Arsenal make radical changes to their medical team as problems at the WC continue.

By Tony Attwood

Whatever the cause of Arsenal’s sacking of their club doctor, as we reported yesterday, Arsenal appear to have made the move knowing who was going to replace the last incumbent.   As the NY Times and other sources are now reporting, the new man in question is former Olympic sprinter Arnaldo Abrantes.

This looks to be a use by Arsenal of the specific elements within UK Employment Law, which basically state that an employee’s rights not to be dismissed except in specific circumstances, only kick in after two years of continuous employment.   Arsenal seems to have made their move just before the incumbent head of medical affairs reached that two-year mark as per the Employment Rights Act 1996.  As a previous chair of a plc I can say with some certainty that most employees in England who are not members of a relevant trade union are woefully unaware of their rights and the limitations of their rights in employment cases.

Employers still have to be careful as to how the matter is handled because even within the two-year “no rights” period, there are some things employers can’t dismiss an employee for, such as paternity leave, whistleblowing, being a member of a trade union, raising health and safety concerns etc.  

But we would expect Arsenal to know what’s what, and indeed we now see the apparent confirmation that Arsenal FC know exactly what the law in England and Wales says.  And today we find that Olympic sprinter Dr Arnaldo Abrantes is being reported as becoming Arsenal’s new first-team doctor.

Dr Abrantes has worked with Nottingham Forest and Aston Villa, and the reason for the changes in the medical department is now being spoken of as relating to what are seen by Arsenal as an unacceptable level of injuries in the first team squad under the previous doctor’s team.   Although I must stress that the conclusion is just me putting two and two together and possibly getting five, rather than something I have picked up from within Arsenal.

But what we can see is a big change in the medical team.  Dr Abrantes will join Carmen Marquez, who also moved to Arsenal from Aston Villa.   Dr Abrantes spent three years at Nottingham Forest from August 2020 to 2023, following a sprinting career that saw him qualify for the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing.

So clearly, there is serious concern at Arsenal about the number of injuries Arsenal sustained last season and the amount of time it took the club to get players back onto the pitch after an injury.  It seems the feeling in the club is that Arsenal won the league despite these injuries, rather than because of the way in which the injuries were handled.   In fact, Arsenal survived the injuries to Kai Havertz, Gabriel Jesus, Martin Odegaard and others, and these medical moves appear to be in response to this.

It would seem that, as we have mentioned from time to time during the last season, certain clubs in the lower parts of the league were seeing the prime way to beat Arsenal was in essence, to kick them.  It appeared to me (even if no one else) that refs were not giving Arsenal proper protection from this approach, and Arsenal have been looking at ways to fight this response to their own tactics.

As a result of the injuries, we know Bukayo Saka is still not 100 per cent fit, and is reported by the England manager to have been “playing through the pain” for Arsenal. There is more in The Telegraph including also an article that is headlined Thomas Tuchel expresses doubt over Bukayo Saka’s World Cup fitness – in particular his Achilles injury.  Saka has now joined up with the England squad after being given an extra week off after his involvement in the Champions League final against Paris Saint-Germain. Declan Rice, Eberechi Eze and Noni Madueke have also had extra time off.   Saka however is still not fit enough to play full games – as we saw against PSG.