Arsenal's Own Training Methods Just Created a Selection Crisis Before Lille

Arsenal's injury crisis just became self-inflicted. Piero Hincapié and Martín Zubimendi, two of the club's marquee summer arrivals, were both hurt not in a match but in a post-match training drill that manager Mikel Arteta has run for seven years without a single casualty, until now.

Arteta confirmed the double blow in his news conference ahead of Tuesday's Champions League match against Lille, calling the situation \"far from ideal\". For a squad already carrying injury concerns into a congested fixture block, it is a blow Arsenal did not need and, more pointedly, one they arguably didn't have to suffer.

What Happened Inside Arsenal's Post-Match Training Session

A Session Built for Squad Depth, Not Crisis

The session in question was held at Emirates Stadium immediately after Arsenal's 2-1 Premier League win over Leeds on Saturday, designed specifically for players who had not featured or had not played a full 90 minutes. According to BBC Sport, the plan was for that group to train at the stadium so the rest of the squad could have a recovery day on Sunday before everyone reconvened on Monday.

Arteta routinely arranges a small-sided game on the pitch for exactly this cohort, players who haven't had minutes, to keep the whole squad operating at a similar physical output through a packed schedule. It is a methodology he has used without incident for seven years at the club, which is precisely what makes this week's double injury so jarring.

Two Summer Signings, Bench Roles, Sudden Absences

Both players caught in the fallout arrived at Arsenal in the summer with considerable fanfare, yet both have spent most of the season fighting for minutes rather than starting games.

• Hincapié, the 24-year-old Ecuador defender, came on after 82 minutes against Leeds and has made three Premier League appearances off the bench this season, though he did start Arsenal's Champions League win over Napoli last month, per BBC Sport's reporting.
• Zubimendi, the 27-year-old Spain midfielder, was an unused substitute against Leeds and has made five Premier League appearances, all from the bench.

Hincapié was carried off during the session by substitute goalkeeper Illan Meslier, a detail that has since become the subplot dominating the story as much as the injuries themselves.

Arteta's Defence and the Question He Wouldn't Answer

\"It's Never Happened in Seven Years\"

Arteta was candid, almost rueful, when pressed on whether anything could have prevented the injuries. His answer leaned on gallows humour before settling into a defence of the policy itself.

\"Never train and they The consequence of that is when you ask them to play they have no rhythm and no impact in the game,\" Arteta said, before adding: \"It's never happened in seven years I've been here. It could happen in the training session the next day. It's happened now and hopefully it doesn't happen again, but what can you do? If I had a crystal ball I would just say 'guys, get in the jacuzzi and I will see you tomorrow'.\"

That seven-year track record is the crux of Arteta's defence, framed as reported by both BBC Sport and ESPN, which both confirm Arteta explicitly defended the training programme rather than signalling any change in approach. Neither outlet suggests Arteta plans to scrap or alter the sessions, a notable detail given the scale of the setback.

Why Meslier, Not Medics, Carried Hincapié Off

What Arteta was far less willing to discuss was the manner in which Hincapié left the pitch. Rather than Arsenal's medical staff attending to the defender, it was backup goalkeeper Meslier who carried him off on his back, despite staff members being present pitchside.

Asked directly about this, Arteta's response was notably clipped. BBC Sport quotes him saying simply: \"that's something else, not to discuss here.\" It is a rare moment of visible discomfort from a manager who otherwise spoke openly about the injuries, and it raises an obvious question about pitch-side protocol during these closed-doors sessions that neither Arteta nor the club has yet addressed publicly.

Why This Could Hurt Arsenal's Season

A Squad Already Stretched Thin

This episode does not arrive in isolation. BBC Sport's coverage directly links the new injuries to a wider pattern, noting the Hincapié injury adds to Arsenal issues after Guimaraes' rescue act just a day earlier. Arsenal are managing a squad already under strain from fixture congestion, and losing two senior squad options, even if neither was an automatic starter, removes crucial depth precisely when rotation matters most.

Lille Clash Arrives at the Worst Time

Both players now face further scans to determine their recovery timelines, with Arteta unable to confirm how long either will be out. Hincapié's ankle injury is understood to be the more serious of the two.

The timing could scarcely be worse. Arsenal host Lille in the Champions League on Tuesday needing a result, and Arteta now goes into that fixture with two fewer options from a squad that was already being carefully managed through the physical toll of multiple competitions. For bettors assessing Arsenal's rotation risk through this run, the loss of Hincapié and Zubimendi narrows Arteta's bench options at exactly the moment squad depth was supposed to be the point of the exercise.

What Happens Next

Arsenal will learn more about the severity of both injuries once scan results are confirmed, with Hincapié's ankle problem viewed as the greater concern. Until then, Arteta faces selection decisions for Lille and beyond without two players specifically built into his plans as impact options off the bench.

The bigger question is whether this incident prompts any reassessment of the post-match training policy itself. Arteta's public stance, defended in near-identical terms across BBC Sport and ESPN's coverage, suggests no immediate change. But his terse refusal to address why medical staff weren't the ones attending to Hincapié leaves an uncomfortable loose thread that Arsenal will likely be asked to clarify again before this story goes away.