Arsenal: 4 forgotten players under Arteta this season

Opting to trim the squad further in the winter, Arsenal bid farewell to six players in various capacities, all the while welcoming in none. It was a recruitment call that surprised many.

The idea was with no other competitions to compete in having been knocked out of both the FA Cup and Carabao Cup, that the reduced squad size would knit the group even closer together. It appears to be working.

Now boasting a small enough troupe that every senior player will be involved in matchdays squads if fit, there appears to be a stronger bond with fewer disgruntled individuals.

Well in the hunt for the top four and Champions League football, if the squad can stay majorly injury free then they stand a great chance of achieving their aims. Their risky ploy will have paid off magnificently.

Arsenal: 4 forgotten players under Mikel Arteta this Premier League season as the Gunners keep chasing top four and Champions League football

The club will be set up beautifully for the summer window, too. With the allure of elite European competition and the finance that comes with it, Arsenal can attract a higher calibre of player, those who can fit in neatly in the gaps left by January’s transfer moves, all with a heavily reduced wage bill.

Whoever the new striker(s) is, for example, won’t need much reassurance that he’s going to be starting every week.

But even with the heavily reduced squad size there are still those who can’t get a sniff. What will happen to them? Have we forgotten about them?

They’re still there, lurking around, and while some may be heading away, others remain part of the long-term plan.

Nuno Tavares

There was a period around October and November where supporters were conflicted. On the one hand their future captain was struggling and being left on the bench, yet equally it was so much fun watching Nuno Tavares jet off on barnstorming runs from left-back.

When you think left-back you think one-on-one duels, overlapping runs and crosses. That’s generally the gist of the position. But Nuno is like a chaos agent, underlapping more than he overlaps, dribbling with both feet and bursting up and down the left flank with disrespectful energy levels.

Oh, and he loves a shot. Oftentimes too many.

Kieran Tierney would eventually return to the team in the beginning of December where over time he regained his form, but not before Nuno left a lasting impression. Barely featuring at all since with the Scot in fine fettle, the Portuguese defender has been starved of action on account of there being no cup football.

He’s someone who desperately needs Arsenal to get back into Europe so he can have the certainty of FA Cup and Carabao Cup matches to impress. Knowing he’s already usurped Tierney before, further impressive performances when given the chance mean there is no reason to suggest he can’t do it again.

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