Mikel Arteta has warned Arsenal's fringe players that he will accept no excuses over their performance levels. The Gunners have had a fairly settled side so far this season, with seven players starting all six Premier League matches.
Rotation has come in the Carabao Cup and in the Champions League, including against Lille on Tuesday night. Mikel Merino and Viktor Gyokeres were among those to be handed rare starts but failed to take their opportunity in disappointing displays.
Arteta: 'I hate excuses'
When it was put to him that those performances could be due to a lack of rhythm after limited minutes this season, Arteta was firm in his response.
"They need to train more then," Arteta said. "What I don't want is an excuse. 'No but when I play I lack rhythm'. Yeah? So what do we do then? We send you on holidays?"
"So you play, you have to be available. When you don't play, you have to make sure that you do everything you can to impact the team. Because otherwise the other ones that are playing, 'I don't perform because I'm tired'."
"So then it's always an excuse. I hate excuses. We know the role. We know that the competitiveness that we need in the team is at the maximum level and they are doing amazingly well. I don't see any player that is playing that lacks rhythm or lacks this. Everybody is involved."
"Everybody has played minutes and it will continue to be like this because they have really deserved that. So hopefully we can maintain that because it's a massive asset for us."
Madueke backed for more minutes
Noni Madueke is one of those attempting to force his way into Arteta's plans on a more regular basis. The winger has started in both of the matches since the international break, having only previously made a start in the Carabao Cup this season.
Against Leeds last weekend, Madueke was used on the left wing as Arteta searches for solutions in the absence of Christos Tzolis. The Arsenal manager briefly used Madueke on that side of the attack at the start of last season but has rarely done so since then.
However, with Arsenal short of options, Arteta is confident Madueke can successfully plug the gap.
"It's down to necessities as well, sometimes, more than probably tactical decisions so far with him," Arteta said. "I think he can play in both positions. He offers something completely different. Obviously now we have the necessity of a player on the left side with different qualities than Ebs as well, that can complement all the other unit we have on that left hand side. It's great because he is comfortable there, he is enjoying playing there, and he is doing well. It's a good solution."
Arteta added: "He will have more minutes in the next few games. I am sure that we will start to see a closer version of Noni at the highest level."
