11 members of the Arsenal squad were on senior international duty last week, some faring much better than others with their national teams.
From goalscoring outings, to odd injuries, to serious injuries, it’s fair to say that the September international break was quite a mixed bag for the Gunners.
Here’s how of Arsenal international players came out during the international break in September.
Thanks to Unai Simon’s wrist injury, David Raya became Spain’s de facto number one for the September international break, and performed admirably in that role.
The Arsenal goalkeeper’s range of passing proved useful for Spain in their draw with Serbia and emphatic 4-1 win in Switzerland.
The September international break will be a bit of a mixed bag for William Saliba.
Saliba’s France struggled in the 3-1 defeat by Italy, but returned to their best form against Belgium, winning 100% of their attacks and duels.
Like his central defender partner, Gabriel endured an international hiatus in September.
After impressing in the 1-0 win over Ecuador, the defender struggled in the defeat to Paraguay… as did the rest of the Brazil team to be fair.
Two substitute appearances were the order of the week for Dutchman Jurrien Timber, who is still working his way back from a gruesome injury this time last year.
There has been a lot of talk about switching Zinchenko to midfield to combat Arsenal’s injury problems, but judging by his performances in Ukraine last week, that may not be the best idea.
The Ukrainian struggled mightily in the loss to the Czech Republic, completing just 80% of his passes and winning just 33% of his duels. wow
One of many Arsenal players hit by the injury bug.
Riccardo Calafiori suffered a freak calf injury when a falling Ousmane Dembele clipped the back of his leg.
Luckily, the injury doesn’t appear to be too serious.
Arsenal look set to rely heavily on Thomas Partey in the coming weeks, and they will be hoping that his form is better than what he showed for Ghana in their AFCON qualifiers.
He, like many of his teammates, struggled greatly in their two qualifiers, losing to Angola before drawing with Niger.
As all Arsenal fans already know: the bad happened.
Martin Odegaard suffered an ankle injury with Norway, who look set to sideline him for a key period of the 2024/25 season.
It’s not ideal.
Kai Havertz is in the form of his life right now.
The Germany international got his name on the scoresheet again last week, scoring a penalty in an emphatic 5-0 win over Hungary.
On his return to Dublin, Declan Rice scored against his former international team, the Republic of Ireland, in a 2-0 win over England.
Of course he did. That’s how football works.
Arsenal’s ‘Starboy’ started both games under new interim England manager Lee Carsley and although he didn’t score, he proved to be a thorn in the side for both Ireland and Finland in both wins.
It’s first class.
