Arsenal: 4 biggest positives from international break

For the final time in 2021, club football can resume without another impending international break on the horizon. There won’t be another one until March. You can hear the cheering, even if this one was rather more exciting.

Arsenal have gone into each of the three breaks with vastly differing outlooks. After the first one they were rock bottom of the Premier League with zero points and a -9 goal difference. That was rather tough.

When the second one came around in October there were distinct improvements, with five matches unbeaten in all competitions including that memorable North London Derby win.

And then finally with the most recent batch of matches Arsenal added five more games to that unbeaten streak, with them sitting pretty in fifth place in the table ahead of facing Liverpool at Anfield on Saturday.

The 4 biggest positives for Mikel Arteta and Arsenal from the international break ahead of facing Liverpool in the Premier League on Saturday

For the players there have been differing emotions with some missing out on qualification to the 2022 World Cup, some set to go through their respective play-offs to seal a spot and others qualifying directly for the Qatar showpiece in delightfully less stressful fashion.

All the while Mikel Arteta has been taking charge of training at London Colney, crossing his ten toes and ten fingers that as many of his 15 first team players away on duty will return unscathed.

Barring worries with Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Folarin Balogun, as well as already established concerns over Thomas Partey, he appears to have to his wish.

Without factoring personal heartbreak for some of the members of the squad, it’s been a relatively successful international break once again. And, as it draws to a close ahead of the glorious but grueling winter fixture list, there are four main positives to draw.

1. The England Bond is Strong

Establishing a strong British core at Arsenal had been among one of the aims Arteta had set out for since his arrival on the job. It’s something Arsene Wenger made sure to instill, while the Gunners’ long standing flirt on the cusp of the homegrown quota also needed seeing to.

Not only has this group been formed effectively, they’re all pretty decent at kicking a football too.

Bukayo Saka is now a staple with the Three Lions, and he was joined by Aaron Ramsdale and Emile Smith Rowe this time around, with the pair making their senior debuts against San Marino and Albania respectively.

This trio were bizarrely starved of Benjamin White’s presence as Gareth Southgate opted to go with his tried and tested over the two games, but it is surely only a matter of time before the three become four. After all, is there an English centre-back in better form?

(the answer is no)

Most important of all is the confidence the group will get from their call-ups. Arteta called for Smith Rowe to believe in himself more, which he must be doing now, and while Ramsdale may already be a confident lad, earning minutes over Sam Johnstone can only benefit him further.

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2. Two Kieran Tierney Clean Sheets for Scotland

Kieran Tierney needed this international break.

For the Watford game last time out he was selected on the bench with Nuno Tavares keeping his place in the starting lineup, a move that raised some eyebrows and appeared to confirm who was first in line.

While that may be true, the likelihood is that the coaching staff at Arsenal were well aware that Steve Clarke would play Tierney in all 180 minutes of Scotland’s crucial World Cup qualifiers, and having just returned from injury, there was no need to rush the defender back against the struggling Hornets.

Playing nearly every minute for the Tartan Army, Tierney was also superb in both matches. Against Moldova he did his defensive duties brilliantly having not kicked a ball for a few weeks, including a stunning goal-saving challenge in the box and a double nutmeg on one of Moldova’s wide players.

He sustained that level against the far tougher Danes, playing his part in the defensively resolute back three and also dovetailing with Andy Robertson down the left.

The jury is still out for plenty of Arsenal fans on who should get the not at Anfield, but for experience and defensive acumen alone, Tierney has to be the pick. While he’s unlikely to have paid any attention to the ongoing debates, this would have nonetheless done him the world of good. Onto the play-offs with a home semi-final to come in March.

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3. Gabriel Martinelli Getting Key Coaching Time

Gabriel Martinelli is not playing very much for Arsenal, which also means he isn’t playing very much for Brazil.

While teammate and compatriot Gabriel earned his first senior call-up, a richly deserved one for the outstanding form he’s produced this season, such honours won’t bestow someone who’s been resigned to coming on for the final two minutes of Premier League matches.

Playing time is what he needs, and playing time is what he will get over the coming eight weeks.

Martinelli, of course, wasn’t the only player who didn’t jet off with his country, but with the reduced squad size inviting more youngsters in to train with the first team during this period, there will have also been more time for some one-on-one coaching with the 20-year-old, something he needs.

For rotational purposes he will already be urgently required during the festive period, and then following that when Aubameyang and Nicolas Pepe vacate the forward areas for AFCON, more chances will open up for him to gain regular involvement.

With Arteta, Steve Round and the rest of the coaching team, whether work could have been done on him playing at centre-forward or if more intricate tactical sessions were made to fine-tune his play on the left, the hope is that plenty of attention was given to Martinelli in preparation for what is to come.

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4. Rest for Some, Minutes for Others

Would it have been especially taxing for White to have featured in one of England’s glorified training sessions? No, but in not linking up with the Three Lions he got some additional time off, which means he’s fresher, and which also means less Rob Holding in the coming weeks.

Alexandre Lacazette is another one who will have benefited from the break. While he’s never featured in Didier Deschamps’ plans, his recent involvements with Arsenal have notably began suffering from fatigue in and around the 60-70 minute mark, so not being with France will have done him good.

Then there are those who needed the minutes.

Martin Odegaard being Norway’s captain means he is always in the team, and having lost his place in Arteta’s thinking to that very Lacazette, getting two 90 minute games under his belt is precisely what he would have wanted in a bid to wrestle his place back at club level.

Pepe will be hoping for similar although he hasn’t managed to break into the Ivory Coast starting lineup, let alone get in ahead of either Smith Rowe or Saka. Whatever the case, he’s going to play an important role over the winter period so any playing time is better than none.

And while they’re only on the fringes, Mohamed Elneny and Sead Kolasinac also got minutes under their belts with Egypt and Bosnia respectively, even if the latter was once again the subject of an awful challenge that Arsenal are yet to learn the full extent of.

Helpful all round.