Mikel Arteta has confirmed Arsenal are reviewing their warm-up routines after a fourth pre-match injury setback this season.
Mikel Arteta has confirmed Arsenal are investigating their pre-match routines after four separate injuries in the warm-up before kick-off this season.
Speaking ahead of the Premier League fixture against Wolves, Arteta acknowledged the pattern is unusual and is being examined internally. “Yeah, big time. It’s very unusual,” he said. “It probably happened once or twice in six years I’ve been here and it’s happened four times (this season). We’re looking into it.”
The most recent case involved Riccardo Calafiori, who was withdrawn before the game against Wigan for the second time this season after pulling up in the warm-up. The reshuffle forced changes across the side, with Myles Lewis-Skelly moved back to left-back and Bukayo Saka starting in midfield.
Earlier in the campaign, William Saliba was withdrawn at Anfield with an ankle injury, while Saka also pulled out before the trip to Leeds.
Asked whether the regularity of the incidents was becoming a concern, Arteta said: “Big time. They were very different. The first one was with Wilo when he rolled his ankle against Liverpool. Then we had two incidents with Ricky in the warm-up in a really similar way.
“And then one was Bukayo after he rested in midweek and didn’t play against Kairat, and then [got injured] against Leeds, he had that incident.
“It’s very unusual. It probably happened once or twice I think in the six years that I’ve been here, and it’s happened four times [this season]. So obviously we are looking in to it.
“On the Wilo one it’s one that’s very difficult to see. Sometimes, you want to try and test a player before making sure that he’s ready, and the warm-up is another opportunity to do that.
“And Bukayo is very random because he never gave any symptoms or signals away that this could happen in the warm-up. But it is what it is. We have to learn.”
Arteta admitted the uncertainty has altered his mindset in the final minutes before kick-off. “Yes, I can feel in my body, I’m more aware of it,” he said.
“So I’m in the office, and I hear my door, and somebody is stepping in, and I’m like, ‘No, please’ because it’s a moment that is very tricky, because when you change Ricky for Bukayo [like on Sunday,] you have to change a lot of things within the game plan, positions, a lot of things that are different and you have two minutes to do that.
“So yes, it makes you a better coach because you have to be ‘what-if, what-if’ and there are more and more what-ifs just before the game and then a lot during the game. So you just need to be more prepared.”