Spain’s head coach has admitted that the 2020-21 campaign’s dense fixture list is taxing his squad
Mikel Arteta says he is worried about shooting a player amid a frantic season for Arsenal that took little time to rest between games.
The 2020-21 campaign has not gone as smoothly as Arsenal fans would have expected after seeing Arteta deliver the FA Cup and Community Shield last summer.
The Gunners have slipped to 11th in the Premier League position after 18 games, ten points behind fourth-placed Liverpool and 13 adrift of Manchester United’s usual leaders.
The North London outfit could close that gap if they beat Newcastle at the Emirates Stadium on Monday, but Arteta could be without two key players for that important event.
Keiran Tierney and Pablo Mari both missed the Arsenal 0-0 draw with Crystal Palace last time out due to calf injuries, with the other just returning to training and the latter still at an early stage. healing.
Gabriel Martinelli is available for re-selection after being kicked back from an ankle sprain, but Arteta expects fitness issues to continue to plague as the campaign progresses.
When asked if his players are at risk of exhaustion as a result of this season ‘s tight schedule, Spain’ s head coach told his pre – match press conference: “Yes. We have been trying to control it, but the fact that the fixtures are as they are and we did not have pre – season, which is why – and we have talked about it many times – is one of the the reasons we wanted the five subs.
“That was just, but this is just the impact and this will happen more and more, I think, and to more clubs.”
Arteta added that he could make wholesale changes to his side, who have won four of their last five home games, when Newcastle arrive at the Emirates: “Yes, but when you to win, you want to be on the team.
“When someone is doing well you don’t want to take it out because you get asked: ‘why are you taking it out?’
“The players also want to keep playing because they can’t see the bigger picture but we have a responsibility to protect them.
“We could have taken a big risk with Kieran against Palace and that wasn’t the right one to take because we could have shown him a long time.”
After their latest leg in the Premier League, Arsenal will begin preparing for an FA Cup fourth round tie against Southampton or Shrewsbury on 23 January.