MONDAY DEBRIEF

INJURIES, LOAD MANAGEMENT, TRANSFERS, AND HOPES FOR THE REST OF THE SEASON

Let's breeze through some of the hot topics doing the rounds at the moment.

Load Management:

I've had some people complaining that I'm complaining about load management too much on the blog. If you're an OG, you know I've been fairly consistent on the management of player fitness since 2013 when Wenger would get himself in a death loop of injuries then blame something like hair pills to throw people off the scent.

The scent? Two things. He was addicted to playing his favorites in his starting 11s, so he had limited rotation. The killer was the belief that he had around maintaining fitness. He wanted monster players that could play hard into the end of the game, so he'd train his players to matchday intensity in the week so they had extra towards the end of the game. That had the output of having very fit players, but players who'd break because deep into the season, those players would break.

Sir Alex Ferguson was smarter with his squad management. He'd heavily rest at the start of the season so his players would be ready to bang for the run-in. Wenger eventually improved his squad management when he hired a performance coach of this era in Shad Forsythe.

Mikel Arteta has that old-school mentality. You hear it in his press conferences, you read it in player comments about training, and you see the output on the pitch with gassed players and broken bodies. Arteta trying to indicate his players need the training to avoid injuries is ridiculous carry-on in February. Those players are on autopilot now, excessive sessions in Dubai were serving no one, and because we put our players in risky situations, you're now looking at pictures of Kai Havertz in the worst type of merch imaginable, an NHS nightie.

'Only Liverpool have managed their fitness well' is not something that should be used to point out their luck. It should be used as a guide that anything is possible if you're ruthless about uncovering the problems. Arne Slot took over from Klopp who broke his squad last year in March. The Dutchman has dialed back intensity in how they play, and he was hired, in part, because he was good at managing fitness.

I want some of that at Arsenal. The two things getting in the way of major trophies at Arsenal are PGMOL hateraid and Arteta blitzing our players. If we had the fitness of Liverpool, we'd be ahead of them in the league, even with the rogue red cards and unfair treatment.

That's on Arteta.

Liverpool Blessed Mode:

Liverpool created exactly zero xG in the second half against a really plucky Wolves side. This runs counter to what I wrote above, but Liverpool are showing signs of decline. They were not good, the pitch opened up, and Wolves really did look like a team that had had three more days between games.

The refereeing was, as usual, very biased against Wolves and very much in favor of Liverpool. Konate wasn't given a second booking for a cynical foul and kicking the ball away. That allowed Slot to take him out of the game versus going down to 10 men. Arsenal don't get that sort of luxury. It's also worth noting that Liverpool were allowed to continuously pull players down when they were being taken out in transition. Van Dijk is refereed with so much deference in this league.

Am I the only one who also finds the shift of Carragher from an analyst to a Liverpool supporter during this title run-in quite off-putting? The Premier League is so good as a league, it can blind production teams into what makes good TV, but one thing is for sure... they're making the game unpleasant for anyone that doesn't support United or Liverpool with how they stack studios.

Marching Forward:

Listen, I am rancid with the toxic positivity these days, but I think it's going to be very unlikely that we'll win the league with no recognized striker for the rest of the season. Mikel Merino is going to have to be exceptional if we're to get anywhere close, and I think it's just unfair to put that on him.

But... we can keep in the mix. Secure top 2. Have a good go in the Champions League.

The most important four things that'll come out of this season will be:

Knowing that even with a threadbare squad, we can still butcher the very best teams in the world. Liverpool, without Mo Salah, would be nowhere this season. As it stands, he's gone. Trent is gone. Maybe even VVD. If we'd maintained their levels of fitness, which is our fault, we'd be top of the league this season.

Arsenal will add the monstrous athleticism of Sesko to our starting 11 this summer, and he'll open up all sorts of new options for us in transition. He's a Haaland-like player, a workhorse, and I've no doubt he'll prove a more valuable signing than a 29-year-old Ollie Watkins. We'll replace Partey with Zubimendi. More reliable, younger, just as good on the ball. Then we'll add a forward that can play across the front three and contribute goals. Power, pace, and ruthless output. I suspect we might even buy two if Martinelli is shifted on for a very good price. Dream big, this summer is a non-negotiable when it comes to getting what we need. The next 5 years demands it be delivered to its max potential.

The other three are really simple. Ethan, MLS, and Dowman. We're putting minutes into MLS and Ethan that will pay huge dividends next season. Ethan has it all to be one of the best players in the world in three seasons' time. MLS already looks like our best left back, a generational talent that'll be capped for England by the summer. Max Dowman is believed to be the best prospect of them all, and he's already doing bits in training. That's a new core of Hale-Enders that'll hit their peak in a decade! How mad is that?

Arsenal have had a rough season with injuries, but the good news this year is we haven't been putting our hopium puffs on Holding and Elneny. We've been investing in youth crypto coins that'll return the faith with 1080% returns next season.

Ok, that's me done, I'm sick, apologies for the short post.