You could argue that the international break came at the worst possible time for the Gunners following their nine match winning streak. The transition from club football to international has had mixed success for the players representing their countries. Here is a round-up of how the players are have done so far.
The first team:
Lucas Torreria assisted Matías Vecino in a 2-1 defeat to South Korea whilst his midfield partner Granit Xhaka captained his Switzerland side to the same fate thanks to a brace by Manchester United’s Romelu Lukaku.
Another international captain, Sokratis Papastathopoulos kept a clean sheet in a 1-0 victory over Hungary in Greece’s UEFA Nations League tie.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang also skippered his Gabon side to a first win in eight with a 3-0 victory over South Sudan. His former Borrusia Dortmund and now Arsenal team-mate Henrikh Mkhitaryan made it four Arsenal players captaining their countries but unfortunately lost vs. Gibraltar.
Mohamed Elneny saw his Egyptian side run out as 4-1 winners against Swaziland recording an assist in the process.
Bernd Leno was an unused substitute in Germany’s 3-0 loss to Holland.
David Ospina (LOAN) conceded twice as his Colombia side beat the United States 4-2.
Reiss Nelson (LOAN) scored an emphatic flick as England slaughtered Andorra 7-0 to qualify for next years European Championships.
VIDEO: Reiss Nelson 🏴 scores on his England U21 debut (@btsportfootball). pic.twitter.com/96Vv2hPXC5
— TheAFCnewsroom (@TheAFCnewsroom) October 11, 2018
Aaron Ramsey was given permission to leave the Welsh side due to family reasons as he is expecting a child any time now.
Arsenal club captain Laurent Koscielny announced his retirement from international football.
Arsenal youth:
Joe Willock grabbed a goal and assist in which he set up Arsenal team mate Eddie Nketiah in a 2-1 win over Italy under 20’s. Nketiah also trained with the England senior team again.
Good couple days training💪🏾🙏🏾 @England pic.twitter.com/RVDBkuozjn
— Eddie Nketiah (@EddieNketiah9) September 6, 2018
Emile Smith-Rowe continued his fine form after his goal in the Europa League with a goal and assist for the England under 19’s.
Tyreece John Jules scored for England under 18’s as they beat Sweden 4-0. Bukayo Saka and Sam Greenwood also featured. Greenwood also scored for the under 17’s in a 3-1 Victory over the United States.
Daniel Ballard scored the winner for Northern Ireland under 21’s as they beat Austria under 21’s 1-0 to keep their hopes of European Championship qualification alive.
