Fried Rice?
Morning.
Let’s start today with the news that Declan Rice has withdrawn from the England squad for their upcoming Nations League games. This is both pleasing, and worrying at the same time. The good bit is that a player who featured so heavily for Arsenal and England last season, and had scant rest after the World Cup, will get some time off.
Let’s not forget, during that tournament he described being in ‘terrible pain’ with hamstring and lower-back issues, and throughout the title winning season he spoke more than once about how exhausted he was. This is a man who absolutely pushed himself to the limit for club and country, and I don’t think a few weeks off before the start of the new season was sufficient time to recovery fully from those issues.
There was a suggestion at some point during the summer that because of the load he had been under, he – and Bukayo Saka as well – would not be used by Mikel Arteta until after the first Interlull (the one he has withdrawn from). It sounded fanciful at the time, and it had to have been an invention of someone with no understanding of the Arsenal manager, because as much as I might joke about the England team’s use of those two players in particular, it’s not as if Arteta doesn’t ask of a lot of them too.
Rice sat out the Community Shield until half-time, and lo and behold, he started our first Premier League game of the season. The 3-0 scoreline against Coventry allowed the manager to take him off at 68 minutes, but in the four subsequent games he’s played 85, 90, 81 and 90 minutes respectively (taking into account those 90s are 90+ given added time in both halves).
Saka’s minutes are more or less identical. He too came off after 68 minutes against Coventry, and since then has done 90, 90, 90, and 81. Both players were given the luxury of a night off when we faced Ipswich in the Carabao Cup, and while Rice wasn’t in the squad at all, Saka sat on the bench. Rice did another full 90 against Napoli in the Champions League, while Saka played 73 minutes of that one.
I think it’s fair to say that we haven’t exactly eased these guys back into action. It’s also worth remembering that Saka carried an ongoing Achilles issue into the World Cup, an injury which at one point threatened his involvement in that tournament completely, and while I think he has looked sharper this season than last, I’m not entirely convinced that injury has completely gone away because he got three weeks off.
So, I think Declan Rice withdrawing from the England squad can be seen as a good thing, because we have this idea he’ll spend the next few weeks lounging around in a hammock, getting massages, and emerging at the end of it a fully fit, completely refreshed man. Which would be lovely, obviously.
Where I have some concern though is that Rice’s character and desire to play is part of what makes him so good. He will push himself through the pain barrier, he is fully committed, he never seems to not want to play, so if we’re at a point where a decision like this is being made, perhaps there’s something more to worry about than we know. It could be – and I really hope it’s this – just a common sense decision. Rice, Arsenal, and England recognising the need to sit him down and let him rest. If it’s more necessary because, I dunno, he remains in terrible pain, then it’s hard not to feel a bit more anxious about this decision. I guess we’ll find out in due course, but fingers crossed.
Saka remains with the England squad for now. Hopefully Thomas Tuchel’s use of him is sensible, and to be fair to the German, I think he’s a bit more understanding than some international coaches because of his work as a club manager. He knows the fear of seeing a key player go away with their country when perhaps they’re not 100%, anxiously awaiting their return, and fretting every time his phone buzzes in case he gets a text about an injury. At the same time, he has to get results, and on his day Saka is one of England’s best, so chances are he’ll play.
Meanwhile, at this admittedly early stage of the season so far, here are the Arsenal players with the most outfield minutes across all competitions:
- Gabriel – 675′
- Martin Odegaard – 570′
- Declan Rice – 549′
- Kai Havertz – 530′
- Bukayo Saka – 522′
After the transfer window, and Andrea Berta’s failure to add more firepower to the squad than Christos Tzolis, it’s interesting that the three players mentioned as capable of making us better up front are in that group. I guess it makes sense that if you’re looking for greater output from Saka, Odegaard, and Havertz, they’re going to play more, but after all three have endured injury issues – some of them quite serious – over the last 18 months or so, are you risking a lot by playing them as much?
That’s the balance Mikel Arteta has to find this season. I will say I think I understand it more in this opening part of the season. You’re trying to build momentum, the fixture list has been really demanding with some tricky away games that we’ve come through well for the most part, but after this international break, he has to be able and willing to use the depth of his squad more. But it’s a question we ask of this manager all the time, and the answer typically comes with his team selections which include his best players more often than not.
Ok, I’ll leave it there for this morning. Have a great Tuesday folks.
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