Mikel Arteta has said he is looking at Arsenal’s warm-up routines “big time” as he seeks an explanation for why his title-chasing players keep pulling up before matches.
Riccardo Calafiori dropped out of the lineup for the FA Cup tie against Wigan last Sunday after sustaining an injury in the warm-up, the second time it has happened to the player, and the fourth time in the season overall. Arteta said he was confident the Italian would be available against Wolves on Wednesday but said the club were “looking into” their pre-match habits.
“We are big time looking at it,” Arteta said. “The incidents were very different: the first time was Willy [Saliba] rolling his ankle against Liverpool, then we had two incidents with Ricky [Calafiori] in the warm-up in a very similar way, then one with Bukayo [Saka] after he was rested in midweek – didn’t play against Kairat Almaty – then against Leeds he has an incident.
“It’s very unusual. I think it’s only happened once or twice in the six [previous] years I’ve been here. But it’s happened four times this year. We are looking into it, but it is what it is. We have to learn.”
Arteta said he had learned to dread the opening of his office door as the clock ticks down to kick-off but said the spate of pre-match injuries had also left him to question the value of the process.
“I can feel in my body that I’m more aware of it. In the office at the moment if I hear my door and somebody stepping in I’m like: ‘No please,’ because it’s a moment that’s very tricky.
“When you change Ricky for Bakayo you have to change other things within the gameplan; positionally there are a lot of things that are different, that you have two minutes to change. 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, then a lot during the game. It just means I have to be more prepared.
“Hopefully the players are already warm. But the warm-up is so that the players are activated to be absolutely at their best physically and mentally, to be connected with their teammates. It’s to tell the body the game is coming, the adrenaline is going to start to pick up, the testosterone has to be in the right spot and you’re ready to compete. To change that sometimes is tricky.
“It’s a really good area to look at, though. What would happen if we didn’t do the warm-up? Because then at half-time we sit for almost for 15 minutes and then we go full guns again in the second half. So maybe it’s something to think about.”
