Six outfield Arsenal players started 30+ Premier League games in 2022/23. Only two Manchester City players did.
Seven Arsenal players also started 5-9 Premier League games in 2022/23. Zero Manchester City players did.
To win the Premier League title you do not need a huge squad but a squad with quality in depth. Having around 17 outfield players who all fight for a place in the team is better than 22 with a clear delineation.
Let’s break it down even more, taking a few more clubs into account. We all know that City are outliers but Arsenal are too when looking at other potential rivals. I’ve left out Chelsea (because they’re a basketcase) and I’ve left out Newcastle and Brighton because they didn’t have squads that were ready for Europe, nor expecting to now be in Europe. And that leaves us with Man City’s extreme rotation and Arsenal’s extreme lack of it (and two-team approach) sticking out like a pair of sore thumbs.
Manchester City have a squad that is built like and is used like no other. They have the fewest guaranteed starters, firstly, but they also have ZERO players who started between five and nine Premier League games.
Why? Because they only start players that are absolutely trusted and absolutely ready to start more than that.
Arsenal had seven players in that category. One is Jorginho, who arrived in January and started nine times. Exclude him and Arsenal still have more than any other team on that list. If you’re falling into that slot, you are not able to start games regularly because you aren’t trusted (Rob Holding, Eddie Nketiah), you aren’t available enough (Takehiro Tomiyasu), you don’t quite fit the manager’s plan right now (Jakub Kiwior), or a mixture (Kieran Tierney) of the above.
Mohamed Elneny, Sambi Lokonga and Fabio Vieira are the three who started games without even making the five-game threshold and it isn’t hard to see why. Nobody exemplifies the principle of having a Europa League XI more than those players.
Let’s break it down a little differently and you see the difference again: Man City have comfortably the most players they trust to start in at least half their games and by far the least players who only start a few times because they have to.
Whereas Arsenal have a bunch of players they trust to start all the time and a bunch of players they don’t really trust but sometimes have to select.
This summer, then, should be all about closing that gap between what has basically become two teams — one for the Premier League, one for the Europa League — within one squad. Arsenal need less players carrying the burden. Or more players sharing it. Whichever way you prefer to look at it.
All of this is to say, when we reach our favourite summer past-time — building next season’s hypothetical first XI — don’t be fooled by our priors. Arsenal are in the process of building a squad of players who provide different options and offer the depth to chop and change each weekend.
Which brings me to my next point: there’s no such thing as the mythical ‘left eight’.
Over the past 48 hours, I have seen a lot of assumption that the interest in Kai Havertz is almost exclusively so he can slot into that position. Even though he has also played wide and up front in his career. Now more than ever, as Arsenal fill out the squad, I don’t think anything is that black and white. Roles are being assumed for Kai Havertz (likewise Declan Rice) based on how Arsenal lined up in 2022/23. But we’re entering 2023/24 and an important next step in our evolution as a team will be a little more creativity, flexibility and unpredictability from the manager.
A bigger squad will shift the onus onto Mikel Arteta to figure out how to use his players week by week, keeping them happy, keeping them on their toes, keeping them fresh. And keeping the opposition guessing.
Pep Guardiola and Manchester City are so often the analogy used for Arteta and Arsenal. City look different every season and they look different within seasons.
The fullbacks were midfielders, now they’re centre-backs. John Stones went from centre-back to fullback to fullback who tucks into midfield and then centre-back who tucks into midfielder before again, in the Champions League final no less, the fullback who tucks into midfield. Kevin De Bruyne has played as a ‘fake winger’ (that’s what I’d call his roaming, ‘free eight’ position of 2018 anyway) to ‘false nine’ to second striker at times behind Erling Haaland this season.
Kai Havertz (and Declan Rice) are likely (hopefully) not being targeted to be just one thing. That ‘left eight’ that has been talked about for a few years now does not have to fit a player like a glove. There could be games where Havertz plays there or games where Rice plays there (assuming these deals get done) but there could also be games where we don’t have anyone playing in that particular role.
Players are being targeted based on what they can do, not where they will play. And the more they can do, the ways we can approach games and the more roles we find for our players that fit the individual and fit into the tactic.
Is one of Rice/Havertz being targeted to become that ‘left eight’ Arsenal fans have been screaming out for? I think it’s probably more accurate to say neither is and both are. I certainly hope that’s the case.
Excellent piece, couldn't agree more. If you don't mind, I'd be curious to know what your general thoughts are on Havertz given that you've watched him play for several different coaches in a variety of systems and roles in the Bundesliga, Premier League, and for the German National Team.