Friday 23 October 2015 11:38, UK
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger says midfielder Aaron Ramsey may have been playing too much football recently and is unhappy he was not given a rest by Wales.
Ramsey is facing at least three weeks on the sidelines, having sustained a hamstring injury during the second half of the 2-0 Champions League win over Bayern Munich on Tuesday.
The Wales international has had a busy spell for club an country over the last few weeks and, while Wenger accepts he should have rested Ramsey last weekend, said he is frustrated that the 24-year-old played a full 90 minutes against Andorra when Wales had already secured qualification to Euro 2016.
Asked about Ramsey's injury, Wenger said: "After the international break, he has a chance to be back, so it is a three to four weeks job.
"Maybe he was overloaded a little bit with games. Ideally, I think not him nor [Gareth] Bale should have played against Andorra, because they were qualified, but unfortunately I could not decide that.
"I was in a position after that where I thought I could rest him against Watford. In the end I didn't do it and of course after, against Bayern, I had not much choice and we got punished.
"Ideally he should have had a breather, or at Watford. Realistically, the real breather he could have had was against Andorra."
Asked if he now regretted playing Ramsey at Watford, where he was among the scorers, Wenger said: "Yes, because he got injured."
Wenger added that the loss of players to their international teams can be "a point of friction".
"I understand, when it's official games, you do not want to interfere in that, because the country is important and they have to win the games," said Wenger.
"Once they play friendlies, or games where there is nothing at stake, you think they should accommodate the clubs as well.
"It is difficult because it is sometimes common sense and you cannot predict every single situation with a rule. It is more down to a good co-operation between clubs and countries that is important."
On a brighter note as far as Wenger is concerned, Arsenal will bid for a fourth straight Premier League win at home to Everton on Saturday, and victory would take them to the top of the table, for a day at least.
"Overall we are in a good run and that can help the level of confidence and belief going into the next game," said the Gunners boss.
"You gain credibility through consistency, and when people think this could be a game where we could slip a bit and you respond in a positive way.
"It shows that our consistency is questioned by many people, which is not based on mathematics and statistics, but more on preconceived ideas, and it is down to us to change people's minds. The longer we last, the more people will give us credit for it."
