Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta didn’t offer many assurances when discussing the fitness concerns plaguing an ever-expanding slice of his squad.
On the face of it, Sunday’s 1–0 victory at home to Crystal Palace capped a perfect weekend. Eberechi Eze scored his first league goal for the Gunners in another defensively sound display as Arteta’s side moved clear of their wobbling challengers Liverpool and Manchester City.
The Premier League title is Arsenal’s to lose, in the eyes of many outside north London.
However, it was not an entirely faultless afternoon. William Saliba didn’t emerge for the second half after flagging some discomfort during the interval. Declan Rice and Riccardo Calafiori were also forced off while even substitute Gabriel Martinelli couldn’t escape the spread of niggles and aches.
William Saliba
“On Willy [Saliba], there are two things related to his substitution,” Arteta began without unveiling either decisive factor. All that the Spanish boss would reveal was that the French centre back “had to be out after the first half.”
Saliba twisted his ankle at the end of August but was only forced to sit out one match—a comfortable 3–0 win over Nottingham Forest—while Cristhian Mosquera filled his hulking boots. The 21-year-old summer recruit was once again remarkably assured against Palace this weekend and may well have been called upon against Brighton & Hove Albion in the Carabao Cup on Wednesday night even if Saliba was fit.
Declan Rice
The sight of Rice willingly making his off the pitch is extremely rare. The industrious midfielder earned his nickname ‘The Horse’ thanks to “my ability to go again, my sustainability and availability to the team,” by his own reasoning. Yet, Arsenal’s stallion limped off inside the final 10 minutes on Sunday.
Rice isn’t being taken out back just yet. “Declan was struggling with a knock that he took from the first half,” Arteta revealed, though he couldn’t provide any precise detail on the nature or severity of this ailment.
Riccardo Calafiori
Calafiori left the pitch against Palace at the same time as Rice and Arteta grouped their vague issues together. “Let’s see how they recover,” Arsenal’s manager shrugged. When pushed on any effort at specification Arteta sighed: “No, because I don’t know. It’s not because I don’t want to tell you, I don’t really know.”
Even if he did know, there’s no guarantee that Arteta would feed accurate information to the media. This is the same coach who has previously instructed injured players to stroll out of the team bus in their pregame kit to maintain the façade of their availability until the last possible moment.
Just this weekend, Arteta cast doubt over Gabriel’s involvement only to start the burly Brazilian and leave him on for the full 90 minutes.
Gabriel Martinelli
Martinelli replaced Bukayo Saka midway through the second half in a switch which would ultimately cause two minor panic attacks in the Arsenal fanbase. Saka is rarely taken off under any circumstances but Arteta was quick to quash any major concerns.
“Bukayo’s been ill and hasn’t really trained,” the Gunners coach revealed. “We didn’t know whether he was going to be fit, so he made a big effort to be available today.
“The doctor guided us to give us the best possible opportunity to be in the best condition. He managed to play a few minutes but the longer the game went on, he was getting too fatigued and risked injury. We didn’t want to take that risk.”
If the sight of some actual player welfare management was a refreshing development for Arteta, he also went against type with a (marginally) more concrete verdict on Martinelli’s health. The substitute “felt something” during his 25 minutes on the pitch but Arteta predicted that he would recover. “I think so,” he said. “We have to check that one. He was a bit uncomfortable.”
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Mikel Arteta Rules on Injuries to Four Arsenal Players After Crystal Palace Win.