The new Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta has made it clear that he expects every single player to try their hardest and follow his rules, or they will be left out of the team. Matteo Guendouzi was the first to find out that you can’t mess with the boss when he was dropped from the starting line-up after an incident while in Dubai for the midwinter break.
Arteta told the Telegraph why Guendouzi was dropped against Newcastle: “The reason is that players who, in my opinion, are training better, behaving better and are more applied to deliver on the pitch, what we want, are the players selected,” Arteta said.
Now it is Maitland-Niles turn, and he has now been left on the bench for the last six weeks since Hector Bellerin returned from injury, despite looking very effective in the Spaniard’s position. When asked about his absence, Arteta told football.london: “Ainsley needs to put his head down, work hard and show me every day in training he wants it more than anybody else and that he wants to play for this club and fight for his place.”
This is another sign that Arteta is stamping his authority on his team and it makes it clear to everyone that he won’t tolerate any time wasters. I, for one, think that is one of the most important part of a managers job, to earn and retain the respect of the players, and I fully support his actions. Do you?