For a while Arsenal became something of a laughing stock when it came to long-term injuries, with the likes of Jack Wilshere, Theo Walcott and Aaron Ramsey all spending considerable amounts of time on the sidelines.
This season their record has improved considerably, however, and according to manager Arsene Wenger, this is thanks to the club participating in the Europa League.
As reported by the Evening Standard, the Frenchman believes that his ability to rotate the squad more and rest key players for European games this season has meant that fewer players have been susceptible to playing too much and thus risking injuries.
When asked about the situation, Wenger said: “First of all, we rotated more in the Europa League and was able to rest more players. Afterwards, you always improve by learning from the seasons before, you learn more about the general concept of our training intensity."
“When you play every three days, you weaken your players. When you rest them - and sometimes during the week when they do not play - you can work them to strengthen their physical condition. After that, they’re a bit less vulnerable.”
Arsenal have gone from having one of the worst records of injuries in the Premier League to one of the best, and ahead of the huge north London derby on Saturday only long-term absentee Santi Cazorla is guaranteed to be unavailable out of the whole squad, with the Spaniard still working to return after suffering a horror injury in which he nearly lost a foot.
Wenger added: "“It’s about adapting the training loads to the history of the individuals. It’s also about strengthening where they’ve had weak moments in their history."
- 90Min