**Arsenal**are approaching the final phase of a season set to rewrite the narrative of their time under Mikel Arteta. But the international break has brought a twist to the tale before club action resumes.
From the 20 clubs across the Premier League, 228 players were selected for international sides. Since then, 23 players have dropped out of action, and half of those are part of the Gunners’ squad.
Who is out of action?
**Arsenal**lost 2-0 in the Carabao Cup final against Manchester City in their final fixture of their latest block of games. Four men were missing from their matchday squad: **Ben White**was the replacement for **Jurrien Timber**at right back, while Mikel Merino, Eberechi Eze and club captain **Martin Odegaard**were all absent from the midfield unit. Since then, the problems have piled up.
Noni Madueke suffered a collision in the first half of a 1-1 draw between **England**and **Uruguay**that left the winger wearing a brace on his knee after the final whistle. In a friendly between **Ecuador**and Morocco, **Piero Hincapie**was then forced to leave the field in the second half with a muscle issue.
An additional six players have pulled out of national team action because of fitness concerns.
William Saliba and **Gabriel Magalhaes**withdrew from the **France**and **Brazil**sides within two days of the action at Wembley Stadium. Declan Rice and Bukayo Saka both returned to base in North London after the medical staff for the Three Lions flagged up worries for their health, and Martin Zubimendi stepped away from the **Spain**squad with a knee problem ahead of a clash with Egypt.
Leandro Trossard, troubled with a hip issue in the new year, is also absent from the **Belgium**camp.
No one will know who is available for selection until the lineups for the **FA Cup**quarterfinal against **Southampton**on Saturday are revealed. But should this situation work in favour of Mikel Arteta?
A convergence of interests
**Arsenal**have felt the pinch from player problems post-international break in the recent past.
Back in the break during November, the defence suffered three significant blows. Riccardo Calafiori, who was injury-free since the start of the season, withdrew from the **Italy**camp with a hip problem. Timber had a suspected knee issue for the Netherlands, and Gabriel eventually missed a month and a half of **Premier League**action after he sustained a thigh problem while he was playing for Brazil.
Injuries have been a problem for the group throughout the campaign, and the extra load from international duty does not help top-tier teams manage the physical condition of their players.
National team managers and their respective federations will be conscious of this problem, but they must maximise the few opportunities to work with their player pools before big tournaments. Clubs cannot stop players from going to represent their country, but they can hope that interests converge.
This international break appears to be one such instance, and the case of the **Arsenal**players in the **England**camp conveys this point. Madueke would be a notable miss for club and country if his knock from Friday means a sustained spell on the sidelines, and only two months out from the start of the World Cup, Thomas Tuchel was not prepared to play games with the health of two key figures.
"I got the feeling that everyone was desperate to come. Some of the injured players even stayed to do their treatment. That shows they want to be around the group. No-one left straight away. It's a good spirit and that's how it should be.
*"[**Bukayo Saka**and **Declan Rice*] wanted desperately to play to get the narrative straight, but it made no sense to make the risk. If it was the last game of the season we would have kept them, but in this moment of the season it did not make sense. The risk for making it was way too big. They were both in discomfort when we did the medical assessment. It made absolutely no sense that they stayed.”
Apart from Hincapie and Madueke, who departed the field with problems, it may be a reasonable assumption that none of the players have picked up brand new problems. But even if this is an exercise in collective caution, **Arsenal**are still treading a fine line until the end of the season.
Arteta must act with wisdom
The strains of the schedule are an ill of the modern game, but no sympathies will be shared with **Arsenal**if they fail to achieve their potential come May. Their signings in the summer set out to strengthen the squad, and the manager must make best use of all his options in the weeks to come.
Arteta has not traditionally been keen to use all the resources on his roster. Injuries to Saka, Martin Odegaard, **Gabriel Martinelli**and Calafiori forced his hand to trust in **Hale End**graduates **Myles Lewis-Skelly**and **Ethan Nwaneri**in the 2024/25 campaign. Both players proved that they are more than serviceable assets for the first team, but their opportunities have been much scarcer this year.
Nwaneri would be a valuable option to start in the **FA Cup**as a number ten or a right winger this weekend, but he is now on loan at Marseille. Meanwhile, Christian Norgaard and Lewis-Skelly have a combined 330 **Premier League**minutes this campaign, and one wonders how the fatigue in the midfield unit or at left back would have been better handled if the pair had got more playing time.
In fairness, the final furlong of the season does not spare many chances to change lineups: games matter even more as the hope of lifting trophies becomes closer to getting a reality, and the level of opposition remains at a high level. In the FA Cup, Chelsea, Manchester City and **Liverpool**are all possible semi-final contestants, while Bayern Munich, Paris Saint-Germain, Real Madrid and **Barcelona**are all possible adversaries in the Champions League if the team eliminate Sporting.
Ideally, one’s best players are fresh for this phase of the calendar, and the additional rest they are receiving will make a difference. So, if physicality fails the group over the next two months, more questions should be asked of the team’s preparation to get to this point of the season. But **Arsenal**can only live in the moment, and the manager must protect players wherever possible during the run-in.