Theo Walcott has praised Arsenal for the way they can mix it up and deal with injuries to win at all costs, after Sunday’s north London derby victory.
Following Arsenal’s derby win over Tottenham Hotspur, Mikel Arteta spoke to the media about how he had to adapt his gameplan ahead of the match.
After making his original plans, Arteta lost the likes of Declan Rice to suspension and Martin Odegaard to injury. Yet Arsenal found a way to win the derby all the same.
Speaking on Match of the Day 2, Theo Walcott highlighted Arsenal’s adaptability to get all three points even when circumstances conspire against them.
“It really doesn’t matter how they got it – it was great result for Arsenal,” Walcott said.
“They showed again that they can mix it up, because they played almost like a Jose Mourinho side to see the game out.
“Even though they had some important personnel out, they are so well drilled and structured that they showed it doesn’t really matter who plays, because they are all drilled the same way defensively.”
As for how Arteta manages to deal with changing circumstances and unexpected absences so well, Walcott says he’s seen the answer first hand.
“[It] comes down to the work they do on the training ground,” Walcott explained. “I was lucky enough to watch them in pre-season and the amount of coaching staff who are involved in each session is incredible.
“It makes the players’ lives so much easier when there is that level of detail, with coaches that are literally there for each individual player.
“As a squad, they are getting the same message drilled into them on a daily basis, so I am not surprised anymore when they can grind out a result like this one.”
Arsenal will need to continue to show that adaptability in the coming week of matches. Though Rice will return to the fray, it’s unclear whether any of the Gunners’ injury absentees will be back.
As it stands, their injury list includes Mikel Merino, Martin Odegaard, Takehiro Tomiyasu, Riccardo Calafiori, Bukayo Saka, Oleksandr Zinchenko, and Kieran Tierney.
Only Saka is widely expected to be available for Arsenal’s next game, and even that isn’t certain just yet.