Mikel Arteta got pretty upset with Erik ten Hag a month ago when the Manchester United boss claimed Arsenal had been lucky with injuries this season.
Arteta hit back at his managerial rival by listing a catalogue of players who had missed large chunks of the season during Arsenal’s remarkable campaign. But if there was any debate to be had on Arsenal’s luck or otherwise, the past month has certainly put an end to that discussion.
Arsenal’s title challenge has been hit just at the wrong time as one of their most important players of this season has been sidelined for the past four games. William Saliba has been a huge miss since limping off in the Europa League defeat to Sporting Lisbon after aggravating a back injury he first sustained four days earlier at Fulham.
Arteta said on Thursday that Saliba has not been progressing as quickly as hoped and it will clearly be a risk to throw in the France defender for the Southampton game or the title clash with Manchester City next Wednesday. Arteta also said that Oleksandr Zinchenko is struggling but he is expected to be back to face Southampton and may even give Arsenal a bit of another option.
The really tough part for Arsenal has been the double blow of losing Saliba but also Takehiro Tomiyasu - another reason why Ten Hag might have got it wrong - because that limited their options. Rob Holding, a hugely popular member of the squad, came in for Saliba but Arteta might well have considered using Tomiyasu at right back and switching Ben White to partner Gabriel in the centre of defence.
White and Gabriel formed a strong defensive partnership last season and it was difficult at the start of the campaign to see where Saliba would slot in after returning from loan. But White has been superb at right back, Saliba has been one of the best ball-playing centre halves in the Premier League and it has all worked out perfectly.
Holding does a steady job but he’s not as quick as Saliba, his build-up play is not as good and Arsenal also want a defender who is comfortable enough on the ball to dictate play. If you compare Arsenal’s 3-0 win at Fulham last month, Saliba helped steady the team, kept them pushing forward and also kept finding team mates with his passing range.
But at West Ham, Arsenal went into a 2-0 lead, let the play and tempo drop and were then pegged back to a 2-2 draw. If you sit back and don’t keep driving forward, that can happen.It is a big dilemma but White would probably be more beneficial playing at centre half than right back because of what he offers to the team when they are in control and possession.
Saliba would be a massive miss at Manchester City but one experiment which they could try would be to use Kieran Tierney at left back, have Zinchenko as the inverted full back on the other side who can then slip into midfield. Then you have White and Gabriel in central defence and maybe that experiment against Southampton could show whether or not it would work against City.
Either way, Arsenal’s results this season have been built on strong foundations and building up from the back.
No-one should doubt how much of a blow losing Saliba has been. His absence was felt at Anfield and West Ham. The injuries have been tough and at the wrong time.
But no-one should also doubt just what an impressive achievement it has been for Arsenal to go toe-to-toe with Manchester City in the title race for so long because Pep Guardiola has built arguably the best team in Premier League history.
