Mikel Arteta now has a large, high-quality squad on which he can rely. Not long ago, even last season, the Spaniard couldn’t afford to field a capable lineup without the presence of some stars. Now he can, and one of the many reasons is that Arteta recognizes he now has players of enormous talent in his squad. Many would have been concerned last season if a player like Martin Odegaard had missed a league game, but for the first time in almost two years, the Norwegian star did not start an Arsenal Premier League game against Sheffield.
Arteta’s explanation for resting Odegaard against Sheffield couldn’t help but imply he was eager to rotate (though he noticed Odegaard’s condition) and did so because of his strong squad.
“We went through all the minutes that everybody has played the last three weeks and some of them played an enormous amount of minutes,” he said via Football.London.
“Martin has been as well carrying a little thing that wasn’t very comfortable in the games. So we have players with enormous quality and we have to choose and we believe that it was the right day to do so.”
People recognize Man City and even Liverpool’s recruitment, but given Arteta’s superb Arsenal squad, the Gunner’s recruitment is right up there. So far this season, the Gooners have appreciated their squad depth, with Arteta’s ambitions kept alive by his ability to twist and turn his squad.
Takehiro Tomiyasu has come off the bench several times and transformed the game, as have Fabio Vieira and Leandro Trossard.
Jakub Kiwior seamlessly replaced Gabriel in central defense against Sheffield United. Not to mention the goalkeeping duel between Aaron Ramsdale and David Raya.
The Gunners now have a squad to envy. Injuries are attempting to hold them back but our quality in depth has meant we have not been weakened by them.
Daniel O
Watch all the goals from the Sheffield game here – including Nketiah’s hat-trick
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