Arteta and Arsenal’s sporting director Andrea Berta were hailed for assembling one of the strongest squads in Europe last summer with eight new faces arriving at the Emirates.
But with the final hurdles still ahead of them, the group has looked jaded in recent weeks with the physical and emotional toil of the title race taking its toll.
Arsenal produced one of their better displays of late in their Champions League semi-final first leg clash against Atletico Madrid on Wednesday night, settling for a 1-1 draw in the Spanish capital.
Their focus now shifts back to the Premier League for another must-win game at home to Fulham on Saturday before the second leg against Diego Simeone’s in north London next Tuesday.
It is another quick turnaround for Arteta’s side but club great Henry insists the manager has the options at his disposal to find a solution.
Arteta must find the solutions in his squad ahead of the weekend (Picture: Getty)
Asked how Arsenal will manage the coming days and those games against Fulham and Atletico, Henry told CBS Sports: ‘I don’t see any issue. I’m not saying it is going to be easy and pleasant because the game again at Newcastle was very difficult.
‘But you have the squad to be able to deal with that, so deal with it.’
Against Atletico, Arteta made two changes to the side that beat Newcastle last weekend, both enforced with Kai Havertz ruled out and Eberechi Eze only deemed fit enough for the bench having also limped off at the weekend.
Rice and Zubimendi in particular have barely been rested this season (Picture: Getty)
While there will be the temptation to rest key personnel for the visit of the Cottagers, Jamie Carragher has warned ‘the stakes are too high.’
‘Thierry is right, they have the squad. If this was November, he would make some changes,’ Carragher said.
‘I just think the stakes are so high, there is no way Mikel Arteta is going to be making changes in these games, I would be very surprised.
‘The reason he is in this situation now where the players do like a little bit fatigued is because he hasn’t made those changes earlier on when the stakes weren’t as high. If they draw against Fulham this will think they gave lost the league. The stakes are just too high.’
Martin Odegaard is a ‘big problem’ for Arsenal, says Manchester United great Paul Scholes (Picture: Getty)
Paul Scholes has taken aim at Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard, claiming the midfielder has become a ‘big problem’ for the club as he ‘isn’t playing his position properly’ this season.
It leaves this year’s title race wide open, with Arsenal able to move six points clear should they prevail in their London derby with Fulham at the Emirates on Saturday evening.
Odegaard has proven an instrumental figure in Arsenal’s rise to prominence again under Arteta, twice named as the club’s Player of the Season since the Spaniard took charge in 2019.
Not helped by persistent injury problems, though, Odegaard’s contribution suffered a drastic dip last term. And it’s been a similarly frustrating season this time around for the Norwegian, who has managed just one goal and five assists in his 21 league matches.
Odegaard’s appearance in Arsenal’s defeat of Newcastle marked the first time the former Real Madrid man had completed back-to-back games for the Gunners since December.
But addressing Odegaard’s struggles on the latest episode of The Overlap Fan Debate, Manchester United legend Scholes argued that the midfielder had become an issue for Arsenal, not helped by his position on the pitch.
‘That game on Saturday [against Newcastle], I didn’t see all of it, I probably saw the first half an hour, but I think Odegaard is a big problem for them,’ Scholes explained.
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‘I love Odegaard, I think he’s brilliant. Technically, he’s great, but he doesn’t play his position properly.
‘Half the time I saw him in the first 20 minutes he was almost the deepest man.
‘That football, it’s just bulls***.’
Odegaard completed back-to-back games for the first time since December in Arsenal’s win over Newcastle (Picture: Getty)
Scholes believes Bukayo Saka’s absence on the right flank will only have had a negative impact on Odegaard’s performance level given the partnership they had built up in recent seasons.
Asked if Odegaard playing too deep was down to the player himself or Arteta, Scholes replied: ‘Whether they’ve been told that or not, Odegaard is a No.10, Odegaard connects your midfield to your forward play.
‘You wonder why there’s no flow in your team when he’s behind Martin Zubimendi, he’s behind Declan Rice. How can you get connections there?
‘I also think that Saka not being there is a problem because I think Odegaard does connect well with Saka. Once he gets in those positions behind the midfield, Saka’s off and running.
Arteta’s men hold a three-point advantage over City at the summit (Picture: Getty)
‘I don’t think he [Odegaard] will have quite that connection with Viktor Gyokeres because he’s not that type of a player. Possibly with Kai Havertz he could have it.
‘So if I’m a central midfield player for Arsenal, “I don’t need you [Odegaard] here! You’re not needed in between the defence and midfield! You’ve got to be there [in the No.10 position] so I can progress the ball up the pitch to you, especially, because you’ve got great ability!”
‘It’s almost in a David Silva kind of way, how he connected Manchester City’s midfield to the attacking play. Stay there!’
Pressed on which player out of Odegaard or Eberechi Eze is best suited to the No.10 role at Arsenal, Scholes responded: ‘Look, I think either of them are suited to it.
‘I think Eze will produce more moments from the edge of the box scoring goals than Odegaard, but I think Odegaard will make you a better football team if he plays in the right position.’
Zubimendi doesn’t progress the ball enough, according to Scholes (Picture: Getty)
Turning his attentions to one of Arsenal’s high-profile summer recruits, Martin Zubimendi, Scholes admitted he had been left a little underwhelmed, claiming the Spain international ‘doesn’t progress the game enough’.
‘The Premier League is tough. It’s a long season and he [Zubimendi] probably wouldn’t have experienced anything like this before in Spain,’ Scholes – an 11-time Premier League winner with Manchester United – continued.
‘He wouldn’t have been going for a title in Spain with Real Sociedad I suppose and when I’d seen him for Sociedad, you [Gary Neville] were saying, if I remember rightly, that he’s someone who progresses the ball up the pitch.
Scholes knows what it takes to win a league title having won 11 with United (Picture: Getty)
‘I never saw him as that. I didn’t see him loads but I never thought he was going to be a player to make your team play good football, and I think your central midfield player has to do that. I don’t think he progresses the game enough.’
According to Scholes, Manchester City have wrestled the momentum in their favour in this year’s title race are are ‘capable of winning every game’ from now until the end of the campaign.
‘City are handling it better with the big game last week, Arsenal limped over the line a little bit against Newcastle again,’ the ex-England international went on.
‘I just think there’s a flow to City. I know there’s not massive experience in the squad but they’ve got the manager who has got the experience which is a big thing.
‘Look, it’s going to be close, I don’t think there’s any doubting that, I just think City are capable of winning every game.’
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But there were positive signs with the former Crystal Palace star back on the pitch at full-time to celebrate the win, insisting his substitution was merely precautionary in his post-match interview.
Kai Havertz however will not be involved tonight. The Germany international has been preferred up front in Arsenal’s last two games ahead of Viktor Gyokeres but pulled up early on against Newcastle with a groin issue.
Havertz went off injured on Saturday (Picture: Getty)
Havertz went straight down the tunnel for treatment that evening and while there is no clear timeline on when he will return to action, he will not be involved in the Spanish capital.
Jurrien Timber also remains sidelined with a groin issue despite a rather confusing update from his manager.
Arsenal XI to face Atletico – Metro prediction
Gyokeres has started on the bench the last two games but with Havertz out, the Sweden international is expected to start this evening having bagged two in the 4-0 win over Atletico in the league phase of the competition back in October.
Bukayo Saka was back in the squad for the first time since the Carabao Cup final on Saturday and should return to the starting XI tonight.
With Timber still out, there is a big decision to be made at right-back.
While Ben White is available, Cristhian Mosquera has slotted it well in that role and Arteta may favour the former Villarreal star up against Spanish opposition.
Atletico vs Arsenal TV channel, live stream and kick-off time
Atletico vs Arsenal kicks off at 8pm tonight.
You can watch the match live on TNT Sports 1 with streaming also available through the HBO Max app.
You can also follow all the action with Metro’s LIVE blog.
Terry liked a previous post by Lowe last month (Picture: Getty)
Former Chelsea captains John Terry and Dennis Wise have appeared to back a call to deport benefit-claiming migrants in a post from Restore Britain leader Rupert Lowe.
In an Instagram post featuring a clip of him speaking in the House of Commons, Lowe wrote: ‘We should ban foreigners from claiming benefits, and remove migrants who are incapable of financially supporting themselves – use those many saved billions to slash tax for the British men and women keeping the economy running.
‘Restore Britain would do exactly that, and put our own people first. Finally.’
Former England star Terry was among those reply, writing: ‘100 per cent yes.’ The post also appeared to be endorsed by another former Blues captain in Wise who wrote ‘200 per cent’.
Wise is the club’s second most successful captain of all-time, behind Terry. He made 445 appearances for Chelsea, wearing the captain’s armband from 1993 to when he left the club in 2001.
The former centre-half responded to the post with three clapping emojis.
Wise also commented on Lowe’s post (Picture: Getty Images)
Terry was criticised for the post with the Restore leader later defending the 45-year-old.
‘I see that England/Chelsea legend John Terry is taking some flak for applauding Restore Britain’s policy of banning the burqa and ensuring that all London stations use English, and English only.
‘This is the position the vast majority of the British people support.
‘There is now a political party that will say exactly what people think and fight to make it happen. Restore Britain.’
Since hanging up his boots, Terry has served as assistant manager under Dean Smith at Aston Villa, returning to Chelsea in 2022 in a consultancy role working with the club’s academy.
Terry won five Premier League titles at Chelsea (Picture: Getty)
Recent reports also suggest he is in talks with Colchester United over a surprise takeover at the club.
His old club Chelsea are once again on the lookout for a new permanent manager following the sacking of Liam Rosenior.
Calum McFarlane has been moved up from the Under-21 side to lead the team on a interim basis with sections of Chelsea’s support calling for Terry to be involved in some capacity for the final games of the season.
Terry recently revealed however he ‘did not get a call’ from the decision-makers at Stamford Bridge.
‘I’m not sure what Calum’s backroom staff is going to look like, I’ve not had a call, I’ve not had a message, I will be continuing my role in the academy,’ he said.
‘I’ll be with the academy tomorrow, we’ve got a big couple of games coming up.’
