Mikel Arteta has explained why Declan Rice was on the bench and William Saliba was absent from the Arsenal squad for Saturday’s win over Nottingham Forest.
Arsenal fans had a couple of surprises when the team news for Saturday’s match against Nottingham Forest was announced, with Declan Rice on the bench and William Saliba not even in the squad.
There had been no suggestions of a fitness issue for Rice, and Saliba was seen taking part in training on Friday, so the expectation was that the former would start and the latter would at least be on the bench.
It didn’t matter much in the end, with Mikel Merino performing well and Cristhian Mosquera starring as Arsenal won 3-0. But Mikel Arteta explained both decisions after the game.
On Rice, Arteta explained that playing Merino was simply a tactical decision, with the manager hoping to capitalise on the momentum of the international break.
“Mikel [Merino] comes back after scoring four goals in two games in a real high emotional state, I wanted to utilise that,” Arteta said.
As for Saliba, the Arsenal manager confirmed the defender had a good training session but still didn’t feel quite ready to play.
“He trained yesterday, did the whole session and was okay,” Arteta said. “I spoke to him afterwards and he said ‘I think I need a few more days, the turnaround has been too quick’. When a player says that, don’t push it and I think Mosquera was very, very good.”
The hope is that Saliba will be ready in time for Tuesday’s match away to Athletic Club, but given Mosquera’s form, there’s really no need to rush the France international back to action.
The defensive change is only worth making if and when Saliba feels he’s made a full recovery.