Journalist James McNicholas feels that Mikel Arteta has failed to get the best out of his Arsenal team in one regard this season.
Arsenal have a fairly settled regular starting XI.
At the very least it is fair to say that there is a very select group of players who Mikel Arteta has absolute faith in.
Due to being a part of this core group of trusted players, the likes of Bukayo Saka, Declan Rice, Ben White, Martin Odegaard, Kai Havertz, William Saliba, and Gabriel Magalhaes have all had to play a huge amount of football this season. These players are so rarely afforded a rest.
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At the other end of the scale, the likes of Emile Smith Rowe, Reiss Nelson, Thomas Partey, Fabio Vieira, Eddie Nketiah, Mohamed Elneny, and Cedric Soares have all been restricted to bit-part roles this season. It is true that in some cases injuries have played a part in limiting some of these players’ opportunities, but none of them have been able to earn a regular starting berth even when fully fit and available this season.
There is likely to be plenty of player churn at the Emirates Stadium this summer. Thirteen players could leave Arsenal in the upcoming transfer window.
More pressingly, though, is the issue of player fatigue and how it threatens to derail the Gunners’ momentum during the run-in to this season, as Arteta’s side are chasing a Premier League title triumph. Saka has already struggled with tiredness, whilst White has had to play through injury, to name just two players who were not afforded a real rest at a time when they could have used one.
There is a chance that over-exerting his favourites this season could come back to haunt Arteta in the final weeks of the campaign. Of course, this would be a disaster.
Mikel Arteta criticised for use of Arsenal squad
To that end, James McNicholas has taken aim at the Spanish coach over his failure to make the best use of the options available to him in his squad.
Speaking on the Arsecast Extra podcast, the reporter said, “I think he needs to do a better job rotating players, and I think we are talking about a lot of these players now like, ‘oh yeah, obviously they’re not good enough’ or whatever it might be, but part of me feels like that is because they’re not being used and when they do get on they haven’t played for six weeks and don’t play particularly well. Therefore, we are sat here at the end of April and their value, and our estimation of them, has tanked, based on what it was a year ago.”
“I’m thinking of guys like Smith Rowe, or Partey. I know injuries are a problem, but I feel like there was more to get out of some of these players this season. On a talent level, I’d include Fabio Vieira in that as well…I think there was more to be wrung from them. That said, I think it is also true that we need better players.”