MIKEL ARTETA has cancelled Christmas at Arsenal. Well, sort of.
The manager has decided that the club’s first-team squad should all report to training on December 25 even though the team does not have a game on Boxing Day.
Arsenal face Brighton at the Emirates on December 27 but Arteta is keen to get the players in training on Christmas Day morning although the squad will be able to return home and will not be staying in a hotel.
Arsenal’s previous game is at home to Crystal Palace in the Carabao Cup quarter-finals on December 23 and potentially, the club’s stars could be handed a day off on Christmas Eve.
For many of the European players, that day is more important in terms of having a family meal and exchanging presents.
Equally, Arsenal have a healthy English contingent.
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So the turkey and trimmings will have to be put on hold on Christmas Day for Myles Lewis-Skelly, Ben White, Eberechi Eze, Noni Madueke, Bukayo Saka and Ethan Nwaneri until they get back home from London Colney.
In terms of training, most importantly of all, Arteta must hope that the club’s injury issues improve.
Despite denials from the Arsenal manager, there is no doubt that his training is too intense.
While the players injuries have been wide-ranging there is a basic fact that if players are fatigued, they get injured – and this is what has been happening.
BEL RINGERS
ARSENAL players did not have too much of a chance to get themselves comfortable on their flight to Belgium on Tuesday for Wednesday’s Champions League clash away to Club Brugge.
In fact, the players left Luton Airport and touched down at Ostend Airport just 33 minutes later.
The first-team squad’s bus journey from the coastal city of Ostend to Bruges took even longer.
However, this is certainly not the club’s shortest flight over the years.
In 2015, Arsenal were criticised for flying to an away game in Norwich. The flight from Luton took all of 14 minutes, less time than it took them to get from the airport to their hotel.
However, one trip which went under the radar around that time was Tottenham who also flew to Norwich.
Because their flight was from London Stansted, the distance was even nearer and they were in the air for just 11 minutes.
JUR NOT KIDDING
YOU can understand why some fans have the hump with the 8pm kick-off for Arsenal’s home game with Wolves on Saturday.
And those fans can blame Jurgen Klopp.
It was the former Liverpool manager, in particular, who repeatedly complained to the Premier League over his team having Saturday lunchtime matches on the back of Wednesday night away games in Europe.
Arsenal-Wolves was selected by TNT Sports for its Saturday game and normally that would have taken the 12.30pm slot. So that is why the game has been switched to 8pm even though the trip to Bruges was an incredibly short one.
Managers are quick to complain without really bothering about the impact on fans – and Saturday night matches are a pain in the backside for many.
MAD WORLD
BUKAYO SAKA now has some major competition from Noni Madueke.
England team-mate Madueke started on the right in Wednesday’s 3-0 win at Club Brugge and excelled with a couple of goals before Saka replaced him in the 71st minute.
Asked about Saka now being pushed by Madueke, manager Mikel Arteta said: “They both have different qualities as well, and it’s great because we’re going to need them.
“We are playing every three days, and players with that freshness and with that bite in the teeth as well. It’s something that is really good.”
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