Arsenal: Earning your right to play shouldn’t be a novelty

Mikel Arteta appears determined to make players earn their spot in the Arsenal starting XI. What a novelty right? How has no one thought of this?

Mikel Arteta has been pure perfection since taking over at Arsenal. From his press conferences, to his side’s performances on the pitch, to his remarkable ability to turn around players who were counted for dead, it’s been utter brilliance.

And of course, one of the main points of conversation is Mesut Ozil, and how Arteta has managed to completely turn the German playmaker around.

Speaking to the point, Arteta said that if Ozil played well, Ozil would continue to play and if he fell out of form, and wasn’t playing well anymore he wouldn’t. Pretty revolutionary stuff, that. Many have mused that this is such a novelty these days, yet it seems to be the easiest, most obvious method of team selection.

It’s looking to be that way across the board for Arteta too. Nicolas Pepe earned his way into the starting XI, and everyone looks like they’re fighting hard to keep their places.

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No doubt Arteta has drawn attention to the way things are going to be run here now that he is in charge. It’s amazing what internal competition can do, and how rarely we see it. Arsene Wenger was guilty of picking favorites in his latter years as manager and while Unai Emery seemed to subscribe to the Arteta school of thought, he was a bit too trigger happy and random.

Internal competition is a powerful tool that, when utilized properly, helps everyone. Even those that are being benched for players who are pulling ahead in the race for starting spots. Again, this shouldn’t be a novelty, but the fact that people are swooning over Arteta’s use of this philosophy tells you that it is just that.

We’re seeing the benefits already, as mentioned. The effort levels have increased exponentially. Players look like they actually want to play. Like they actually care. Go figure that when you put a guy’s job on the line, he tries hard to keep it.

It’s still early going in the Arteta days, so it remains to be seen how this will play out in the long-term, but for the time being, it’s working. And for those that it doesn’t work for, they’ll end up sitting. That’s the idea right?

We’re headed in the right direction. Arteta is proving to be the perfect blend of the basics and modernization. Hallelujah for that.