Some strange news this week was Arsenal physio Simon Murphy joining Thomas Partey in Ghana.
Rumours circulated as to why he was there. Was it as chaperone, was it to help Partey manage his injury? Or maybe Murphy just loves jollof rice and was using the international break for a bit of a holiday.
Pictures then dropped of Murphy in Ghanaian training gear.
A lot has been said over the last 12 months about the small things Mikel Arteta is doing to try and help Arsenal win the league title.
Having “You’ll never walk alone” blast out in training in the lead up to Liverpool, plying crowd noise through speakers at London Colney and having DJ on the sidelines trying to distract the players are just a few of things.
Recently he took a replica Clock End clock to Fulham. And numerous other stories have risen about how Arteta has tried to make away games seem more homely.
These are all what is called marginal gains. A tactic made famous by British Cycling’s David Brailsford.
“The whole principle came from the idea that if you broke down everything you could think of that goes into riding a bike, and then improved it by 1%, you will get a significant increase when you put them all together” Brailsford explained in 2012.
Brailsford’s 1% factor has since transferred across to other sports and the business world.
Arteta is one that clearly looks for an marginal gain, and sending Murphy to Ghana is an example.
You always worry when players go on international duty to 3rd world nations where they do not have the same level of fitness, nutrition and medical care expertise as Arsenal.
Too often teams have seen players return from the African Cup of Nations overweight, injured or unfit.
It is actually a surprise that teams have not “loaned” their physios to the likes of Ghana earlier.
With half the first team squad away on international duty, Arsenal’s physios will have less workload over the next two weeks, so it makes a lot of sense to ship one (or two) of them off to help out those lesser nations whom our key players play for.
Arsenal have done a great job nurturing Partey’s body through this season, and our title hopes really do rest in his hands, his body.
Partey staying fit dramatically increases our chance of winning the league. Murphy being out in Ghana dramatically increases the chance of Partey returning fit.
Could we have benefitted over the years sending a physio to Gabon to be with Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang or Chile to be with Alexis Sanchez?
Arsenal might become trendsetters here – I am not sure if other clubs have done similar.
It would not be a huge surprise if club physios joined up with lesser nations in the future.
Manchester City physios in Algeria or Norway. Arsenal in Ghana. Liverpool in Egypt or Scotland.
And those nations will also benefit greatly having some of the best physios, medial staff or nutritionists join them for a couple of weeks. Teaching their home grow staff a thing or two. Everyone wins.
Now we just need Partey to return fully fit and ready for Leeds!
Keenos
First batch of our handcrafted Arsenal Subbuteo artwork ready to be dispatched
With Erling Haaland pulling out of the Norway squad with a “groin injury”, plenty called for Arsenal players to do similar and declare themselves injured for the next 8-10 days, ruling them out of the international break.
The rest of those away are fringe players. Arsenal would probably benefit from the likes of Jorginho, Tierney and Smith Rowe getting a competive run out for their countries to keep themselves match sharp.
“We need to do the same with Saka” was a common response after the Haaland news. And this rose to another conversation as to whether Arteta is overplaying Saka and at risk of running him into the ground.
Saka has played 38 of Arsenal’s 39 games this season. As have Granit Xhaka, Gabriel Magalhães and Gabriel Martinelli. He has also played in 6 of England’s 7 fixtures and will probably start both games for his country during the international break.
Just 21, he is 3 games shy of 200 senior appearances for Club and country. That is comparable to the likes of Wayne Rooney and Cesc Fabregas.
His workload has led to same wonder whether he is being overplayed. And whether England, Arsenal, Southgate and Arteta should do more to protect him. But I am not too sure.
Top players play 70 games
In October, Arteta spoke brilliantly about Saka’s work load.
“Look at the top players in the world, they play 70 matches and every three days and make the difference and win the game.
“You want to be at the top, you have to be able to do that. If we start to put something different in the minds of our young players I think we are making a huge mistake because then it’s one yes, one no, now I don’t play, on astroturf I don’t play, I don’t want that.
“I want them to be ruthless every three days. They are going to be knocking on my door, [saying] ‘I want to play, I want to win the game.’”
He added: “There is not a fitness coach in the world who is going to tell me that they cannot do it because I’ve seen it. 72 games, score 50 goals. The players don’t score 50 goals if they play 38 games in the season, it’s impossible.”
Arteta is aluding to Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo. And that if Saka wants to get near to these guys level, he has to have the desire to play every game he can.
By the time they had turned 22, both Messi and Ronaldo had played over 200 games for club and country. The pair regularly played close to 70 games in the 20s, and 50+ into their mid 30s.
Wayne Rooney and Cesc Fabregas were similar.
All 4 had career spanning 15+ years, and played a combined 3,692 games for club and country.
Neymar has played over 700 games and is still just 21!
At 24, Kylian Mbappe has already played 388 games. Vinicius Junior is already north of 300 and is only a year older than Saka.
Haaland, 22 years old, is at 260 games.
If Saka wants to be considered as one of the best players of his generation, he needs to be playing the games, and maintaing the level.
Others around his age are playing 50-60 games a season, so Saka should be expected to play at the same level.
Play whilst hot
Saka is our best player and in brilliant form. It would make zero sense ro rest or rotate him.
Next year, we will have Champions League football, so Saka can expect his game time to further increase. But as discussed, this is not unsual for players of his ability.
You never know when a player might “run cold”, or pick up an injury that changes their career path. So when they are in the type of form Saka is in, you must play them.
We can try and “protect” Saka, but an injury can occur at any time that derails his career.
It is also impossible to predict when a player will “fall off the cliff” and stop performing at their high level.
Saka could go on as long as Messi and Ronaldo, playing at a high level beyond 35. He might, at 32, follow Rooney’s demise (he still played 670 top level games for Everton, Manchester United and England). Or at 28 he might be done (think Aelxis Sanchez).
A lot of this comes down to the hunger and desire to give 100% in every training session, as much as your body giving up on you.
There is also no gaurantee that he will be at Arsenal into his late 20s and early 30s. Fabregas left us at 24.
Whilst I do expect him to stay at Arsenal for more than the next 3 years, he may well look to move on in his late 20s if we do not give him the success to match his talent. So by protecting him, all we could be doing is benefiting who he moves to.
Saka not rapid
Often, a winger goes downhill when their explosive pace goes. Think Fernando Torres, Michael Owen, Alexis Sanchez, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.
But the best players in the world can reinvent themselves.
Cristiano Ronaldo became a goal poacher. Neymar and Messi both dropped deeper becoming creators.
Saka is quick, but he is not electric, not explosive. He also does not rely on his pace.
He has fantastic movement, ball control and technique. Very rarely do you see him beat a player on the outside with just pace. Most of his best work comes from him drifting inside the full back.
As he does not rely solely on his pace, his career will naturally be longer than those who do rely on pace.
And he is also intelligent and capable of picking out a pass. As his legs go in his later years, you can certainly see him moving inside, playing simialr to where Martin Odegaard does.
The greatest technical footbal lI have ever seen is Dennis Bergkamp.
In his early days he was a pacey winger. He then converted into a number 9. It was only reallwhen he joined Arsenal at 26 that he dropped deeper and became the best number 10 in world football.
Saka can easily play into his mid-30s if he drops inside when the pace he does have begins to go.
Saka is already one of the best players in the world. He is up there with Vinicius Jr and Mbappe. And these sort of players play 70 games a season.
And if Arsenal want to win things over the long term, the likes of Saka, Martinelli, Saliba et al will have to get used to playing 70 games.
Keenos
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“We get a two week break” is often seen when we get an international fortnight. But whilst we fans might get a couple of weeks off, many players often get no rest.
I have sometimes fallen into this trap myself. Thinking “oh its good we have an internatioanl break. Our players can get a rest and come back fresh”, then you realise how many players are on international duty and will not really get a rest.
This time round, the international break could actually be good for Arsenal.
14 of our first team players have been called up, as well as 4 out on loan. 10 first teamers have been left at home.
Whilst over half the squad are on international duty, it could benefit us as some fringe players will get plenty of minutes.
Aaron Ramsdale and Bukayo Saka have been called up for England for the double header against Italy and Ukraine. I would expect Saka to start both games. Ramsdale to be on the bench.
Oleksandr Zinchenko has been selected for Ukraine. His national team play just once over the two week period.
Thomas Partey has been called up by Ghana, whilst Martin Odegaard will play against Spain and Georgia.
Granit Xhaka is expected to captain Switzerland against Belarus and Israel
And that is where it ends with our first XI. Just the 5 call-ups, with only 4 expected to play.
Meanwhile, some of the fringe players could get key minutes for their country, keeping them sharp and available for the run in.
Leandro Trossard could lead the Belgium attack against Sweden and Germany, whilst Kieran Tierney will be hoping to feature for Scotland against Spain. Jorginho is in the Italy squad.
Meanwhile, Emile Smith Rowe has been named in the England U21s squad so could use fixtures against France and Croatia to build up match sharpness. Fabio Vieira is another called up to his countried U21 side – still eligible for the Portugal U21s, he will captain the side against both Romania and Norway.
New signing Jakub Kiwior is another in need of minutes and could start for Poland against Czech Republic and Albania.
Finally, both reserve keepers will play for their country. Matt Turner is in the USMNT squad for games against Grenada and El Salvador, Karl Hein could win his 19th and 20th senior cap for Estonia against Hungary and Austria.
The international break will give the club two weeks to get William Saliba and Gabriel Jesus back to full fitness.
Also remaining at London Colney are first teams Ben White, Gabriel Magalhães and Gabriel Martinelli. They are joined by Rob Holding, Eddie Nketiah and Reiss Nelson.
Takehiro Tomiyasu and Mohamed Elneny will continue treatment on their season ending injuries.
Meanwhile, Manchester City have 20 players called up for their country, with many set to start (Note: Haalanmd has now pulled out “injured”).
Ilkay Gundogan and reserve keepers Stefan Ortega and Scott Carson are the only first team squad members to miss out.
With them still having so many more games to play (18 against our 10), this international break could give Arsenal a marginal gain in the title run in.
Keenos
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These are limited edition, Created for us by @ToffeeArt.
She Wore A Yellow Ribbon 