Karen Carney has suggested that Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta should take some of the blame for the club’s huge injury problems this season.
Several players have suffered significant hamstring injuries this term including Bukayo Saka, Kai Havertz, Gabriel Martinelli and Gabriel Magalhaes.
Many Arsenal fans have argued that the club’s injury problems are the one of the key reasons why they missed on the Premier League title yet again.
The Gunners, who finished as runners-up to Manchester City in 2023 and 2024, fell short to Liverpool this year after fading away in the title race.
‘I think there has to be an assessment at the end of the season,’ Carney told The Kelly and Wrighty Show.
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‘I worked with Emma Hayes [at Chelsea] and she’d say if her player had a muscle injury, she’d take it really personally because it’s under her control.
‘Liverpool appointed Arne Slot because of his training methods and keeping his players fit.
‘For Arsenal, there has to be a look within, is it overtraining or undertraining?’
Quizzed by Ian Wright if Arteta needed to be looked at, Carney added: ‘Yeah. Because for me Wrighty, everything starts with the manager.
‘If the manager can’t pick the players then the games and performances fall on his head. No player is any good if they’re not available.
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‘It’s something Arsenal have to look at there and make sure they keep everybody fit. Look at Liverpool.’
Speaking before Arsenal’s 2-1 home defeat to AFC Bournemouth on Saturday, Arteta opened up about his team’s current injury crisis.
‘I was very shocked just before the [Champions League semi-final] game against PSG at home because I was walking into the dressing room and suddenly I saw all of them sitting together,’ the Spaniard told reporters.
‘It was [Takehiro] Tomiyasu, next to him [Riccaardo] Calafiori, next to him Gabriel, next to him Thomas Partey, next to him Kai Havertz, next to him Gabriel Jesus, next to him Jorginho.
‘I said, that’s a starting line-up. And we don’t have them.’
In February, meanwhile, Arteta said long-term injuries were ‘an accident waiting to happen’ due to the workload players face.
‘We’ve had players who are injured who’ve played 130 games in the last two seasons, so it’s an accident waiting to happen when you continue to load, load and load,’ he added.
‘The intensity is at a different level and the demands in terms of minutes in this competitive environment is getting higher and higher and it’s a consequence of that. The amount of muscle and tendon injuries is higher than ever so there’s a relationship.’