sport news Arsenal's April curse strikes again! SAMI MOKBEL reveals exactly what needs to ... trends now
It is April and Arsenal appear to be running out of steam. Again.
For the third consecutive season the Gunners are stuttering at the business end of the season.
Two wins from a possible five in all competitions this month has seen Arsenal crash out of the Champions League to Bayern Munich, while their Premier League defeat to Aston Villa last weekend leaves their title challenge in the balance.
‘It is what it is,’ said head coach Mikel Arteta on Friday when asked about his team’s apparent April curse.
‘We have to accept it. In the two games, especially the Bayern one at home, at the beginning it could have been different.
Yet again, Arsenal have began to crumble as they approach the business end of the season
Mikel Arteta's side have repeatedly struggled to get results in April, across recent seasons
‘I have reviewed the Villa game three times and I think we were the better team.
‘Now it’s not about talking too much, we have to show what we’re made of and turn the situation around.’
Lose at Wolves this weekend and Arsenal will look an April fool.
Here, Mail Sport looks why their form has dipped and how Arteta may try to rectify the situation.
FATIGUEArsenal will have played 52 matches by the end of the season. It comes with the territory of being a top side and it’s a schedule they will have to get used to if they want to continue among Europe’s elite.
But it’s pertinent to stress that this is the first time this batch of players have faced a season of such intensity.
‘Obviously the calendar continues to be more and more demanding, and we have more games, more competitions, less rest, we have two options - we reduce that or we have more players in the squad,’ said Arteta.
To that end, it appears the workload maybe catching up with Arsenal. The drab second half display in last week’s surprise loss to Villa indicated signs of weariness. Their lacklustre showing at Bayern on Wednesday offered further signs that the players are running on empty.
Arteta and his coaching staff have tapered the squad's training schedule during the final months of the season. A focus on recovery or what the club call ‘regeneration sessions’ have a become key in the run-in.
Arsenal have made 'regeneration sessions' a key aspect to their squad training schedule
Mikel Arteta's title-chasing side will have played 52 matches by the end of the season
That said, however, according to data Arteta is reluctant to rotate his most important players amid recent assertions that Spaniard doesn’t have complete faith in his squad.
Gabriel Magalhaes, William Saliba, Ben White, Declan Rice and Bukayo Saka have all played at least 40 matches this season.
Martin Odegaard and Kai Havertz have started 39 and 37, respectively. Arteta has used 25 players in the Premier League, the joint lowest number along with Manchester City, West Ham, Everton and Fulham.
Arteta has made 59 changes to his starting XI in top-flight matches, the 12th most.
His use of substitutes has also been questioned. For example: Arsenal have made 135 substitutions in the Premier League this season, the 10th most. Thirteen of those have been made before the 60th minute and 63 before the 75th, placing them 18th and 12th, respectively.
If certain players are feeling the pace, it would be perfectly understandable. Mail Sport knows at least three of the aforementioned players are paying thousands of pounds for private well-being sessions away from the auspices of Arsenal’s medical team to top up their recoveries in-between matches.
The rigours of a long hard season are felt by all clubs, it isn’t an issue exclusive to Arsenal - although the fact Saka - arguably the club’s most potent attacker - is currently playing with hamstring and groin niggles, as well as a long-term Achilles problem, arrives at the worst possible time.
White has played with a long-standing knee issue that will be re-assessed at the end of the season, though the ACL injury suffered by Jurrien Timber during the opening day of the season and Takehiro Tomiyasu’s unavailability for much of the season has hampered Arteta options at full-back.
Similarly, Gabriel Jesus recently admitted he doesn’t remember the last time he played without pain as Arsenal manage his ongoing knee issue.
Bukayo Saka (L) has been playing for the Gunners despite a number of minor injuries
Winning becomes a habit. You learn, with experience, how to get over the line. That is, perhaps, Arsenal’s biggest disadvantage of all.
Arteta has assembled a brilliant team, bursting with verve and vibrancy, but they are young and still learning about elite level football.
Most pertinently of all, it is not a team that has won a major trophy together. Jorginho, Kai Havertz, Oleksandr Zinchenko and Gabriel Jesus have enjoyed individual success at rival Premier League sides but nothing can replicate the sense of collective triumph. The value it adds to a team is immeasurable.
Of course, it’s important to add balance to assertions that, for the third consecutive season, that Arsenal are fading when it matters most.
They are
