London: Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta believes the accumulation of long-term injuries experienced by some clubs is an “accident waiting to happen” because of the increased demands on players in a congested football calendar.
Arteta said he felt a “big pain in the tummy” after seeing Kai Havertz pick up a serious hamstring injury at the end of a light training session in Dubai that will rule the Germany forward out for the rest of the season. It further stretches Arsenal’s resources up front, with Gabriel Jesus having ruptured his ACL, winger Bukayo Saka having not played since December because of a hamstring issue and another wide player, Gabriel Martinelli, set to miss the next month also with a hamstring injury.
“You cannot prove it and the evidence we can provide is very limited in many aspects and every case is very different but already some of them (injuries) we know are based on load and minutes. It’s inevitable,” Arteta said Friday. “We have players who have been injured who have played 130 games over the last two seasons. In the end, it’s an accident
waiting to happen.”