Good morning everyone, a quick recap of Wednesday for you.
Arsenal travel to Switzerland today ahead of our first Europa League group stage game against FC Zurich. The match itself takes place in Saint Gall due to an athletics event at the Stadion Letzigrund, that’s a bit strange, but this is the Europa League.
Mikel Arteta will meet the press a little later and will focus on the rotation, giving minutes to ‘fringe’ players and making sure to keep his team fresh for the weekend’s visit to Everton in the Premier League. I’m curious what the situation is with Emile Smith Rowe, who reportedly stopped during the warm-up after the 3-1 loss at Old Trafford on Sunday.
He has played just 47 minutes this season, in four substitute appearances of 6, 16, 9 and 16 minutes respectively. Part of that is because the team has been playing well and it’s hard to get into a winning side, but I thought Mikel Arteta’s response a couple of weeks ago was quite interesting when asked what the 22-year-old had to do. years to be the owner. place again He said:
“He needs to stay fit, train well and perform at the level that he’s capable of because when he does, it’s very hard not to choose him.”
It’s hard not to worry a little. The last time he played the full 90 minutes was in April, during the loss to Crystal Palace, and you have to go back to this time last year, to the hectic Christmas period, to know his last sustained streak of starts/completions. games (click to enlarge).
The thing is, though, it’s not like he’s been completely sidelined. He played in 12 of our last 13 games last season, starting 6 of them, and was an unused substitute on the final day against Everton. Still, you felt that after so much football in the last 18 months, he could have used a summer off. Instead, he was called up for England U21 duty, starting three games in 10 days.
Consequently, he didn’t star much in the preseason and this new issue, whatever it is, comes at a bad time. He would surely have started against FC Zurich tomorrow night, and as much as I love what Gabriel Martinelli is doing this season, we need the competence and depth that Smith Rowe brings. Especially since our search for another winger this summer ended when we suffered those midfield injuries and then failed to bring someone in that position either. Hopefully it’s only short-term, because Smith Rowe is a player with a lot of talent and potential, but that falls a bit by the wayside if you can’t stay fit and available.
Speaking of fitness, there are some suggestions that Thomas Partey will be back for Everton at the weekend, but I’m not going to hold my breath on that. Previous experience tells us that when you hear the words ‘Partey’ and ‘thigh’ together, the time frame is likely to be longer than just a couple of weeks.
Arsenal will also be keeping an eye on the upcoming international break towards the end of the month, and Partey has been included in the Ghana squad for internationals against Brazil and Nicaragua. Maybe it’s an opportunity for him to improve his fitness, but also a possible injury for a player whose fitness has been a real problem since his arrival from Atletico Madrid.
Travel + an international coach prioritizing his needs ahead of the World Cup in November could be potentially problematic. At the same time, with that tournament just around the corner, you could argue that ensuring the availability of a key player would be an important consideration for that manager, so you could expect a common sense approach. One to watch.
We will have updates on Arseblog News of the manager’s press conference that is scheduled for tonight after the team arrives in Switzerland. Let’s see what kind of injury updates we get from Mikel Arteta, who, as we know, often likes to play those cards very close to his chest.
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Finally, for today, thanks to everyone who reached out regarding Lana’s recovery, etc. I am pleased to report that the surgery went well, there were no complications with the operation or anesthesia, and everything went well. her house on Thursday and begin the proper recovery from there.
Well, that’s all for this morning. Have a good.
