Following our 4-3 defeat at the hands of Liverpool on Sunday, Arsene Wenger admitted that Granit Xhaka needs more time and perhaps he pushed Aaron Ramsey when he shouldn’t.

With some players not quite match-fit after the Euros, some injured and some eager to play, Wenger is obviously finding it hard to pick his starting XI. Granit Xhaka, for example, was decent in pre-season but Francis Coquelin got the nod ahead of him against Liverpool. According to the boss, this is because Xhaka isn’t quite ready.

“Look, him and Ramsey [and others] – they all came back later,” he said.

“I pushed Ramsey in and he got injured. It’s a very difficult situation to sort out because the players come back late because of the Euros and, on top of that, you play them and they get injured. [But] if you don’t play them you miss them.”

589486378 jordan henderson of liverpool is closed down gettyimages
LONDON, ENGLAND – AUGUST 14: Jordan Henderson of Liverpool is closed down by Granit Xhaka of Arsenal during the Premier League match between Arsenal and Liverpool at Emirates Stadium on August 14, 2016 in London, England. (Photo by Mike Hewitt/Getty Images)

When Xhaka did come on he was committing fouls left, right and centre, looking very raw and a little out of his depth. Like Mathieu Flamini in a Xhaka suit.

I’m sure the kinks will be ironed out with time though, as he was thrown in the deep end on Sunday.

The issue is, Ramsey (and Alex Iwobi) getting injured like this isn’t an isolated incident. Why does Arsenal suffer physically far more than other clubs? It’s been this way for years and there comes a point when you have to stop blaming poor luck and realise that something, somewhere is going wrong.

Is it playing players before they’re fit or when they’re over-worked? Other teams face the same problems.

When it rains it pours but now it appears to always be at least drizzling injuries at Arsenal.