.
I’m not going to use the age-old cliché that Ozil needs to adapt to English football – he’s world class and is capable of slotting in immediately. But it is clear why he hasn’t hit his peak yet at Arsenal, and those reasons greatly contrast why he was so good for Real Madrid for so long.
This Arsenal squad, with everyone fit, are able to go through a league season and emerge at the top of the table come May. The problem is the other competitions. The problem is the persistent injuries. The squad has a level of depth in quality that allows for rotation – think of the various and effective combinations that can be made from the midfield – but that will hardly ever be the case.
Arsenal need reinforcements in attack, not because Giroud isn’t good enough – he’s proven how valuable he is – but because he is clearly being burnt out due to the absence of others. Due to the high level of injuries that have already occurred this season, much of the same can be said for other areas of the pitch.
Will Arsenal’s lack of squad depth come back to haunt them?
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