Arsenal squad depth under spotlight as Thierry Henry backs Mikel Arteta before key games

Actually Arsenal don’t really have the power of easing themselves through this stage of the season. Every game feels heavy now, every decision amplified, and the calendar isn’t exactly offering them a breather either.

The 1-1 draw away at Atletico Madrid in the Champions League semi-final first leg did at least show a bit more life. It wasn’t vintage Arsenal, not quite, but there were signs of something sharper after a run that had started to feel like it was drifting at the worst possible time.

Two wins in seven tells its own story. So does the fact they haven’t managed more than a single goal in any of those matches. For a team that once looked relentless going forward, that dip has been hard to ignore.

Still, Thierry Henry isn’t overly concerned. Not yet anyway.

“Deal with it” — Henry keeps it simple

Speaking after the game, Henry’s view was fairly straightforward. This is what big squads are for.

“I don’t see any issue,” he said on CBS Sports. “I’m not saying it is going to be easy and pleasant because the game again at Newcastle was very difficult. But you have the squad to be able to deal with that, so deal with it.”

It’s not the most complicated analysis, but it probably reflects how Arsenal’s squad has been built over the past year.

Under Andrea Berta’s influence, the club added heavily last summer, bringing in eight players to deepen options across the pitch. On paper, at least, there should be enough there to handle a run like this.

The problem is it hasn’t quite looked that way recently.

When fatigue starts creeping in

You could see it in flashes in Madrid. Moments where Arsenal moved the ball quicker, pressed a bit harder, looked more like themselves. But it hasn’t been consistent, and there’s a lingering sense that a few key players are running on fumes.

That’s where the debate around Mikel Arteta comes in.

Jamie Carragher didn’t hold back when discussing the situation. For him, this isn’t just bad luck or fixture congestion — it’s something that’s been building for a while.

“If this was November, he would make some changes,” Carragher said. “I just think the stakes are so high, there is no way Mikel Arteta is going to be making changes in these games, I would be very surprised.”

There’s logic to that. Arsenal are right in the middle of a title race and chasing a place in the Champions League final. This isn’t the time managers usually start experimenting.

But Carragher went a bit further, suggesting the current fatigue might have been avoidable.

“The reason he is in this situation now where the players do like a little bit fatigued is because he hasn’t made those changes earlier on when the stakes weren’t as high.”

It’s one of those arguments that tends to surface late in the season. Rotate earlier, save legs for now. Easy to say in hindsight, less straightforward when every match has felt important from the start.

A weekend that suddenly feels huge

Next up is Fulham at home. On paper, it’s the kind of game Arsenal would normally expect to handle. But nothing feels routine at this stage.

A win would open up a six-point gap over Manchester City, even if Pep Guardiola’s side still have two games in hand. Drop points, though, and the mood shifts quickly.

Carragher summed up the tension around it pretty bluntly: “If they draw against Fulham this will think they gave lost the league. The stakes are just too high.”

And that’s the thing. There’s very little margin for error left. Not in the league, not in Europe.

Arteta made just two changes in Madrid, both forced. Kai Havertz wasn’t available, and Eberechi Eze wasn’t fit enough to start. Beyond that, he stuck with his core group — the same players who have carried Arsenal to this point.

Whether he trusts the wider squad now, with everything on the line, is another question entirely.

Where this leaves Arsenal

There are still positives. The draw in Madrid keeps the tie alive, and returning to the Emirates gives them a real chance of reaching a Champions League final. That alone would have felt like a huge step not so long ago.

But it’s hard to shake the feeling that this next stretch — a handful of games, really — will define how this season is remembered.

Henry sees a squad capable of coping. Carragher sees a squad stretched to its limits.

The truth is probably somewhere in between.

Arsenal have the players. That part isn’t in doubt. The question now is whether they still have the energy to use them properly when it matters most.