Gabby Agbonlahor has expressed his apparent disdain for Arsenal besmirching the integrity of the game, but he actually doesn’t care about that.
Arsenal can no longer do the Quadruple, but they still have a realistic chance of winning the treble this season via lifting the Premier League, Champions League and FA Cup.
But were Arsenal to fall short in any of these competitions, injuries would be a reason for their demise, though this excuse holds less weight after their £250m spend last summer.
Still, head coach Mikel Arteta appears to be using an old trick often used by Sir Alex Ferguson to protect his players, with ten Arsenal internationals withdrawing from their nations’ squads in recent days.
It is likely the case that at least some of these withdrawals are due to genuine injuries, but a few, if not all, of the issues for Arsenal’s players will have been dramatised to ensure they return from international duty early to ensure they have extra protection before the run-in resumes.
READ: Kvaratskhelia must slam shut ‘open’ door from PSG to Arsenal to avoid fun sponge Arteta
And Arsenal/Arteta should not be chastised for doing that, because it is simply the common-sense play with the position they are in.
There are no rules in place to prevent this from happening, but former Aston Villa forward turned sh*te pundit Agbonlahor thinks there should be.
While sitting on his high horse, Agbonlahor has expressed his apparent disdain at Arteta and Arsenal damaging the game’s integrity, while actually following Ryanair in producing rage-bait for Gunners supporters, who are a touchy bunch at the moment.
“Everyone was on the weekend saying, ‘Ben White deserved to get booed when he came on.’ Well, he’s the only Arsenal player still away with the England squad,” Agbonlahor told talkSPORT.
“(Noni) Madueke, no problem, you pulled out, you got injured against Uruguay, it was quite a hard tackle.
“I look at players like (Jurrien) Timber, (Eberechi) Eze, (Martin) Odegaard, all pulled out because they didn’t play against Manchester City. Those four players, no problem with it.
“But (Piero) Hincapie, (Bukayo) Saka, (Declan) Rice, Gabriel, (William) Saliba, (Leandro) Trossard, (Martin) Zubimendi had no problems against Manchester City. I just don’t think it’s right.
“If I was part of the Premier League and I was making a decision, I would bring in a new rule, you miss the next Premier League game available if you pull out of international duty. I tell you something, players will stop pulling out.”
READ MORE: Premier League player power rankings: Fernandes second, Haaland keeps falling as Casemiro rises
Agbonlahor later doubled down and said Arsenal’s conduct is “wrong” because it’s “an honour” to play for your country.
It is that, but he is not kidding anyone if he wants us to think that he or talkSPORT genuinely cares about it and has not just found another way to punch up at Arsenal.
Agbonlahor added: “Playing for your country is an honour. If I’m Harry Kane, I’m speaking about this and saying, ‘Come on, guys, let’s not go back to what we were doing four or five years ago where players are pulling out non-stop,’” Agbonlahor added.
“I get it, (Mikel) Arteta is doing everything possible to win these trophies. Their next game after the international break is the FA Cup against Southampton.
“I’m just not keen on players pulling out of international duty. It’s an honour to play for your country. It doesn’t sit right with me.”
READ NEXT: Arsenal star ‘called out’ as Spurs handed ‘huge boost’ and World Cup ‘nightmare’ emerges
