Mikel Arteta has expressed frustration that Arsenal must visit Manchester City for tomorrow’s showpiece Premier League fixture a little over 48 hours after getting home from their Champions League tie at Napoli on Wednesday night.
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has already made plain his dissatisfaction, calling for an independent ethics committee to arbitrate on match scheduling. He feels the television companies ride roughshod over the game’s authorities to dictate kick-off times, with no regard for the clubs. The Premier League can point out each club signed up to the lucrative television deal.
Arsenal faced Everton at home last Sunday in the 4pm game, drawing 1-1 and they will kick off against City at 12.45pm. They made the flight back from Naples after the tie, which ended in a 2-0 defeat for them, with the players getting to their homes at roughly 4am.
Arteta, though, says the mood in the squad remains positive and, as they seek to make a statement of title-winning intent at City, he insisted there could be no excuses related to fatigue.
Recovery time
"The recovery time is very tight," Arteta says. "I don't understand why we play Sunday afternoon, Wednesday evening, get back at 4am and then play again on Saturday morning in Manchester. There is nothing we can do – just recover well. It's a big game and we want to win it.
“The preparation will just be about recovery. It’s not ideal. There is a late warm-down [yesterday], we try to get our legs back for Friday . . . travel on Friday and be as well prepared as we can because they will be ready for us. They rested seven or eight players in Munich [against Bayern on Tuesday night].
“I think we have different options [in the squad]. You could see that we changed the team a bit again against Napoli. We have to be ready, no excuses. We know it can be a big statement if we get a good result against City. That’s what we want.”
Wenger joked in his post-match press conference in Naples he would have to hurry as he and the squad "have to fly directly to Manchester because the game is so early".
On his mind
The issue has been on his mind and the changes City manager Manuel Pellegrini made to his starting line-up against Bayern noted at Arsenal.
City, though, had earned the right to rest players, having already ensured their qualification to the Champions League last 16. Costel Pantilimon, Pablo Zabaleta, Vincent Kompany, Yaya Toure, Samir Nasri, Sergio Aguero and Alvaro Negredo were stood down from the team that drew 1-1 at Southampton last Saturday, and they still beat the defending European champions 3-2.
Wenger fielded a virtual full-strength team against Napoli, as Arsenal had not secured qualification. They did enough to advance, although the defeat meant they did so as the group runners-up andnow face a more daunting last-16 assignment against Bayern, Barcelona, Real Madrid, Atletico Madrid or Paris Saint-Germain.
It felt like an opportunity missed – a draw would have seen them advance as the group winners – and Wenger admitted his players’ “legs went a bit” in the second half, when they were too passive.
In light of the disappointing result against Everton, Arsenal are determined to respond. They still hold a five-point lead at the top of the Premier League, but after City, host Chelsea on Monday week.
"Before the Champions League started, we would have been happy to go through from that group," Arteta says. "But in the position we were in, we wanted to finish first because we know we will face really difficult opposition in the next round so we are disappointed. But we can compete with any team in Europe on our day." –
Guardian Service
