When Bukayo Saka pulled up clutching his hamstring against Leeds, plenty of Arsenal fans feared the worst.
This was, after all, a player who’d already needed surgery on a tear to the same muscle – albeit the other leg – last season, an injury that kept him out for three long months.
This time the news was better. Four weeks on the sidelines and he was back. And with the squad deeper than it’s been in years, thanks in part to Noni Madueke’s arrival, Mikel Arteta was at least able to cover his absence.
Still, alarm bells rang. A muscular problem so soon after a full pre-season wasn’t something to shrug off, and with other injuries piling up, the manager promised a full investigation.
The outcome? Inconclusive. Sometimes it’s not about data points or recovery protocols. Human bodies are messy, unpredictable things, and even when the physical prep looks spot on, the toils of everyday life can have a habit of tipping the balance.
“Believe me, we looked at everything,” Arteta said ahead of Satuday’s clash with West Ham.
“What was in our sights were the things we can predict better, tweak and improve. There is a lot of randomness in an injury that we don’t know.
“Sometimes I’ve been with a player where I’ve wanted to put the finger on something very clear. And then I’ve realised three months later that he had a problem with his wife, where he and his kid didn’t sleep for three days and then he got injured, and I said, ‘I’ve been scratching my head for one month trying to do that [figure out what was wrong], and then I find out this was the real reason.’
“It’s a lot of factors we’re trying to control, dominate and be aware of [to help] what we can predict. But then, unfortunately, this is sport, football and life and it’s not that easy.”
As for whether there as anything in particular underlying Saka’s most recent issue, Arteta continued:
“There were a few things. As well, it was a very specific action. We had three very similar actions with three injuries, two groins and one hamstring.
“There is a push when people are trying to accelerate. So to replicate that in training, especially when you play every three days, is very, very difficult.
“But there is a programme to try to reproduce things like that, even if they are not at the highest level like in football matches.”
Over the years, footballers have tried all manner of weird and wonderful preventative measures. Arsène Wenger once had players checked for wisdom tooth problems to help with Achilles issues, while Ryan Giggs famously changed the seats in his car to ease pressure on his hamstrings.
“I can look at that,” said Mikel Arteta when asked if the latter might be worth investigating.
He then turned his attention to Gabriel Magalhaes’ hamstring injury against Fulham in April, highlighting how difficult it is to prevent such problems.
“When Gabi Magalhaes gets injured, a lot of people said he’s come [back] from Brazil [after the Interlull] and does that.
“But Gabi had to chase 50 metres backwards chasing against Adama Traore. When he injured his hamstring, he had to track 50 metres back, the one he was chasing was Adama Traore.
“If, instead of Adama Traore, that was Emile [Smith Rowe], with all respect, probably he doesn’t pull his hamstring.
“The last time he went to 33 to 34 kilometres an hour was six weeks ago. So, he didn’t have any exposure there. Can I train that there [on the training ground]? I think I can’t. But the game can take you to these circumstances.
“Maybe before that you had to do two very explosive actions, or maybe none. And that’s the moment where the muscle and tendon reacts or not.”
He doubled down on the difficulty of replicating real match scenarios in training:
“The thing is that you have to replicate all the previous actions. You have to replicate the motion, the stress level, your cortisol level, your mental state, the result. It’s impossible. You can replicate the specific action, but that doesn’t mean you’re replicating the context.
“I can replicate to go and say I predict that these shares are going to go up 3%. That’s great. But would you put the money in real, or would you go online and do it? It’s very different.”
Up until recently, Bukayo Saka has been Arsenal’s ironman. Still only 24, he’s set to make his 200th Premier League appearance (270th in total) against West Ham on Saturday, one of the only players from Arteta’s first matchday squad still a regular in his team.
Asked about his development, Arteta reflected:
“While you were doing your question, I visualised Bukayo playing as a left-back, that’s the first thing that came to my mind, against Bournemouth, on my first game, so [he’s come] very far [positionally] on the pitch, very far in his journey, very far as well personally, and the person that he’s becoming, the role he’s got in the team, and we had a great journey together and it’s been a joy to see that every single day.”
Ray Parlour holds the club’s Premier League appearance record with 333, a number Saka could match inside the next four years if he stays fit.
“The numbers that Bukayo has at his age are already astronomical. That’s great,” said Arteta.
As for whether Saka can tot up appearances to rival some of the club’s greats – David O’Leary made 722 appearances for the Gunners between 1975 and 1993 – Arteta said it could well become the norm for those who make their breakthrough so young.
“I think so. If they can sustain that level and they are so professional like Bukayo is, and so reliable, they will reach those figures for sure.”
Here’s hoping. Then again, Arteta does have a habit of jinxing his players. We’re paraphrasing, but we’re fairly sure he once described Kai Havertz as the sort of superhuman who’d survive a nuclear holocaust … and then both his hamstring and knee went pop. We’ve barely seen him since.
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