Arsenal huddle
Arsenal huddle
International breaks can help a club as much as they interrupt it. When a defender is carrying a muscular problem, a long trip and two friendlies in Asia are the last thing the medical staff want to see on the calendar.
New national-team managers often draw that line early. They leave out anyone who is not ready, protect the players who have just played a World Cup, and give clubs three weeks to get bodies right.
That decision is useful when the next Premier League date is already three weeks away. A unused substitute on Saturday can become a full training-week option by October.
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Piero Hincapie has been left out of Marcelo Gallardo’s first Ecuador squad, giving the Arsenal defender time to rest through the extended international break. The 24-year-old has been dealing with a muscular issue and is understood not to be at 100 per cent.
He was an unused substitute in Saturday’s 3-0 defeat at Brighton. Before that he missed the 4-2 Carabao Cup win at Ipswich because of the same fitness problem.
Hincapie has played only 152 minutes in all competitions this season. Riccardo Calafiori has taken the first-choice left-back role, which has limited the Ecuadorian’s minutes even when he has been available.
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Ecuador face friendlies in Asia against South Korea and Japan, plus one of New Zealand or Panama. A packed schedule on the other side of the world would not have helped a player still short of full fitness.
Gallardo said at his unveiling that several key names would be omitted because of recent problems. Chelsea’s Moises Caicedo is also absent after a knock and a calf issue that have restricted him to 14 minutes this term. Club Brugge’s Joel Ordonez is out with the foot injury that ended his proposed move to Crystal Palace.
All three helped Ecuador reach the World Cup last 32, where they lost 2-0 to Mexico at the Azteca. Gallardo is starting his reign without them.
For Arsenal the practical gain is simple. Hincapie stays in London Colney rather than boarding a long-haul flight, and Mikel Arteta can use the break to build him back up before Leeds visit the Emirates on 10 October.
The back line was already short at Brighton, with William Saliba missing and Ben White out. If Hincapie is closer to full fitness by the time the league returns, Arteta will have another option on the left and in central defence.
Until then the message from Ecuador is the one the club needed. No extra minutes, no extra travel, and three weeks to treat the muscle rather than manage it through friendlies.
Granit Xhaka
Granit Xhaka
Brighton 3-0 Arsenal
Brighton 3-0 Arsenal