Arteta Signals End Of Tired Squad Structure

Mikel Arteta is aiming to evolve Arsenal from a clearly tiered first-team structure into a more fluid, interchangeable squad. One that keeps opponents guessing when it comes to selection.

The goal is to follow the model of other elite clubs by recruiting and developing top-level talent across every position, reducing the need to rely on the same core group of players week in, week out.

When Arteta took over in December 2019, it’s fair to say the squad was unbalanced and in need of a significant overhaul. A more rigid hierarchy may have been a practical way to gradually raise the team’s baseline competitiveness without breaking the bank.

Now, with the squad’s overall quality significantly improved in recent transfer windows, the focus is shifting internally. The aim is to foster genuine competition for places, make the team less predictable, and select players based on tactical fit rather than status.

In other words, everyone’s role is up for grabs – and that’s exactly how Arteta wants it.

Speaking to journalists in Singapore, where Arsenal face AC Milan on Wednesday, Arteta opened up on the use of the club’s “tier” terminology, which was used recently in briefings around the arrival of Martin Zubimendi and Noni Madueke.

He explained: “‘Tier One’ means that they have the capacity to be starters basically.

“The Tier One, Two, Three system I don’t believe in that much now,” he added. “The way the game’s evolving, the demands we put in with 70, 75 games per season.

“At the end we want to build a team, like other clubs already have, where you look at the squad and you cannot really identify who is going to play tomorrow.

“If we get to that point, and that competitiveness has as well the right level of co-operation between the players, that’s what we want.”

Presumably, that last point around ‘co-operation’ is one of the reasons why a tiered system existed in the first place – it prevented squad friction by bringing clarity to individual expectations.

While it’s clear some players will always be the manager’s preferred starters, after last season’s injury issues, he seems to recognise that running players into the ground doesn’t benefit the team in the long run.

“Now I’ll change it,” said Arteta of the tier terminology. “Now we’re going to have the capacity as well to decide who is in the best condition to play this game, hopefully. Because last year? No.

“Last year the line up was done, ‘Give me five players who can finish 90 minutes.’ Those five? Ok, those I have to play. ‘Now give me another five who can do this and then…’ and we played like this for seven months.”

“We need to get away from that, because those restrictions have limited our capacity to perform and then have the freshness that we need at the end of the season.

“Hopefully this season is going to be very different, and we can decide what is the best team with the best players to play against this opponent today, and then we want to change the game, the team — whatever the context is, winning, drawing or losing — we can change it immediately and have those players that can impact the result.”

Overall, the manager is bullish about the year ahead. Asked if he believes his side can compete for the Premier League title, he said:

“Yes I do. It is getting more and more competitive each year. The level is increasing. We know that so our demands have to increase as well.

“But we have also been very active in the market. We have to improve the players we already have which is a massive objective after that. And then, set the right fundaments and the right principles in pre-season to get the team ready with the best possible shape and availability to start the season.

“Every year we have to see how things develop but I see the right balance in terms of maturity, experience, youth, hunger and all these ingredients are there.

“The thing is there are another six, seven, eight clubs in the league that have the right ingredients to win and there is only going to be one winner. So we have to focus a lot on the things that we can control, that we can do, to achieve what we want at the end of the season.”