Arsenal Vs Standard Liege: Let the competition begin

Arsenal play their first non-Premier League game under Freddie Ljungberg on Thursday night when they travel to Standard Liege to close out the Europa League group stage. For Ljungberg, this is a chance to unleash the inner-squad competition that makes every team better.

Inner-squad competition is rarely a bad thing. While personalities must be managed, of course, and having unsettled player disrupt the dressing room can be detrimental to the overall feeling and atmosphere of the squad, a little rivalry to ensure that players are performing at their best is positive.

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This competition is what makes the great teams great. There is no room for mediocrity, and if players’ performances drop, they know that there is someone waiting to take their place. Arsene Wenger often missed this, putting so much faith into his starting players that they knew they would never be dropped. But this year, Arsenal finally have a squad that can provide competition at many different positions.

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Take centre-back as an example. Sokratis and David Luiz entered the season as the starters but both have been dropped from the starting XI at different times in the campaign due to their poor form and the encouraging displays of Calum Chambers and return of Rob Holding. Similarly, Bukayo Saka has kept £72 million club-record signing Nicolas Pepe honest, while the central midfield features many different players who are all pushing hard for minutes.

Each manager has their own opinions on the players his squad. There is a different pecking order for every coach. Wenger had his ideas, Unai Emery had his, and now interim head coach Freddie Ljungberg, who replaced Emery last week and is set to take charge of his fourth match, will unveil his own beliefs on what his players are capable of and which deserve to start and which do not.

Thursday night’s final Europa League group game against Standard Liege is fascinating for Ljungberg and his thinking regarding the squad. His first three matches were all Premier League games. The first two of those came within four days of Emery’s sacking. It was always going to be difficult to peek through the gaps and see what Ljungberg genuinely thought of the squad he was inheriting.

But on Thursday, Ljungberg will have the opportunity to rotate through his squad. With qualification all but secured and the competition not regarded in the same manner as the Premier League, Ljungberg has the opportunity to unleash some of the reserve and young players from his squad, thus revealing who he feels are current starters.

Might we see Alexandre Lacazette start after being dropped on Monday night? What about Matteo Guendouzi and his battle with Granit Xhaka for a starting central midfield role? Will Ainsley Maitland-Niles feature, either at right-back or in midfield? And what about the young players, like Saka, Joe Willock, Reiss Nelson and Emile Smith Rowe? Can they put pressure on the incumbent starters?

This inner-squad competition is only positive for Arsenal, and it is something that Ljungberg would be wise to harness. It is time to let the players fight for their places and prove their worth.