Arsenal: 6 players fighting for their places in the team

As Arsenal released their usual pre-match fitness update of all the players available to play in the build-up to the North London Derby, something wasn’t right. Someone at the club hadn’t got the memo: not one first team squad member was missing.

Surely this was an oversight? When was the last time anyone can remember this happening? Well, lo and behold, it was right. For the first time in what felt like forever, there are no absences.

That obviously didn’t last the full 90 minutes as it has since been revealed that Granit Xhaka will now miss three months of action with a knee injury, so supporters savoured it while they could.

As focus turned to Mikel Arteta now boasting his full complement of players and the starting lineup he would select, what became overlooked were those not involved.

6 players fighting for their places in the Arsenal team under Mikel Arteta with the manager looking like finding his perfect system and tactical setup

For some, this doesn’t matter. There is still some deadwood at the club as well as a host of players not at the level to be regulars in the starting lineup, but as long as the eleven players that are put out can be backed up by a few solid introductions and arrivals off the bench then it can’t be so bad? Not quite. It’s a squad game.

The players have work to do.

Competition in any position is utterly paramount. In order for players to be kept on their toes and avoid being comfortable where they are then there must be those around them pushing them to produce 100% every week.

Supporters still know that this Arsenal squad is not there yet and more windows are required in order to have it at the competitive level desired. Internally though, there are a host of players who are fighting for their places in some capacity, with some work to do for all of them.

1. Calum Chambers

Whatever happened to?

Rising from the dead in the sense his long-term injury had made him a forgotten figure only to then admirably battle his way past two other right-backs and earn a starting spot at the end of last season, Calum Chambers has since disappeared.

Featured in the starting lineup in three of the Gunners’ four games in all competitions to start the season, the former first choice right-back has since been exempt from the previous three Premier League squads: no place at Burnley, Tottenham or Brighton.

It’s a surprising fall from grace, even if ‘grace’ is clearly hyperbolic.

However there were plenty who felt that, as needed as it was, with so much to tend to over the summer transfer window Arsenal just might have been able to leave right-back for six months. Everyone knew Chambers wasn’t at the level required but if pushed to pick priorities it was the ‘least’ necessary.

Now he finds himself below Cedric Soares in the pecking order, both as the bench option on league matchdays and as first choice in the domestic competitions.

Arsenal are, as far as it’s known, yet to activate the extra year in his contract. They surely will, just for the sake of value protection, but Chambers will want to attract a higher calibre of club and he has much more work to do before that happens.

Continued…

2. Eddie Nketiah

With just a year left on his contract and free to sign a pre-contract agreement with an overseas club as soon as January, the reasons for playing Eddie Nketiah feel very limited. Not least since he’s got Folarin Balogun to compete with, someone who it’s agreed needs the minutes.

So when the AFC Wimbledon clash came around and Nketiah was handed a spot in the starting lineup ahead of Balogun, it became clear that Arteta still feels there is a use for him.

While part of the reason behind his inclusion was his flexibility to be able to play out on the left and his added experience over Balogun, he also grabbed a fine goal on the night and was them steeped in praise by both Alexandre Lacazette and the manager for his work ethic and professionalism despite the ongoing speculation.

Whether or not it’s agreed that Nketiah should be getting minutes ahead of the striker who was chosen ahead of him as part of the future, the point remains that he has a role in the manager’s eyes between now and the end of the season.

Given Aubameyang will be off to AFCON in January, Nketiah will feel there is an opportunity there to sneak ahead of fellow eventual departee Lacazette in the pecking order. While in no way an Aubameyang copy, he shares more traits with the captain than the Frenchman does and will feel there is scope to wrestle his way back into contention.

Continued…

3. Folarin Balogun

Only deemed worthy enough for a spot on the bench in the AFC Wimbledon game behind Nketiah and Lacazette, Balogun may feel hard done by depending on what the conversations were between him, Arteta and Edu prior to him signing his long-term deal.

With him and Nketiah not in the first team reckoning at present with Lacazette the bench option after Aubameyang for Premier League fixtures, Balogun’s time will be limited at the very best. Especially since Arteta has made it clear he is eyeing silverware this term with strong squads in the cup competitions.

Yet the same applies for Nketiah as it does for Balogun: who is going to be the new ‘second choice’ once Aubameyang jets off for AFCON? Granted, it may very well be that the captain is barely gone before he’s back depending on how Gabon fare in which case it may only be for a handful of outings.

When the next cup match comes around Balogun won’t be content with another bench role. It may have already been discussed internally that another season of Under-23 football is best for him prior to him taking up the spaces vacated by Nketiah and Lacazette next season, but he will still want to be starting those sorts of matches.

The EFL Cup team looks set to remain strong with Arsenal reaching the fourth round. Balogun won’t be content with that and he is certainly vying for inclusion there, in the eventual FA Cup ties and potentially even as the bench option in January. It’s worth mentioning Nketiah wasn’t great against the Dons, despite his goal.

Continued…

4. Nicolas Pepe

Nicolas Pepe has his work cut out, work that even if he’s tearing it up in training and when he almost certainly comes off the bench on occasions may not be enough.

The three behind the striker look set in stone: Odegaard, Smith Rowe and Saka will take some usurping to lose their places supporting Aubameyang. It’s an impossible job, in truth, given the Hale Ender’s continued magic and Odegaard’s ever growing influence as the glue holding the team together.

Thus, in some bizarre kind of way, Pepe is now effectively vying with Albert Sambi Lokonga for a place in the team. One will be trying to convince the manager that Arsenal are better off with two central midfielders while the other has to demonstrate that bringing in another forward into the squad is more beneficial: 4-2-3-1 vs 4-1-4-1.

It’s still likely that the manager will go horses for courses with his systems for the coming months after Xhaka’s injury, and Pepe will undoubtedly be playing a fair amount of games this season, just not anywhere near the volume he may desire.

Watching on from the bench against Tottenham and Brighton won’t have best pleased him. He has to make every minute count. He didn’t against the Seagulls.

Continued…

5. Gabriel Martinelli

It’s near enough the exact same situation for Gabriel Martinelli as it is for Pepe, with the exception of him being one step further away from the starting lineup than his Ivorian teammate. He didn’t get a sniff in a game suited for him on the south coast.

Versatile enough that he can play anywhere across a front three, the difference for Martinelli is that he is much more effective down the left than the right. Unfortunately for him, there is Smith Rowe, Saka and Pepe who can all also play on the left.

Visibly disgruntled at being substituted against AFC Wimbledon, a game he will have surely earmarked on the calendar as his only start for some time, he will be watching his teammates forming a bond as well as they are and struggle to see where he fits in.

The approach Arsenal have with both wide players in Saka and Smith Rowe doesn’t suit Martinelli’s skillset, and while different approaches and profiles are needed game by game, it’s the striker role where he might be looking at.

There are far too many centre-forwards on the books at the minute given the dearth of minutes for them all to play, so that might be more than hard work. Still, it will come down to the same situation as always in where Martinelli simply must seize his opportunities when they come. He’s looking at the occasional cameo here and there at the moment. He has to make them count.

Continued…

6. Mohamed Elneny

There are few who want to see Mohamed Elneny anywhere near the starting lineup in any competition. Considering that he is going to be leaving when the season concludes anyway, there is little reason at all for him to be playing over anyone anyway.

But with Xhaka’s injury, a new space has opened up.

Whether Arsenal plump for a double pivot or a 4-1-4-1 shape doesn’t make an awful lot of difference to the Egyptian since he won’t be starting in either formation. However, with Ainsley Maitland-Niles and him vying for a place in the case of Sambi or Thomas Partey not featuring, he has a tiny door left ajar for him to go and wrestle his way ahead of the Englishman.

Not included at all in the squad to face Tottenham when the whole first team was fit was a clear indicator of where he stands in the manager’s eyes. Given his small wages and non-disruptive attitude, it would appear there is no great loss internally in having him play out his contract without, well…actually playing any football.

What happens if Partey is absent, though? Arteta spoke about the desire for balance between youth and experience and a midfield pairing of Maitland-Niles and Sambi leans more towards the youthful side. Elneny will be looking at that spot.