It feels early for injury juggling. When Mikel Arteta was piecing together his squad in pre-season, the ideal of two strong options at each position was taking shape impressively. Yet here he is, still in September, with six Premier League matches ticked off, and the same number of important players receiving treatment.
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Arsenal are not alone in this. More than half of the division’s 20 clubs have as many or more out. The worst affected, Chelsea and Manchester United, are into double figures. For Arteta, the particular frustration lately is the recurrence of cluster injuries, where the main choices in one position are all more or less wiped out.
It was an obvious problem last weekend as Arsenal underperformed against Tottenham. The reshuffles to react to fielding a third-choice option at both defensive midfield and left-winger caused a dent in the quality of their game.
At the end of that draw, Arsenal had a team of players off the pitch which looked much more interesting than the one on it, the tantalising absent XI being: Ramsdale; Partey, Tomiyasu, Kiwior, Timber; Vieira, Rice, Trossard; Saka, Jesus, Martinelli.
Most have already been afflicted by muscle strains or sore limbs or damaged ligaments or spells of rehab this season. Out of that group, only Aaron Ramsdale, Takehiro Tomiyasu and Jakub Kiwior have had a clean bill of health over these first two months.
Arteta does not publicly regard injuries as excuses. That is not his style at all. But there is no denying that the dreaded cluster injury can cause particular damage. If having two trusted alternatives for each position is a foundation, both of them being out at the same time is bound to increase the risk of a wobble.
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On very rare occasions, it is more of an eruption than a cluster.
In the 2005-06 season, the most remarkable thing about Arsenal’s run to the Champions League final is that they did it using six left-backs (plus more still in domestic competition). The list of those who served includes some games for Pascal Cygan, a big, bald centre-half not known for his speed on the turn, two right-backs on the wrong side, and Mathieu Flamini, a hyperactive midfielder who loved organising people on the pitch. Maybe these experiments were early versions of the inverted-fusion-deep-lying-free-wheeling-full-back positions of today. Who knew?
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More recently, a cluster injury was particularly damaging to Arsenal last season and was one of the key reasons they began to fall away during the Premier League run-in. The loss of William Saliba was immense, compounded by Tomiyasu also having his season ended by injury in the same match in the middle of March. The drop in level to the next available centre-half, Rob Holding, was too much in such a key position at a critical juncture of the season. Kiwior, having been signed in January, was not immediately considered ready.
The impact of that example lay behind the squad improvements for this campaign, which is why a player with the accomplished versatility of Jurrien Timber was such a welcome addition. His ACL knee injury in the opening Premier League game, which will wipe out months of his debut season, is a long-term blow.
Arteta faces some interesting choices, and quite possibly some important learning about his team, over the coming week. With the exception of Timber, all of Arsenal’s injuries are not expected to require a lengthy absence. Does he rush one or two players back? Is he cautious?
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Ideally, with Thomas Partey missing for a while longer, Declan Rice might come back sooner. The same goes for Leandro Trossard, who should be ready before Gabriel Martinelli is. Then there is the case of Bukayo Saka, who has broken the record for consecutive Premier League matches played but is feeling the effects of his exposure to so much heavy tackling.
For Arteta, reconciling the temptation to gamble with concern about a relapse is not easy when every game feels like a must-win.
The schedule this week is Bournemouth away tomorrow (Saturday), Lens away in the Champions League on Tuesday, and the visit of Manchester City on the Sunday. Arsenal need to manage the combined challenges better, mindful of how hard it is to be at full tilt for the crunch game at the end of a week.
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They did look leggy and stretched in the second half against Spurs, a match which came after a similar pattern of a Premier League trip and a Champions League match. Arsenal can ill-afford to be running out of gas, or players, come the latter stages against City.
“We have been unlucky with injuries. What can you do about it? Not a lot.”
So said Arsene Wenger, nearly a decade ago, during a period when one UK newspaper, the Telegraph, calculated that Arsenal had clocked up 25 separate injuries during the first half of that season. There were clusters all over the place, including both first-choice goalkeepers.
One of those on the sidelines was a midfielder named Mikel Arteta.
(Top photo: Jurrien Timber was injured in the opening league game; by Henry Nicholls/AFP via Getty Images)