Fulham manager Marco Silva was in no mood to entertain the idea of Arsenal suffering from injuries ahead of their trip to Craven Cottage on Saturday.
A knee injury is expected to sideline Arsenal captain Martin Ødegaard for several weeks, leaving the Gunners a little thin in attack as Noni Madueke, Kai Havertz and Gabriel Jesus all continue their recoveries from respective injuries.
While Silva acknowledged Arsenal’s fitness issues, he mocked the idea of a crisis by highlighting the strength in depth that Mikel Arteta had this season.
“They don’t have Madueke, they have [Bukayo] Saka, it’s not bad, not bad at all,” Silva said. “The other one you talked about was Havertz? They have [Viktor] Gyökeres which cost them £75 million. I think it’s a waste of time if you want to compare.
When Ødegaard’s omission was pointed out, Silva replied: “They have [Eberechi] Eze which is not bad too. I think you need to move on.
Silva was eager to praise Arsenal for their work in the transfer market this summer, signing players to address the lack of depth in Arteta’s squad.
“I think it’s clear, with Gabriel Jesus’ long-term injury last season, they didn’t have Havertz, without them it was more difficult,” Silva conceded. “I saw them playing with another player there with [Mikel] Merino, [Leandro] Trossard.
“They had this problem last season with Havertz and Jesus, what they did, they saw it, analyzed it and signed Gyökeres. Even with the injury of Havertz and Gabriel Jesus, they are ready to start with a striker, and for Saka it is more or less the same, with Ødegaard it is more or less the same.
“I think they can adapt to these unfortunate moments that all teams are experiencing, like us at the moment, probably the worst in my time at the club because we have never had both attackers out at the same time, they are showing that they have the conditions to manage it and face it so that the level does not drop.”
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