It is twenty-two minutes. Arsenal’s win over Liverpool, Trent Alexander-ArnoldA foot injury led to her fall. An injured foot. Gabriel MartinelliThe England international had landed on his ankle and he was treated within minutes.
Two minutes and thirty seconds later, the game was stopped. Although Arsenal were 1-0 up, the momentum had swung in Liverpool’s favour, with Jurgen Klopp’s men beginning to dominate possession and territory.
Every break in play for Mikel Arteta is an opportunity to coach. Granted a few minutes with his team, he managed to impart hurried instructions to more than half of Arsenal’s starting XI.
Gabriel, the centre-half of Arsenal, exchanged a few words. The Arsenal manager called the other side. Granit Xhaka — the team’s vice-captain and one of Arteta’s most trusted lieutenants. The two engaged in dialogue about Xhaka’s positioning.
It was remarkable that it was a two-way conversation. Arteta was asking Xhaka more questions than giving orders. It was a frantic exchange between two men who are implicitly trusted by each other. Xhaka is Arteta’s first port-of-call if he needs to make a tactical adjustment to his team.
Next, Arteta caught the eye of the goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale. He wanted to discuss distribution.
