Man Utd, Arsenal and Liverpool among clubs one injury away from disaster
With the transfer window mercifully shut until January, meaning we can all focus on the actual football, plenty of teams have been left overwhelmingly reliant on one player to hold down a position.
Like the bottom piece in a house of cards, a poorly timed injury to one of these players and the whole thing could come tumbling down.
David Raya at Arsenal
Arsenal’s goalkeeper department is split between one of the best shot-stoppers in the world and a collection of goalkeepers known for making absolute howlers.
If you were compiling a list of the most error-prone keepers of recent years, chances are both Kepa Arrizabalaga and Illan Meslier would feature, and yet somehow the reigning champions have them as back-up.
Of course, it is hard to attract top-level keepers to sit on the bench, especially behind someone as consistent as Raya, but one injury to the Spaniard and the best defence in the league feels a lot more vulnerable.
There were flashes last year with Mikel Arteta opting to play Kepa in the cup competitions, but his performance in the League Cup final should have been enough to convince the Arsenal boss that reinforcements were needed.
They did strengthen, if you can call it that, with the signing of Meslier, but even Martin Dubravka or Karl Darlow were surely better choices for the role.
Luke Shaw at Manchester United
Luke Shaw had his most injury-free season for a long time last campaign but that should not have given Manchester United the confidence he can do it again this season.
The deadline ticked by without United signing an additional left-back, meaning they are relying on 31-year-old Shaw to play at least until January.
Noussair Mazraoui and Diogo Dalot can play there but both prefer the right-hand side and a late move for City’s Rayan Ait-Nouri showed United themselves knew it was a problem.
Lewis Hall was identified but Newcastle said no and Tyrell Malacia was allowed to leave on a free in the summer, meaning United look very light in that area.
With four competitions to play in, Shaw’s fitness is going to be really tested.
READ: Man Utd climb as Premier League squad values revealed after transfer window
Erling Haaland at Manchester City
Haaland’s consistent goalscoring and availability has earned him a Robot moniker but even robots need fixing from time to time.
Should Haaland pick up any kind of lengthy injury, City look very short in the number 9 department given their summer sales.
The departure of Omar Marmoush to Tottenham means Haaland is the only recognised centre-forward in the squad and reports suggest Antoine Semenyo would be the preferred choice should the Norwegian be unavailable.
Semenyo has played there before but not really since his Bristol City days and he has proved far more effective on the wing.
There’s also the physical element. As well as scoring goals, Haaland provides height and physicality to a City front line often bereft of it. If he is missing, that attack looks a lot more blunt.
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Conor Bradley at Liverpool
Of the many expensive signings made by Liverpool last summer, it is not Florian Wirtz or Alexander Isak who look the most confusing problem to solve, it’s Jeremie Frimpong.
If we are all honest with ourselves, he’s just not a right-back, is he? He looked very defensively suspect in Arne Slot’s final season and it is a trend that has continued under the new regime.
Trent Alexander-Arnold was often criticised for his defensive capabilities but he was miles better than what Frimpong, who works best as the wing-back in a back-five system, has shown since moving to Anfield.
Such is the issue, Iraola is reportedly considering pushing Dominik Szoboszlai back there, a role he played many times last season, which begs the question of why Liverpool did not strengthen here in the window?
Conor Bradley is nearing a return after a long-term knee injury but if he were to be injured again, Liverpool are again looking like a team filling in holes with square objects.
Thierno Barry at Everton
‘Howler’ would be a not unfair way of describing Everton’s transfer window.
In a scene that is so typical Everton, the club has been left with egg on its face after failing to land any of its striker targets and scrambling around at the last minute for anyone who has even thought about playing as a number nine.
Granted, Everton were not to know that priority target Folarin Balogun would change his mind, but does a Premier League club not have plans B, C and D ready to go should A fail?
B was reportedly Tammy Abraham, who didn’t want to go, while C was Joshua Zirkzee, with Everton leaving that one too late.
The result is that Everton have allowed Beto to leave and no one to come in, meaning their entire striker responsibility falls to Thierno Barry, who scored eight goals in the league last year.
But what if he gets injured? David Moyes is then looking at playing Tyrique George up front or even shoehorning Brennan Johnson into the role.
This lack of forethought, coupled with the departure of Iliman Ndiaye, has rightly made Evertonians very angry at the club’s higher-ups.
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