After Arsenal saw the chance to lift two trophies slip away within just two matches, Gary Lineker has a feeling nerves may be affecting Mikel Arteta’s silverware-chasing Gunners
Gary Lineker has a feeling Arsenal brought most of their players back from the international break out of “panic” after losing the Carabao Cup final to Manchester City. Before the club season took a pause, City comfortably beat the Gunners 2-0 to win the Carabao Cup at Wembley.
During the international break, William Saliba, Declan Rice, Eberechi Eze, Piero Hincapie, Martin Zubimendi, Martin Odegaard, Gabriel Magalhaes, Leoandro Trossard, Jurrien Timber, Bukayo Saka and Noni Madueke all returned to north London from their respective camps or failed to travel at all.
Out of those players, Saliba, Gabriel, Madueke, Zubimendi and Odegaard either started or came off the bench in the shock FA Cup exit to Southampton. Before the match, Arteta insisted those who left their international camps did so because they were injured and claimed he wouldn’t haul a player back for any other reason.
Rice, Eze, Saka, Hincapie, Timber and Trossard were left out of the squad, with Eze and Hincapie in particular set to undergo a period of time on the sidelines due to their injuries.
While acknowledging it’s easy to allege this after two costly defeats, Lineker believes it may have been beneficial had the players who were brought back from their international squads – if they were fit enough – competed for their countries, instead of returning early to north London.
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Speaking on The Rest is Football podcast, Lineker said: “I want to throw something at you and whether you agree or disagree, I don’t know, and it’s also obviously easier in hindsight after they lost. I thought there was a slight signal of panic at Arsenal after the City game when they withdrew so many players, or the players themselves withdrew, from the international games they were going to play.
“Most of those players featured at some stage during the game at St Mary’s, either coming on from the bench or otherwise. I just wonder whether it showed a bit of, ‘Oh we need to…like… just to…’ just a little bit of panic when you just need a bit of calm and confidence.
“Perhaps it was good just to let the players play a bit of international football, I don’t know. It’s easy to say that now, but I just wonder whether it shows just a little bit off… would you ordinarily do that, I’m not sure you would.”
Alan Shearer agreed, replying: “I totally understand why they all pulled out. They are on the brink of history and still could be. I think that’s really important to say that.
“They are still in the two big main competitions which they would rather win. They’re looking pretty good, they’ve got a good draw in the Champions League and they are obviously going really well at the top of the Premier League.
“I understood when so many pulled out, but there were genuine injuries, Saka did not play, Declan Rice did not play, others did not play who had pulled out, some of them did. Regardless of who pulled out, and who didn’t, and who was playing, they still should have had a good enough team to beat Southampton.
“That would be the worrying thing for me. Southampton wanted it more than Arsenal did. That would be a worrying sign for me. I don’t care who you are, squad players or not, you can’t turn the form on and off just like that when you want to, because momentum is such an amazing thing in football.
“That would worry me if I was an Arsenal fan, the way they were easily beaten. Yes, they had a rally in the second half and Gyokeres got a decent goal, but no one watching that game would say anything other than Southampton were the better team and deserved to win the game, and that’s the worrying thing for me.”
Arsenal face the first leg of their Champions League quarter-final tie away to Sporting CP on Tuesday before taking on Bournemouth at the Emirates Stadium in the Premier League this Saturday.
It will be interesting to see how many absent players from Saturday’s FA Cup exit return to the fold.
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