Arsenal have emerged from the international break a different side, and Mikel Arteta credits the time had to get players healthy as a key factor in the team's form reversal.
Before the latest international break, Arsenal were in the middle of a four-game stretch without a win in the league, and their title hopes were fading fast.
Mikel Arteta's team were decimated by injuries, with Bukayo Saka, Declan Rice, and Martin Odegaard among those who skipped international duty as a result. The break was exactly what the doctor ordered.
It gave the injury-riddled Gunners a chance to get some players back healthy and those who were playing through injury a chance to get fully fit.
Now, in their first two games after the international break, Arsenal, one could argue, have produced their two best performances of the season with a 3-0 win over Nottingham Forest and the 5-1 demolition of Sporting CP in the Champions League league phase.
Arteta knows how the international break has played a part in his team's recent resurgence.
"A lot, because we were training with 11-12 players for a long period so they could not train and play and then suddenly almost everybody is fit and available," Arteta said via arsenal.com. "Itβs true, we are still managing certain players but their level is rising. I have no doubt we have the right ability, we are going to be a really good side."
π¬ "We made it happen tonight. I saw the team really convinced with a great energy and a belief that we could do it."
The boss reflects on our statement win in Lisbon π
β Arsenal (@Arsenal) November 27, 2024
With a squad that is now fully rested and fit, the Gunners look a completely different proposition for the rest of the league. While it is only a two-game sample size, the manner in which Arsenal dismantled both Forest and Sporting will give fans hope.
After enduring a tough stretch that saw the Gunners' title hopes suffer a big blow, optimism has resurfaced once more in north London. The maintenance of this current form could be the catalyst for the team to begin its climb to the summit of the league and chase down Liverpool.
In an ironic twist, the international break has always been a time of the year when Gunners fans wait anxiously to see just which first-team star would be injured and how detrimental it would be to the team's league hopes.
But now, it seems that this international break has been one that has helped the team get back to its dominant best.
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