Arsenal’s defensive crisis has deepened with Gabriel’s season-ending hamstring injury—and manager Mikel Arteta now faces mounting scrutiny for his role in the Brazilian’s prolonged absence. The 26-year-old center-back suffered the blow during Tuesday’s clash against Fulham, joining three other sidelined defenders ahead of next week’s Champions League quarterfinal against Real Madrid.
But it’s Arteta’s contentious history of pushing Gabriel through injuries that has critics sharpening their knives. Why is the Gunners boss at the center of this storm?
Mikel Arteta’s risky gamble
The tension between player welfare and on-field urgency has boiled over for Arteta, who admitted to a “massive fight” with Gabriel earlier this season over rushing his return from a hamstring issue. In November, after Gabriel felt discomfort in a 5-2 win over West Ham, Arteta revealed the defender aggressively lobbied to play just three days later despite medical warnings.
“He said, ‘I’m not feeling anything. I want to play,’” Mikel Arteta recounted during Friday’s press conference.
The manager resisted, benching him for six days before another heated debate arose.
By day nine, Gabriel again demanded action, but scans showed lingering risks. Arteta held firm until day 12, when he finally relented. This pattern of prioritizing short-term gains over long-term fitness has become a recurring theme.
Critics argue it contributed to Bukayo Saka’s extended absence earlier this season and now Gabriel’s devastating setback. With Arsenal’s title hopes and European ambitions hanging in the balance, Arteta’s squad management is under a harsh microscope.
A domino effect of injuries
Gabriel’s injury couldn’t have come at a worse time. The Gunners, already missing key defenders, face a threadbare backline against Real Madrid’s star-studded attack. Compounding the crisis is a congested schedule Mikel Arteta blamed as a “factor” in the team’s physical breakdowns.
Yet, his admission that players often lobby to play through pain—Gabriel famously argued, “Don’t listen to the scan!”—highlights a systemic clash between athlete pride and medical caution.
Fans and pundits alike question why Arteta, who started Gabriel in 135 of Arsenal’s last 144 league matches, didn’t enforce stricter rotation. The manager defended his choices, stressing the dilemma of balancing player passion with protection:
“Sometimes you protect them, and this [injury] still happens. There’s an element we cannot control.”
As Arsenal’s defensive woes mount, Mikel Arteta’s judgment is being dissected like never before. Was Gabriel’s injury preventable? Could more rotation have spared their backline? With the season’s climax approaching, the answers may define Arteta’s legacy—and Arsenal’s silverware dreams.