William Saliba injury forces Mikel Arteta to consider position change for key Arsenal star | Football
Mikel Arteta has admitted that William Saliba’s injury setback has forced him to consider a new role for Declan Rice.
Saliba missed Saturday’s disappointing 2-2 draw against Aston Villa after he pulled up during the closing stages of last week’s north London derby win over Tottenham.
The 23-year-old will miss tonight’s Champions League clash against Dinamo Zagreb, but Arteta his hopeful one of his key defenders will be available soon and certainly ready for next month’s showdown against Manchester City.
In the short-term, however, Arsenal remain short of defensive options, particularly at right-back where Thomas Partey has been asked to fill in on numerous occasions this season.
Ben White is still not ready to make his comeback following knee surgery, while Takehiro Tomiyasu has only just returned to training having missed the entire campaign so far.
Rice, meanwhile, is more than capable of playing at centre-half and a change of position would allow Arteta to deploy Jurrien Timber in his favoured role.
‘It has been in my head,’ said Arteta in his pre-match press conference. ‘The reality is that he had to play, because of certain circumstances as a No6, a No8, he played one game as a No10.
‘To put him in a different position is not ideal. He is coping with it really well, but we know that he has the ability to do that, offering something different to the other central defenders.
‘ The reality is we don’t have right-footers in that position.’
A win for Arsenal tonight would all but seal their progress to the knockout stages of the Champions League with a game to spare.
Given the packed nature of the schedule, avoiding a two legged play-off would represent a welcome boost for Arteta but he knows he cannot afford to take tonight’s opposition lightly.
‘They were really at it the next day – it’s our job,’ said Arteta when asked for his assessment of the mood in the camp following last weekend’s setback against Villa.
‘I don’t want them to feel unlucky with results – we have to control what we can control.
‘Is there anything better that we could have done in the game to win by a big margin? Yes and we focus on that. I think we were very unlucky.
‘Did the result reflect the performance? No it didn’t – it’s clear and obvious watching it twice. it is what it is and now it’s in our hands to change it and that’s it and move forward.’
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