Arsenal need to bounce back from their Champions League exit quickly if they are to maintain their Premier League title challenge, but it will not be easy.
Mikel Arteta’s side have had a difficult week, after a shock defeat by Aston Villa saw them lose their spot at the top of the table, and a defeat at Bayern Munich ended their chances of Champions League glory.
Arsenal looked exhausted at the Allianz Arena, and a hectic fixture schedule in April is now taking its toll on the squad, and while questions may be raised about Arteta’s lack of rotation, he has called on the Premier League to be more flexible over fixture changes.
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Mikel Arteta says Premier League need to be more flexible over fixture changes
Speaking in a press conference ahead of Arsenal’s trip to Wolves, Arteta claimed that Bayern Munich had more flexibility over their Bundesliga fixtures in between Champions League clashes, and that other leagues do more than the Premier League to help their sides compete in Europe.
“When you look at the schedule that Bayern had and we had, and the amount of games that they play, and they rest ten players nine days ago, and then rest three days before the game, another nine players, this is different,” he explained.
“But in these leagues, they do what they do, which is they cancel the games, or they bring them forward to have more rest for the Champions League. And we are not doing that, and we’re putting even more and more pressure on ourselves. This is what we have, it’s not an excuse, it’s a reality.
“I think you want to compete in the same condition. I think we should be able to have at least the same amount of recovery between games. That’s at least something that we can do.”
Is Mikel Arteta in the wrong for blaming Arsenal fixture schedule for problems?
Whilst Arteta did stress that the fixture schedule was not an excuse for Arsenal’s fatigue compared to Bayern, in reality he has little cause for complaint.
Arsenal did play against Aston Villa a day after Bayern Munich faced Cologne in between the two Champions League fixtures, but this was as a result of Villa’s participation in the Europa Conference League.
Arteta has not rotated his squad in recent months, with the likes of Emile Smith Rowe and Reiss Nelson hardly seeing the pitch, and his first teamers are suffering from fatigue as a result.
There is limited time in which fixtures can be rearranged, and Premier League sides such as Arsenal should not receive preferential treatment over their schedules to benefit their European campaigns, and squad management should simply reflect the difficulty of fixture congestion.
