Coach Arteta faces a headache regarding his squad - Photo: REUTERS
At 11:30 p.m. on November 23 (Vietnam time), Arsenal will host Tottenham in round 12 of the Premier League. A derby match that promises to be unpredictable.
Haunting FIFA Days
Derbies are never easy, despite Arsenal being in great form and dominating Tottenham in terms of head-to-head record (winning 5/6 recent matches). But on the other hand, Tottenham is currently led by coach Thomas Frank - who has a fierce counter-attacking style of football. This is a style of play that is considered very formidable in big matches.
And above all, it is Arsenal's character that they need to overcome. A "gunner" spanning decades, many coaches, many generations of players, from fair play philosophy to effective style, but the common point is that they collapse every time they face real difficulties.
Needless to say, the regret that Arteta and his team brought to fans when they finished second in the Premier League for three consecutive seasons is unmistakable. But if you look for commonalities in those seasons, fans will easily see a clear trend: Arsenal collapsed due to injury storms after FIFA Days (international competition period).
In the 2023-2024 season, Arsenal lost 1 and drew 1 of their first 3 games after the end of the FIFA Days series in October. Last season, they collapsed even faster when they lost 2 and drew 2 of their 4 games sandwiched between the 2 FIFA Days periods in October and November.
Arsenal have made it through October and the first half of November this season, but that was before the injury crisis hit.
Arsenal's squad still has depth
After the FIFA Days in November, Arteta really faced a squad headache. Before that, he lost Odegaard, Madueke, Havertz and Martinelli. It was a relatively difficult injury list, but because of the heavy spending over the past 2 years, Arsenal had enough players to cover for those absences.
But now, the Gunners' injury list has stretched to 7 names, with Gyokeres, Gabriel Magalhaes and Calafiori also injured. Of the 4 previous injuries, only Odegaard was truly a difficult pillar to replace. As for the 3 recent injuries, all were main pillars throughout the season.
Fans will likely see Arsenal make amends in the match against Tottenham. Merino will likely be moved up to play as a striker, and young defender Lewis-Skelly will take over on the left flank in place of Calafiori. In the center-back position, coach Arteta has many quality alternatives such as Mosquera or Hincapie. But these players have been too short of playing time since the beginning of the season. Specifically, Mosquera has only started twice, and Hincapie has not even started once.
However, Arteta cannot blame the injury storm, because Tottenham is in a much worse crisis than them, missing almost the entire squad, with Kudus, Muani, Sarr, Bergvall, Dragusin, Bissouma, Solanke, Maddison and Kulusevski being the stars who cannot play. And the "roosters" schedule is not easier than their opponents, when they also have to plow through the Champions League in midweek.
For three consecutive seasons, Arteta has used injuries and a thin squad as an excuse for his failure in the title race. But this season, he is the coach with the strongest squad in the Premier League, and now is the time for Arsenal to grit their teeth and overcome everything.
Source: https://tuoitre.vn/ac-mong-tro-lai-voi-arsenal-20251123083000013.htm
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