Mikel Arteta said long-term injuries are “an accident waiting to happen” due to the workload players face after Kai Havertz this week joined Arsenal’s lengthy list of absentees.
Germany forward Havertz has been ruled out for the rest of the season after it was confirmed on Thursday he would need surgery to repair the hamstring injury he suffered during Arsenal’s training camp in Dubai last week.
Havertz’s injury, sustained when he stretched to block a shot, means the Gunners are now without a recognised striker after Gabriel Jesus ruptured his ACL last month, and leaves Arteta with a host of senior players in the treatment room.
As well as Havertz and Jesus, Arsenal will be missing Bukayo Saka, Gabriel Martinelli and Takehiro Tomiyasu for Saturday’s Premier League trip to Leicester. The Gunners have also been without Ben White since November due to a knee problem but the defender could make his comeback this weekend.
“We were having a great Dubai camp and then the injury happened in an unexpected way and it’s a big blow because of the injuries we have,” Arteta said on Friday.
“We’ve had players who are injured who’ve played 130 games in the last two seasons, so it’s an accident waiting to happen when you continue to load, load and load.
Sky Sports’ Paul Merson believes it’s “unacceptable” for Kai Havertz to pull a hamstring in training but says now is the time for the likes of Raheem Sterling, Leandro Trossard and Ethan Nwaneri to step up in his absence
“The intensity is at a different level and the demands in terms of minutes in this competitive environment is getting higher and higher and it’s a consequence of that. The amount of muscle and tendon injuries is higher than ever so there’s a relationship.
“We’re very limited and we’re training less than ever. There’s no time for training.
“The biggest problem is that you don’t train the muscle, the muscle is undertrained and then you expose the muscle and the tendon to an exposure that it can’t absorb because the tendon has 72 hours to recover.”
Arteta ready for challenge of coping without Havertz
Alan Smith believes Arsenal’s title chances are “nigh-on impossible” with Kai Havertz missing the rest of the season with a hamstring injury
Despite his side’s injury crisis in attack, Arteta has challenged his team to cope in the absence of their leading scorer this season.
Arteta added: “We have played without Saliba, without Ben White all season, Tomiyasu all season, Calafiori two months, Merino two months, Martin Odegaard two months, Bukayo Saka three months, Gabriel Jesus… all of them.
“That’s the challenge I had. I love it and look forward because we are where we still are, with all the things I have mentioned, on top of playing four times with 10 men.
“Let’s see what the team is made of.”
‘Nwaneri has right qualities to play as a striker’
Sky Sports News’ Nick Wright analyses who could replace Kai Havertz’s in Arsenal’s starting line-up after the German was ruled out for the reminder of the season
Arsenal will have to look to the likes of Raheem Sterling, Ethan Nwaneri and Leandro Trossard to deputise for their absent team-mates in attack as the Gunners seek to keep their Premier League title hopes alive.
Despite his preferred forward line being unavailable, Arteta insists he has quality options at his disposal – including 17-year-old Nwaneri, who the Spaniard says can play a number of positions.
“It’s a question of when. He has the right qualities, to play out wide or centrally. We must adapt to the strengths of our players,” Arteta said of the teenager.
“We’re going to have to adapt and it brings another opportunity. We have unpredictable players in one-vs-ones, who are creative and sharp and it will cause headaches to the opposition.”
‘Next few weeks critical in title race’
Paul Merson believes Everton’s late equaliser against Liverpool has kept Arsenal’s Premier League title hopes alive
After league leaders Liverpool conceded a last-minute James Tarkowski equaliser in Wednesday’s Merseyside derby against Everton, second-placed Arsenal sit seven-points off the summit.
Former Toffees midfielder Arteta believes the next block of fixtures will be decisive as to how the table shapes up come the end of the season.
“When the gap becomes shorter when it’s not expected then it’s really positive and it can generate momentum,” he said.
“The next few weeks is critical, we need to see where we are after the international break in six or seven weeks.”
Arsenal’s injuries in numbers
Arsenal are not the only team to have suffered injury problems this season. In fact, they are in the middle of the Premier League table for injuries at the moment.
They will not get much sympathy from north London rivals Tottenham about their current plight.
But it is the severity of the injuries that sets Arsenal apart from most. Their players have missed nearly 650 days due to injury – and counting – which is well above the Premier League average and is the fifth-highest among the top-flight clubs.
It is also the type of players Arsenal are missing, with the majority of the Gunners’ injured players attacking options. Saka, Havertz and Martinelli are all out for a while – this is arguably their first-choice front three.
And there are some tricky games on the horizon for Arsenal. They will be hoping to get wins against Leicester and West Ham later this month – but matches with Nottingham Forest, Manchester United and Chelsea are looming.
Analysis: Where on earth do Arsenal go now?
Following the news Kai Havertz will miss the rest of the season because of a hamstring injury, Kaveh Solhekol and Mike Wedderburn clash over whether Arsenal should have signed a new striker in the January transfer window
Sky Sports’ Sam Blitz:
It was the news Arsenal fans dreaded in the wake of their fruitless January transfer window. The week after the closure of a market where the Gunners failed to strengthen their forward line, Arsenal have lost the only striker option they were counting on for the rest of the season.
If Arsenal’s task to close down Liverpool was tough, now it is even tougher. With Arne Slot’s side having Mohamed Salah as the most in-form player in Europe, Cody Gakpo turning up in big moments, plus Diogo Jota and Darwin Nunez in the wings – the Gunners are running out of armoury.
Where do Arsenal go now? In terms of adding, the Gunners could enter the free-transfer market to see if there are any short-term options out there. But, in truth, if Arsenal failed to act when the market was open, will they really enter panic mode with the window shut?
The most likely option is dealing with what they have – and those options are slim. Not only do Arsenal have their two first-choice centre-forwards out for the season, they also have just three forward players fit in their squad in Leandro Trossard, Ethan Nwaneri and on-loan Chelsea forward Raheem Sterling.
All three are contenders to play up front in their next game against Leicester on Saturday. Trossard played as the No 9 in the Champions League win over Girona, while Arteta has branded the No 9 role as a potential full-time position for Nwaneri in the future – though the 17-year-old’s best outings have come out wide.
Sterling is also an option having played the final few minutes of the 5-1 win over Man City in that position, plus he has the history of turning out in a central role with England.
But the real place Arsenal are heading towards is regret. Just how did they end up in this scenario? Their January activity will come under scrutiny but it can also go further back to the sales of Eddie Nketiah and Emile Smith Rowe plus the loan exits of Fabio Vieira and Reiss Nelson.
All four would be needed in this Arsenal team now. All the above reasons left their first-choice front three with too much to do. All three are now injured.
