Arsenal: Arteta lays down another selection gauntlet

Mikel Arteta is a firm man. While he can show both sides of his personality in his interviews and press conferences, when it comes to his selections at Arsenal he tends to make his feelings very known.

In the 3-0 win over AFC Wimbledon he opted to select a strong side, with an eye on keeping momentum and continuity flowing throughout the senior group. Everyone needs the confidence of three points/a win, even those not in the Premier League starting lineup. It’s now three clean sheets on the bounce.

There were starts for Alexandre Lacazette, Eddie Nketiah and Gabriel Martinelli up front, while the back five changed entirely with only Thomas Partey keeping his place from the previous outing against Burnley.

Who was missing was Calum Chambers and, based on Arteta’s track record, it could be that he’s missing for quite some time.

Mikel Arteta lays down another Arsenal selection gauntlet with Calum Chambers falling down the right-back pecking order in place of Cedric – it’s the right call

After a mistake at home to Slavia Prague in mid-April, Cedric was given 11 minutes late on in the return leg of that Europa League tie and then that was it. No minutes for the rest of the season. Ten games without coming off the bench.

It became abundantly clear that Arteta had, understandably, lost faith, with the decision feeling like your parent scolding you and making you sit on the naughty step. If you feel a player is going to contribute to costing your team points instead of winning them, then you don’t play them. It’s football, the best options play, even if at the time Arsenal didn’t have a left-back.

After a fairly atrocious start to the campaign from Chambers, bizarrely so after how he finished the 2020/21 campaign, it appears he too has fallen victim to the Arteta gauntlet.

An unused substitute against Norwich, a game in which Arteta fielded three different right-backs over the course of the 90 minutes, was followed up by being left out of the squad entirely against Burnley. On Wednesday, he remained on the bench throughout.

With Takehiro Tomiyasu coming into the team and already looking streaks ahead of the competition and Cedric having done OK in the last couple of outings (some big blocks in there), Chambers’ role in the squad seems cemented.

He will be of use, no doubt. It’s a long season and someone who can play three positions – this doesn’t necessarily mean being good at them – is always valuable, but Arteta appears to have made one of his determining calls.

Chambers has not been near the standard he set himself when he broke into the side last season as well as looking unfit, which is not the level required to play for Arsenal. Call them ‘non-negoitables’ or simply…well, not being good enough, it appears the 26-year-old has become the latest to feel the wrath.

Is he even fourth choice right-back at this stage? Maybe. In any case, few expected this to have happened how it did after Chambers’ and Cedric’s previous form.

Arteta’s iron fist looks justified on this one. A few Premier League poor games and you’re out.