Good morning to all.
Mikel Arteta held his first press conference in weeks yesterday before Monday’s game against West Ham. However, it was not broadcast live via the official website. Maybe they forgot that football was coming back or something.
Still, there are a few bits we can sink our teeth into. News of the injury is one thing, and the focus is on Gabriel Jesus, about whom the coach did not reveal anything in regards to a timetable for his return. He said:
It is very difficult to put a time frame. It was a major injury and, knowing him, I prefer not to give dates. It will take some time for sure. Obviously, he’s going to have surgery, so that’s the extent of the injury.
He’s generally pretty cautious about player injuries and recovery, so it’s not unusual, and I’m also wondering if he might want to keep it as low-key as possible. Maybe there’s a chance of a mishap and he doesn’t want to say a date just to have it turn out to be wrong.
However, he was a bit more specific about Reiss Nelson, saying:
I’m talking weeks. It’s not a matter of days, but he’ll be gone for a few weeks. Let’s see how he reacts in the next few days, but he felt something right away, and with sprinters that’s not a good sign.
Having spoken last week about his desire to win a new contract at Arsenal, this is a particularly bad time for the 23-year-old. After suffering a bit of a hiccup, Emile Smith Rowe is now ‘close’ according to Arteta, and if we do everything during the January window and bring in someone like Mykhailo Mudryk, then Nelson will find himself back in the pecking order. . You can’t win a new contract without playing, but he’s crossing his fingers that he’s not out for too long.
When Arteta spoke of needing more players and more resources, I think he was referring to the market, but also to the players we have who have been out this season. Smith Rowe, our second leading scorer from last season, has barely played. Oleksandr Zinchenko has been in and out, but more out than in. And Nelson showed when he replaced Saka against Forest that he can contribute even if there are big questions about his long-term future here.
Clearly, though, January is going to be a month of some importance, and there were inevitably questions about it. He said:
We are going to be active, and being active means always seeking to strengthen the team. This team still can’t afford not to maximize every window and we have to because it’s really important. But then we want to get the right profile, the right player and a player that will really impact the team and take us to the next level.
You have to think that the recent meeting in the US, when Arteta, Edu and Tim Lewis traveled to meet Stan and Josh, was not simply an opportunity for tea. Face-to-face discussions about what we can do in January, how much money there is to spend, and how they plan to use it, should have been high on the agenda. As I said yesterday, when Arteta is protected in other areas (tactics, injuries, etc.), he is usually quite direct when it comes to transfers. I don’t think anyone has any doubt that he wants at least one player, and not just any player.
That can provide the challenge, because the January window can be more difficult in that regard, but all we can do is hope that they can get the deal right as quickly as possible. There’s a lot of football to come, some big games against some big teams (and Sp*rs), so if we can reinforce the team before then it will be a boost for both the team and the fans.
We can talk more about what he had to say about football resuming and what awaits us in the coming days as we prepare for West Ham. But for now, let’s leave it there.
If you didn’t get a chance to watch the Arteta/Carragher interview, Andrew Allen has done a great job for the world by providing a full transcript, which you can read here. We chatted about it in the latest Arsecast which is available below.
For more aural goodness, we have a new episode of Waffle on Patreon, the podcast where James and I answer questions about everything except Arsenal. And in this one, we provide festive audio gifts for each other. Check it here.
Correct, the pod is down. Good Friday people.
