Fire up the memes, it’s Arsenal bashing time. The latest: the conspiracy theory that 11 players have snubbed their country by faking injury in order to protect the club’s treble pursuit.
After Declan Rice and Bukayo Saka left the England camp, Thomas Tuchel said: “It looks a bit suspicious. I still have 100 per cent trust in the honesty of Bukayo and Declan. We did medical tests. I saw them.”
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Rice and Saka are among 10 Arsenal players to have withdrawn from international duty. Martin Odegaard was also unable to join up with Norway’s squad.
Add in the fact that Arsenal have become the country’s vogue club to hate and you have the ingredients for an elaborate conspiracy which has spread across social medial like wildfire.
Online sleuths have taken to scrutinising footage – “Hey! Piero Hincapie jogs off!” – while Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has been compared to Sir Alex Ferguson, who took a notoriously hard stance on releasing Manchester United players for international friendlies.
Arsenal already stand accused of adopting the [dark arts](https://inews.co.uk/sport/football/arsenals-tactics-mansfield-town-fa-cup-4279688?ico=in-line_link) in pursuit of a first Premier League title since 2004 – but the majority of withdrawals have been confirmed by country federations, not by Arsenal themselves.
Assessing each injury in isolation also helps explain a lot. Odegaard has missed 11 games since the start of February and is hardly worth rushing back for two Norway friendlies. Jurrien Timber was absent for two games before pulling out of the Netherlands squad.
Eberechi Eze also missed the Carabao Cup final. Noni Madueke’s injury unfolded for all to see on England duty, the winger leaving Wembley in a brace after hobbling off in the first half [against Uruguay](https://inews.co.uk/sport/football/england-uruguay-report-ben-white-thomas-tuchel-4317083?ico=in-line_link).
Martin Zubimendi suffered a knee injury, confirmed by Spain, while Leandro Trossard returned from Belgium duty with a hip problem that kept him out of two Arsenal games earlier in March.
The French Football Federation (FFF) said William Saliba needs 10 days of rest after suffering a “recurring pain in his left ankle”. Brazil stated Gabriel needed imaging tests after a knee injury.
Even if the extent of some injuries are unclear, namely Rice and Saka, Tuchel’s mention of one four-letter word – “risk” – goes miles in explaining their withdrawals.
> * **Martin Odegaard** – Knee, two weeks
> * **Leandro Trossard** – Hip, this weekend
> * **William Saliba** – Ankle, this weekend
> * **Gabriel –** Knee, one week
> * **Jurrien Timber** – Groin, this weekend
> * **Eberechi Eze** – Calf, four weeks
> * **Declan Rice** – Unknown, this weekend
> * **Bukayo Saka** – Unknown, this weekend
> * **Noni Madueke** – Knee, unclear
> * **Piero Hincapie** – Unknown, this weekend
> * **Martin Zubimendi** – Knee, this weekend
“They had a medical assessment and wanted desperately to play,” Tuchel said on Monday. “Let’s get the narrative straight, they wanted desperately to be involved. But it made no sense to take this risk.
“If it would have been the last game of the season then maybe we would have kept them and tried everything, but at this moment of the season it did not make sense.”
The World Cup starts in less than three months, and any niggles are not only protecting the player from their domestic run-ins – Arsenal could have 15 games left to play – but also preserving their prospects of making the plane.
Against Southampton in the FA Cup on Saturday, Arteta has the opportunity to rest some of his biggest stars.
For now, they must continue to pursue a greater goal, whatever the conspiracies against them. And most likely, if it wasn’t Arsenal, nobody would care.