So it's become accepted fact that our manager has favourite players. This shouldn't be a surprise - there will always be players that any manager favours over others. But in Arteta's case, it tends to be used as a stick to beat him with - particular given many fans apathy to his 'constants' - or near-constants - such as Willian, Xhaka or Luis who polarise opinion like few players we have had in the past.
But is this really true - in the sense that the accusation tends to be made against Arteta - as opposed to him being invested in a system that he feels require certain players?
You can make a case against this supposed managerial weakness.
First and foremost, I am certain that there is no manager (or precious few) who won't be regarded as favouritist by fans who will naturally look to the players who aren't playing when things aren't going weel. Funny how these issues seldom arise when a team is flying high. It is human nature to look to potential alternatives as a panacea - whether or not 'frozen out' players would actually solve problems (they benefit by never being put to the test). If we look at Arteta's high profile 'rejects' - Ozil; Guendouzi and Torreira - none of them are doing much to prove Arteta wrong at their current clubs (as far as I am aware).
Same goes for AMN at West Brom (who is hardly showing he was right to want a MF place).
Martinelli is a player we all want to see play - as he is exciting and has a quickness that we often lack - but he had a serious long term injury and broke down again after 4 matches back in January. He didn't pull up any trees in the Manure draw at home. Is there any compelling case for him to start instead of, say, Pepe? (I deal with Willian below)
Pepe seems to be improving, and I can see the argument for giving him a run of games. But he is a wild card, and it is not necessrily favouritism of other players that is keeping him out of some games.
Saliba is a strange one - to put it mildly - but it's not necessarily unfair prejudice on the manager's part to think that a player - particularly a defender -so young is not what we needed this season.
Xhaka - I've said it elsewhere - there is basically noone else for the manager to play. He makes mistakes and costs points (as does Luis), but when he plays well he is not only our second best MF, but Partey has not stayed fit enough for the manager to build his team around.
So...the elephant in the room. Willian has stunk the place up for most of the season. But recent performances have shown a greater level of competence and while he has hardly set the worls on fire, with a manager who wants possession football and is clearly aiming for control of games it is possible to see how he is regarded as a useful recycler of the ball (I still don;t really like/rate the player, but I can see - just about - how Willian fits in with how Arteta wants us to play.
Now the positive - Arteta has done more than any manager in recent times to give young talent its chance in non-cup matches. He has a big squad and has done a reasonable job of keeping players interested - a crucial task particularly in a congested season. He has 4 interchangeable CB's and has used, and arguably improved the likes of Cedric; Mari and Holding - the latter despite his supposed favoured place for Luis.
So is the narrative really true, or is what has happened at Arsenal no different to what goes on at most clubs with a lot of players?
Thoughts?