Last season, Arsenal’s defense was pretty solid. Our Gunners truly showed their defensive superiority by keeping the most cleansheets (18) and conceding the fewest goals (29).
One interesting stat has emerged that may have left fans gobsmacked. It it incredible that William Saliba had played every single minute of Premier League football last season. While some may appreciate the Frenchman’s reliability, others may perceive his workload as excessive.
Personally, I believe Saliba was overused. Yeah, he’s Arsenal’s top defender, but he still needs some well-deserved breaks to recharge and bounce back even stronger. Taking breaks not only helps prevent injuries and fatigue, but it also gives the coach the opportunity to identify potential replacements in case of injury or suspension and explore new playing strategies.
Even though the Gooners can feel extremely confident with Saliba and Gabriel on the pitch, there is concern about what would happen if either of them were to suffer a major injury. Would the Arsenal defense fall apart?
Next season, Arsenal will have a strong defensive lineup with Jurrien Timber, Gabriel, Ben White, Saliba, Takehiro Tomiyasu, Jakub Kiwior, and the new left-back that will hopefully arrive.
Mikel Arteta will have plenty of options to rotate and trust to get the job done. Arteta should definitely consider rotating his defense to ensure sustainability, especially if we actually intend to compete for every single trophy next season.
Daniel O
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Yes we can rotate Saliba and Gabriel to give them rest. Tomiyasu or Kiwior can pair up with one while the other is rested against the newly promoted clubs. That should be 6 games where we are able to rest at least one of our CB’s.
I would even argue that Tomiyasu is good enough at CB that he could rotate a bit more with either Saliba or Gabriel because he can play on either side.
We would need an extensive study of the opponents style of play, nature of the match viz a viz the fixtures ahead as this are the parameters that would determine how and when we rotate personnel
NOOOOOO!!!!!¡