Charlie Austin causes a stir saying he doesn’t buy Arsenal ‘fatigue reason’ as he makes EFL point

Charlie Austin causes a stir saying he doesn’t buy the Arsenal ‘fatigue reason’ as he makes an EFL point while talking on Sky Sports.

Earlier this week, Jamie Carragher said: “My worry watching Arsenal is NOT nerves – it hasn’t been for a few weeks – mine is fatigue. It was far too easy for Newcastle to make passes and get to the edge of the box.

“They couldn’t create too much when they got there which is a sign of the Arsenal back four but it looked leggy to me. It was too easy for Tonali and Guimaraes to dictate the game. To see Newcastle play with ease at the Emirates was a worry to me and smacked of fatigue.”

“My worry isn’t nerves, it’s fatigue” 🤔@Carra23 says Arsenal showed signs of fatigue in their performance vs Newcastle 🔊 pic.twitter.com/lSq92pMlDW

— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) April 27, 2026

The question discussed earlier this we was ‘Is Arsenal biggest problem fatigue, not nerves?’, to which Charlie Austin responded:

“No, I’m going off, for the weekends before it’s more relief, nerves kick in. Yes, didn’t, they know they have to win every game and getting over the line doesn’t matter how they do it. So was the relief kind of come in.

“The reason why I can’t accept the fatigue bill is because they’re such a big squad, 25 man squad. Yes, they’re a massive club. They’re in all these other competitions.

“However, the EFL play 46 games a season. They’re in the cup competitions, take Southampton for argument’s sake.

“Been beaten in the semi-final of the FA Cup, they’re going to play 46 league games, then they’re going to play two playoff games and then maybe one more.

“So for me, don’t get the, I’m not buying into the fatigue side of it really. I’m really not.

“Relief and nervousness is one that plays a massive part, but the fatigue I’m not buying into because Arsenal have also been praised and been spoken about how big and how well they’ve done over the years in their transfer market to bolster their squad and be in light for light changes. So for me, I just can’t have the fatigues.”

Interviewer: “Did you feel like you were running out of steam when you got promoted with QPR via the playoffs. Because again, there’s those extra games at the end of the season.”

Charlie: “We ran out of steam probably about six to eight games ago and then we knew we was almost guaranteed to be in the playoffs. So we had time almost to build up with two games to go in the Championship.”

Interviewer: Arsenal can’t.”

Charlie: “That’s what I’m saying. So we’d able to build up where Arsenal have no place to build. They know…”

As mentioned, Charlie Austin causes a stir with fans after saying he doesn’t buy Arsenal ‘fatigue reason’ as he makes an EFL point while talking on Sky Sports…

@Gunneruni: When you put on a Championship level player to talk about a team going for the PL and CL of course he is going to use comparisons from the Championship! Puts it in comical perspective why you should get pundits who know what they are talking about.

@adamkeys_: A couple of points to counter Charlie. Firstly on Southampton. Only four of their players have played over 3000 minutes this season. Arsenal and Chelsea have seven, Man City have five, Newcastle have four and Liverpool have 10. Yes, The Championship has 46 games, but the minutes are lower than what the top clubs experience and the physical and mental intensity is vastly different. As for the year QPR got promoted, Charlie finished the season with 3,050 minutes. Arsenal still have a minimum of six games to play, City have a total of six and Chelsea have five. The minutes he played, and talked about running out of steam with, would not be high for a regular at a top five Premier League club.

@afcDW: Wow, a full 46 games! He’s aware, of course, that Arsenal have already played 56 with another month of football left.

@J_Goulding86: I mean I get his point, lower leagues play a lot of games but Arsenal have already played 56 games and still have a month left. The only time lower leagues get anywhere near that is from a cup run or two

@RedCarpetViews: Yeah, they play 46 league games over an entire season and if they’re lucky they’ll get in about 50 games total. We’re at 56 already you lemon. Southampton made a cup semi-final, which is the furthest any championship team has gone this season, and they’re going to end on 54 games for the year. We’re at 54 games with another month to play, is this guy that stupid? Lmao If Arsenal got knocked out of EVERY competition in the first round, they’d end up playing 48 games. That’s the bare minimum. The same goes for any other PL team that’s playing UCL football. This guy is so unaware.

@NiftyNick4: Not a single representative from Arsenal Football Club has suggested they are suffering from fatigue. The only place I’ve heard this is on Sky Sports. Now Sky Sports are arguing that fatigue cant be an issue. They make their own news up & then argue against it. News my Arse.

@DylanMcbennett7: Yep, rocking up to Bromley away is the exact same as Bayern Munich on a Wednesday followed by City on a Sunday

@QuantK22: This guys a dunce no one’s saying fatigue cos of too many games we’re saying fatigue cos the manager refuses to rotate properly 👍

@MaitlandBen: Arsenal have played 56 games so far this season with 6 (possibly 7) still to come. Coventry City (top club in the Championship) have played 48 with one to come. Arsenal also have more players involved in international fixtures.