Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta was firm in his stance that top players should be able to play every three days when speaking back in October, but may have been left with egg on his face.
The Gunners have seen their title charge slowly fall apart since star centre-back William Saliba picked up a back injury during the second-leg of the Europa League showdown against Sporting in mid-March. Arsenal are now also reportedly having to see out the rest of the season without first-choice left-back Oleksandr Zinchenko as well.
The drop in quality from Saliba to his deputy Rob Holding has hindered the way Arsenal play and it is no coincidence that without the Frenchman, the Gunners have dropped points against Liverpool, West Ham and Southampton as well as a brutal 4-1 defeat by title rivals Manchester City.
Some have blamed Arteta for Saliba's injury, insisting that the 22-year-old defender was overplayed and that there was little reason to start him for the home game against Sporting given the Gunners had their sights set on the bigger prize of the title.
Right-back Takehiro Tomiyasu also picked up an injury that night, meaning Arsenal suffered two season-ending injuries in the same game just minutes apart in a competition many supporters were adamant should not have been a priority.
Both of the aforementioned injuries have certainly cost Arsenal to a certain degree, as if Tomiyasu had been fit Ben White could have come in to fill the void left by Saliba.
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However, Arteta has made it crystal clear what he thinks of how often the top players can expected to be called upon.
Late last year, he told the media: "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.’"
Arteta was particularly fired up when reinforcing his stance on the issue, adding: "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."
While Arteta's argument is a valid one, it does not take away from the fact that he lost two players to a Europa League tie while chasing the title.
Zinchenko's injury is simply the latest, with the Ukrainian capping off an injury-hit debut campaign at the Emirates on the sidelines.
