Arsene Wenger admits Arsenal are suffering physically and mentally from Europa League workload
Reaching the Europa League semi-finals and Carabao Cup final has added to Arsenal’s workload this season and left Wenger with few selection options
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Your support makes all the difference.As Arsene Wenger and Arsenal get closer and closer to Europa League glory, the competition gets harder and harder. Not just the football either, although there is a clear escalation from Ostersunds, AC Milan and CSKA Moscow to Atletico Madrid, who they will face in the semi-finals. But everything else: the travel, the tiredness, the mental weight of a Premier League campaign that almost becomes an afterthought, playing after all of your rivals already have done.
That is the case this weekend too. Arsenal did not land in London until 5am on Friday morning, giving them no real time to train as they travel up to Newcastle on Saturday for a Sunday lunchtime kick-off at St James' Park.
Their forthcoming schedule is even harder: travelling to Old Trafford to face Manchester United two days after hosting Atletico, then flying to Madrid, then coming back to host Burnley.
This is the reality of competing in the Europa League, and while Arsenal are getting better at it, Arsene Wenger acknowledged how hard it is.
"Honestly, it is very difficult," he said in Moscow on Thursday night, just before leaving for the airport. "We land at 5am and we play Sunday morning. And the second thing that is very difficult is that when you play [in the league], everybody else has already played. Not only are you physically very jaded but also you are under huge pressure each time to win the game. It is maybe mentally tougher than physically."
This workload – they got to the final of the Carabao Cup too – means that Arsenal have played 52 games already this season with at least another eight to come. That has been a heavy burden on the players but in some positions Wenger is simply out of options, and can only keep using the same tired legs every time.
"[Fatigue] is a little bit of a concern because for long periods now, with the League Cup in the middle of the season, it is a bit difficult," Wenger said. "You look at [Manchester] City and they look a bit like that in the second half of games recently. Fortunately next week we can recover. I rotate as much as I can, unfortunately some players have to play all the games."
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