Rio Ferdinand was pressured into dropping out of England squads by Sir Alex Ferguson (Picture: Rio Ferdinand Presents)
Rio Ferdinand insists Mikel Arteta cannot be blamed for delving into Sir Alex Ferguson’s Premier League title-winning playbook in a bit to help Arsenal get over the line.
The Gunners are odds-on favourites to be crowned domestic champions for the first time in 22 years having opened up a nine-point lead over Manchester City.
Arteta’s side still have to go to the Etihad next month and have played a game more than the side who laid down something of a marker at Wembley 10 days ago when they claimed the Carabao Cup following a convincing 2-0 wi over an under-par Arsenal.
The international break may have come at a timely period for Arteta and he will no doubt have been relieved to see a clutch of his most important players opt out of playing for their countries.
Eberechi Eze, who missed the League Cup final defeat, is unlikely to return in time for Saturday’s FA Cup tie against Southampton but there is a suspicion that the majority of the walking wounded will be available for selection.
Arsenal and the various drop outs have received an avalanche of criticism for abandoning their countries so close to this summer’s World Cup but Ferdinand is sympathetic to their current predicament.
He told his YouTube channel: ‘Mikel Arteta has worked his magic and told them if anyone plays or anyone goes you’re getting fined and they’ve all dropped out.’
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Bukayo Saka dropped out of the England squad last week (Picture: Getty)
Asked if Arsenal fans should be worried by the spate of supposed injuries, he added: ‘No. They’ll all be available for selection, bar one or two.
‘It’s definitely the manager saying listen this is the first win we could get in terms of the Premier League, we have to be ready, we need your energy, this is a friendly for your national team.
‘I’ve heard this speech from Sir Alex Ferguson so I understand it. The guys have just gone this is our priority we need to win the league.’
Ferdinand admitted the scenario is not dissimilar to the one he faced as a player when Sir Alex Ferguson would regularly pressure his best players into putting club before country.
Rio Ferdinand was pressured into missing England games by Sir Alex Ferguson (Picture: Getty)
‘The game’s finished we’ve won the game before we go away with our national team and he’ll be in there going ‘we’ve got a big game in 10 days and that’s just a friendly, I don’t want to see anyone playing more than 45 minutes. I don’t care what you have to do to get out of it you can’t play more than 45’.
‘There’d be other players like Wazza and that when they’ve been playing so many games, the matchwinners who need protecting a bit more.
‘Cristiano as well, players like that, he’d be going to them privately you’ve got to pull out of this one, we can’t have you getting injured.
‘He’s protecting his interest which is Manchester United and he’s Scottish so he’s not got one care in the world for England.’
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Thomas Tuchel, meanwhile, knows Declan Rice and Bukayo Saka’s England withdrawals amid a spate of Arsenal pullouts may look fishy to some but stressed the injured duo were desperate to feature against Japan.
The German coach picked an expanded 35-man squad for the final camp before he makes his World Cup selection, with the first wave of players joined by 11 established names on Friday.
Rice and Saka were among those arrivals and surprisingly left the following day, as did Arsenal team-mate Noni Madueke after he sustained an injury in the 1-1 friendly draw against Uruguay.
The fact 10 of the Premier League leaders’ players have left their respective national teams has raised suspicions of club matters taking precedence over country, but Tuchel dismissed such talk.
Declan Rice has pulled out of the England squad (Picture: Getty)
‘They joined, had a medical assessment, wanted desperately to play, to just get the narrative straight,’ he said ahead of Tuesday’s friendly against Japan. ‘Wanted desperately to be involved.
‘But it made just no sense to take this risk. If it would have been maybe a last game of the season, we would have kept them and tried everything. But in this moment of the season, it did not make sense.
‘The risk for making it worse was just way too big.’
Tuchel, who says England were aware of the pair’s ‘issues’ after Arsenal’s Carabao Cup final, added: ‘I understand the look of it.
Noni Madueke pulled out of the England squad after he was injured playing against Uruguay (Picture: AFP)
‘I still have 100 per cent trust in the honesty of Bukayo and Declan. We did medical tests. I saw them.
‘I have no reason to believe that Declan is not honest with me. I have no reason to believe Bukayo is not honest. But given the amount of Arsenal players, I understand the look.’
Rice, who Tuchel says feels 70 per cent fit, had a session with Jude Bellingham on the pitch but complained of discomfort, while Saka did two sessions in the gym in a bid to prove his fitness.
‘They both came,’ he said. ‘Declan was even out on the pitch. He did not come and say ‘guys, I’m going home’.
‘I heard there were camps (in the past) where players did not even show up with boots and stuff. Then it becomes, OK…but they both came.’
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