Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta lashed out at his side’s hectic schedule as he reacted to the injuries suffered by Declan Rice and Cristhian Mosquera in Wednesday’s victory over Brentford.
A routine 2–0 win saw the Gunners move five points clear at the top of the Premier League standings, but celebrations were short-lived as the reality of the injuried to both Rice and Mosquera sank in.
Mosquera, already deputising for the injured duo of Gabriel and William Saliba, failed to complete the first 45 minutes, while Rice was forced off in the latter stages of the second half. Both players appeared to have suffered muscular injuries which Arteta put down to the relentless nature of Arsenal’s fixture list.
“Now we play Wednesday night, and we have to play Saturday morning as well,” Arteta reflected. “So we can play minutes, but if they can please give us just a little bit more time to recover and to make the well-being of these players a little bit easier, that would be great.
“Probably it’s not one thing, but we can help the players and everybody, the league and everybody, to do what we have to do. Give us another day, especially the teams that are playing so much in Europe. To everybody in general, I think we can do that because we’re going to benefit from that.
“We’ve never had such a schedule at every level, not only in the Premier League, but every competition internationally as well. So we need to try to do that, please.
“It’s not an argument, I think it’s common sense,” he added. “I think it’s not at some point this becomes too much, you know, and the players are not machines. But we have to try to do that when we can.”
Rice Declares Himself Available for Aston Villa
Arteta confirmed Rice would be sent for further scans on his injury, with a final verdict to emerge on Thursday.
However, the midfielder himself moved to ease any concerns in the immediate aftermath of the game. In an off-camera meeting with Sky Sports News, Rice insisted he was “fine” and would be fit enough to face Aston Villa on Saturday.
As for Mosquera, Arteta had no extra details on the defender’s injury. Watching on from the stands, Saliba could be seen shaking his head in disbelief as the summer signing left the pitch to become the third centre back on the sidelines.
Fortunately for Arsenal, Arteta recently confirmed Saliba was just “days” away from a comeback, with Saturday’s meeting with Villa perhaps a timely return target. Gabriel, meanwhile, remains “weeks” away from his return.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Frustrated Mikel Arteta Hits Out After Declan Rice, Cristhian Mosquera Injuries.
