Mikel Arteta responds to Erik ten Hag’s Arsenal injury comments

Mikel Arteta has responded to Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag’s comments about Arsenal’s injury situation this season.

The United boss spoke earlier this week about his side’s troubles with absences in his debut campaign at Old Trafford.

The Reds have been without Anthony Martial for the majority of the season, whilst Christian Eriksen, Donny van de Beek and Alejandro Garnacho are all out of action with long-term injuries.

Casemiro will have missed eight games through suspension when he completes his four-match ban following the red card he received against Southampton.

“When you see all season we have had some setbacks, every time we’ve dealt with it,” Ten Hag told the media.

“It’s about the players who are available and every time there’s a team on the pitch who deals with it. In just one game we had the squad available totally and I was able to pick my team, from a tactical approach, perfectly – that was against Manchester City at home this season. Every other time it’s been one player suspended, injured, or unavailable through illness.”

The Dutch manager explained that he hopes United can be in a similar situation to Arsenal, who have had the majority of their first-choice XI available throughout their successful season which sees them top the Premier League.

“We have to deal with it well but of course, you hope – you see Arsenal, almost all the time their squad is totally available,” he added.

Despite the United manager essentially complimenting the Arsenal manager’s use of his squad, many Gunners supporters believed the 53-year-old was taking a jab at their club.

The likes of Gabriel Jesus and Emile Smith-Rowe have also had significant layouts, which Arteta mentioned after they were knocked out of the Europa League on Thursday night.

“We’ve been carrying injuries throughout the season,” the Spaniard said after Arsenal’s loss on penalties against Sporting.

“We had Emile [Smith Rowe] out for four months, [Gabriel] Jesus out for four months, Alex [Zinchenko] for two-and-a-half months, Thomas [Partey] for a month and a half, Eddie [Nketiah] for a month and a half. We had quite a lot of injuries already, but we dealt with that.”