A short summer for the champions
Arsenal begin the defence of their Premier League title at home to newly promoted Coventry City on Friday 21 August, an 8pm kick-off live on Sky Sports, per the Premier League's fixture list. It is the opening match of the entire season. It may also be the first that Mikel Arteta has to get through without his most important players anywhere near full sharpness.
Four of them went deep into the World Cup with England, who lost 2-1 to Argentina in the semi-final. Bukayo Saka, Declan Rice, Eberechi Eze and Noni Madueke all piled up minutes across the tournament. All four now fall under the same rule, and it is not one Arteta can bend. England's deep run was good for the nation and awkward for the club.
The three-week rule
Players who reach the closing stages of a World Cup are handed a non-negotiable three-week rest once their campaign ends, Yahoo Sports reported. It is a player-welfare measure, and for Arsenal's England contingent it swallows most of pre-season.
The knock-on effect is simple enough. Saka, Rice, Eze and Madueke are set to miss the friendly against Girona on 1 August and the trip to play Real Betis in Dublin on 5 August, per Yahoo Sports. Pre-season friendlies are where a side sharpens its timing and its fitness, and Arsenal will run those two out largely without their England spine.
Two of the four carry more than fatigue. Saka is managing an Achilles problem, though he was fit enough to lay on an assist against Mexico during the tournament, Yahoo Sports reported. Rice played through what Thomas Tuchel described as considerable neural hamstring pain during England's run, per the same report. Neither has been called a serious injury. Neither is nothing, either, and both will need careful handling once the pair are back on the grass.
Eze and Madueke are a different case, more workload than worry. Both featured heavily for Tuchel's side, and both are simply owed their rest.
Arteta leans on the kids
With his senior England men still on holiday, Arteta is expected to hand the early friendlies to fringe and academy players, Yahoo Sports reported, with 19-year-old Ethan Nwaneri among those in line for a longer look. That suits a manager who has never been shy of promoting from within, but it leaves the first team assembling late.
This is the price of a deep tournament run. Arsenal sent four players to a side that reached the last four, and the invoice arrives in August. The maths is tight. A three-week break from a mid-July exit points to the England group returning in the first week of August, which leaves barely a fortnight of proper training before Coventry pitch up at the Emirates.
There is a wider backdrop, too. England's run to the semi-finals ended against the eventual finalists, Argentina, in a tournament Spain went on to win. Arsenal, as champions, do not get the luxury of easing in: opening night, live on Sky, a full house expecting a repeat.
Champions are meant to start fast. Arsenal will try to do it with their spine still catching its breath. The open question is whether Saka's Achilles and Rice's hamstring hold up once the games come thick and fast, or whether Arteta is nursing them into September.
Sources
- Yahoo Sports
- Premier League
- Cover photo: Bukayo Saka / CC/Wikimedia (see file page) via Wikimedia Commons.
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