Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta says losing Bukayo Saka to injury will make him a better manager.
The England winger faces “many weeks” on the sidelines after he tore his hamstring in Arsenal’s 5-1 dismantling of Crystal Palace last weekend.
Saka’s injury comes a month after captain Martin Odegaard returned following 12 matches out with an ankle problem.
Saka’s natural replacement, Raheem Sterling, will also be absent for a period of time after he suffered a knee injury in training.
💬 “If you don’t take a chance, or if you don’t want to take risks, then you limit yourself.”
Bukayo chats about his footballing philosophy, the sacrifices made to make him the star he is 👇
— Arsenal (@Arsenal) December 25, 2024
But when asked if his latest managerial test will turn him into a better coach, Arteta said: “I think so, yes. We started the season with one of the thinnest squads in the Premier League, and we knew that.
“If we have the thinnest squad, what do we need? We really dug into that to make sure that we utilise every player in the best possible potential, and everybody has to feel part of it.
“You need to rediscover players in different positions, and different relationships. It’s a really good exercise and the boys are willing to do anything we demand them to do, so that’s a really good thing, too.”
The pressures on players are under the microscope, with Manchester City midfielder Rodri out for the remainder of the season just one of the big names to go down hurt this year.
“It (the fixture list) is unsustainable unless we can find ways to physically turn the players into monsters who can cope with anything,” added Arteta.
“The fact that you train and recover, that’s not a good pattern because the body needs to train, the muscle needs to train. If you just play and recover you start to lose a lot of factors in your body that are key to physical performance.
“Not just to play not to get injured, but to become a better athlete, which is very different, and to keep evolving as an athlete.
“I hope the players are being listened to but whoever is in charge, can they actually do something right now with the commitments that are already in place over the next three or four seasons? It is very challenging and very difficult.”