3 key takeaways from Arsenal’s 2022/23 season

3. Arteta needs to rotate

As the season wore on, it became clear that some of the Arsenal players were feeling the effects of the minutes in their legs, particularly Bukayo Saka, who had also started four World Cup games and played in both England’s qualifiers.

Despite this, Arteta was reluctant to rotate, even in games that Arsenal should have won, which led to Saka being heavily criticised for his supposed drop-off, and the team struggling for freshness at a crucial point of the season.

While numbers were an issue when it came to injury, there were also examples of Arteta failing to use squad players such as Kieran Tierney, Emile Smith Rowe, Fabio Vieira, Reiss Nelson and even Jorginho until Arsenal met Chelsea at the beginning of May. The Spaniard admitted this himself.

Using these players to see games out, or to make minor changes in games where Arsenal were favourites would have kept the squad fresher for the latter part of the season and perhaps reduced the drop-off we saw with Thomas Partey.

Next season will come with greater expectation and intensity with Champions League football returning for the first time in six years, and rotation will be key if Arsenal are going to mount a serious challenge once again.