Mikel Arteta reveals ‘massive fight’ with Gabriel over Arsenal injury

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta revealed that he clashed with Gabriel earlier this season when forcing the centre-back onto the sidelines, despite his protestations in a wider attempt to defend himself against accusations of overworking his players.

Gabriel is now expected to be spending the rest of the season in Arsenal's treatment room after damaging his hamstring against Fulham on Tuesday night.

The towering Brazilian is one of four defensive injuries Arsenal have suffered in quick succession, dramatically limiting Arteta's personnel options for next week's Champions League quarter-final first leg against Real Madrid.

The Arsenal boss told his pre-match press conference on Friday that Gabriel "felt something in his hamstring" during a 5-2 victory over West Ham United in November.

"We played three days later, six days later, and nine days later," Arteta recalled. "Three days later, [Gabriel] said he was ready to play with a grade one. He said, 'I'm not feeling anything. I want to play'.

"It was massive fight not to play him. Day six, 'This one definitely I have to play.' Everybody's like, 'There is still a chance of a risk to play'. We decided after a big fight, don't play. Day nine, another game.

"'This one for sure,' [says Gabriel]. The docs say there is a slight risk. He can miss five, six, seven weeks if he has an injury after that. We said not to play. On day 12, he played. But I was very tempted on day six to play him."

Arteta has been accused of over-playing Arsenal's regular starters. Many claimed that Bukayo Saka's prolonged absence this term was a consequence of minimal rest amid an unrelenting fixture list. Gabriel has also been scarcely overlooked, starting 135 of the club's previous 144 top-flight matches.

Yet, the Gunners boss was at pains to point out the dilemma he is constantly faced with. "So sometimes you protect the player for this [a serious injury] to happen, and when the player is totally protected, then this happens as well. There is an element, guys, that we cannot control. You want to play them because the player is coming to your office. 'I want to play, I want to play, I want to play. I'm ready. I know my body. Don't listen to the scan!', you know.

"So we try to do our best."

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