Football comes at you fast.
It was only Saturday lunch time that we were digesting a comfortable 3-0 win for Arsenal over a pretty lacklustre Nottingham Forest side but already the focus shifted and the discussion has moved on.
Tomorrow brings the Champions League and a fresh challenge.
Three days is not much rest at all, let alone training and planning time, but that is all Arsenal have to play with ahead of their trip to Spain on Tuesday for the clash with Athletic Club. Even at this early stage of the season, it feels gruelling.
Unlike this time last year, however, we go into this continental clash with options. We don’t have to flog our first choice XI for another 90 minutes, hot on the heels of a full stint in the Premier League at the weekend. This season, we can be more strategic; we have a choice.
That is to say, the manager can rotate, he can plan, he can surprise, he can tweak in ways that simply were not possible last time around.
And let there be no doubt, he will need to better spread the load.
We have seen already the toll that injuries can taken on a squad and it is a mercy that, so far, our summer purchases have held firm and filled the gaps when called upon. In fact, so fortunate have we been that Mikel Arteta was able to rest Declan Rice from the start on Saturday. Extraordinary.
The sheer volume of injuries carried by our squad played an enormous part in our withering in the second half of last season, as it would have done for any squad. If we’re to stand any chance of taking that final, crucial step in this campaign, we must find a way to manage our minutes better. There have been some encouraging signs of this.
Will we see some more of it on Tuesday in Spain? I can’t be certain but I have a feeling there may be a surprise or two in store. We saw from pre-season that Athletic Club are a capable side but, in truth, Arsenal are a step up in class. We should be going there confident of a win and of being able to do so fielding some of the players who we might not consider nailed on starters.
I wouldn’t be at all surprised if we see significant involvement for the likes of Ethan Nwaneri, Miles Lewis Skelly, Leandro Trossard, and Gabriel Martinelli, and don’t think their inclusion would negatively impact what the manager has planned either. That is to say, I think we’d have enough to win fielding all four in place of others.
And, with Manchester City to come at the weekend, perhaps there is some wisdom in it.
In the event, I expect Mikel will revert to mean. He is not a man to take big risks and so I think he will at least start with what he perceives to be his best XI and hope they can get a job done with 20 minutes or more left to run.
While nothing is guaranteed, I feel confident we can do just that.
Making the most of your away fixtures in this new Champions League format feels particularly important and a trip to Athletic Club feels like an opportunity to get up and running. Had we been a little less fortunate, we might have wound up with a trip to somewhere altogether more hostile, more demanding and with less scope for rotation.
Whoever takes to the field, here’s hoping they can deliver.
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