Arsenal dark arts clear with international duty withdrawals but Manchester United lead way in October
Arsene Wenger used to hate recovering ‘broken down’ stars after internationals so will love the Arsenal withdrawals. But Manchester United lead the way.
Wenger once compared international managers selecting his Arsenal players to represent their countries as “like taking the car from his garage without even asking permission.
“They will then use the car for 10 days and abandon it in a field without any petrol left in the tank,” he added. “We then have to recover it, but it is broken down. Then a month later they will come to take your car again, and for good measure you’re expected to be nice about it.”
Earlier this season, and despite losing Martin Odegaard to injury in September because of some Norway silliness, Mikel Arteta was slightly more measured in his assessment of those infernal breaks.
“First of all the player has to be healthy to go to their national teams but all of them, when I spoke to them, want to be part of that and it’s normal,” he said. “It’s a huge privilege to represent your country. They all want to be involved, they all have their role, they don’t want to lose it and we have to understand that as well.”
With that said, Arsenal have already had a couple of pull-outs in October because dark arts, while the honest folk at Manchester City have packed their players off with a smile. Their neighbours provide quite the contrast.
Manchester United – four players
Alejandro Garnacho
Confirming his withdrawal from Argentina’s upcoming World Cup qualifiers against Venezuela and Bolivia, Garnacho cited “knee problems” he had been suffering in his two most recent Manchester United appearances.
“I’m not able to be with the national team, but I hope to recover quickly and be with them for the next matches,” he added, with an eye on the games against Paraguay and Peru in November, in itself an indication he does not expect to miss any fixtures beyond this international break.
Kobbie Mainoo
Taken off with a few minutes remaining of the goalless draw with Aston Villa, it was not long before Mainoo was pulled from England duty with a suspected hamstring issue presumably compounded by having to carry that midfield.
Noussair Mazraoui
With Luke Shaw apparently nearing a return, the Man Utd full-back injury baton was seemingly handed over to Mazraoui at half-time of the Villa draw when he was substituted with an as-yet-unspecified problem.
The club website has described his withdrawal from Morocco duty as merely a “precaution” after Erik ten Hag told the media they had to “assess” both Mazraoui and Harry Maguire’s issues.
Amad
The Ivory Coast released Amad for ‘medical monitoring’ back at Manchester United, who have termed the forward’s problem a mere ‘illness’ which is unlikely to rule him out of any club games.
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Arsenal – two players
Kai Havertz
There is thought to be little serious concern at Arsenal over the condition of Havertz, whose departure from the Germany squad for a couple of Nations League games was said by the national team to be because of “knee problems”.
The reality is that Havertz has played the full 90 minutes of every Arsenal game in the Premier and Champions League so far this season, as well as for Germany in the last international break. It seems like basic load management.
Thomas Partey
A statement from the Ghana FA said: “Thomas is unable to join the Black stars due to medical issues he is currently experiencing, and his club has scheduled him for further tests in the coming days.”
There are widespread reports that the midfielder is simply dealing with an illness of some sort, having started every Arsenal game so far aside from the League Cup win over Bolton.
Aston Villa – one player
Ezri Konsa
“The players who do not play with their national teams have to rest now,” said Unai Emery but it doesn’t feel as though Konsa will have much choice in the matter if his hamstring injury is as serious as first thought. It forced him off after 12 minutes against Manchester United and the centre-half’s status beyond the next fortnight is unknown.
Brentford – one player
Mikkel Damsgaard
In typical Brentford fashion, their ongoing injury crisis has claimed yet another victim so soon after a performance worthy of catching the eye of Troy Deeney’s trustworthy mate against Wolves.
Denmark did not go into extensive detail on the issue which has rendered the midfielder unavailable for Nations League games against Spain and Switzerland, but they were kind enough to wish him ‘a good recovery’ before his return to the Brentford treatment table.
Nottingham Forest – one player
Morgan Gibbs-White
There should be no accusations of international break subterfuge aimed in the direction of Forest after Gibbs-White was taken off against Chelsea in significant discomfort after an innocuous challenge from Malo Gusto. Nuno Espirito Santo was sufficiently concerned that he received yet another booking for his troubles.
It was initially feared that the damage to his ankle could have been severe but there is hope at the City Ground that Gibbs-White could return fairly quickly after scans revealed he had suffered nothing more than a sprain. But there will be no second England cap just yet.
