MIKEL ARTETA called his substitutes “finishers” after Gabriel Martinelli and Leandro Trossard rose from the bench to fire Arsenal to victory last night.
Hosts Athletic Bilbao were proving a tough nut to crack until Arteta turned to his subs.
GettyMikel Arteta guided Arsenal to a 2-0 win in Spain[/caption]
Gabriel Martinelli and Leandro Trossard both made a big impact off the benchGetty
The Spaniard brought Trossard on for Viktor Gyokeres on 65 minutes, before summoning Martinelli for Eberechi Eze shortly after.
Martinelli proved to be an inspired choice, breaking the deadlock just 36 seconds after coming on.
Trossard then sealed the Gunners’ win by netting three minutes from time.
Speaking after the game, Arteta gave a special nod to his “finishers”.
The 43-year-old said: “I looked on the bench, I looked at him, and in his eyes I could see that [Martinelli] was ready, Leo as well.
“That’s going to help us a lot for the future, it is going to dictate the quality of our season. The finishers are going to be more important this year than the starters. I love it.
“That’s the attitude I need from all of us. It’s always very difficult emotionally to leave players out. I know how much they want to play in this competition and what it means to them.
“Every time you do a line-up, you are disappointing a lot of players. It hurts me.”
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This is not the first time that Arteta has emphasised the importance of his bench.
In 2023, the Gunners boss admitted that he calls substitutes “impactors” following a chat with ex-England rugby boss Eddie Jones.
Arteta said at the time: “It’s something that we wanted to change and I discussed it with a few people to help us find something that particularly suited us.
“It’s the best way to express how we feel about the subs and how they have to feel about their role, especially on match days.
“The idea is to replace somebody and make the team better or to do something different to win the game.
“And the more you repeat that phrase, the closer you get to the mentality of having an impact on the game rather than just being a sub.
“I’m not saying it makes the players on the bench feel less disappointed because everybody wants to start.
“But every manager has their own way of doing things and this is about managing the group so they know their role and making sure that everyone is still motivated to help the team.”
GettyArteta spoke to Eddie Jones about the role of subs[/caption]
‘SOMETIMES RIGHT, SOMETIMES WRONG’
Following last night’s stodgy win, Arteta was particularly keen to praise bench duo Martinelli and Trossard.
He added: “They know how I feel about them. The only thing I can do is my job. I have to make decisions and I have to make decisions based on increasing the probability of winning football matches.
“They know that that’s the only reason why I’m going to make certain decisions. Sometimes right, sometimes wrong, and they have to stay like that.
“And they know that if we want to maintain a certain standard, they are very responsible, not only during matches, but in training sessions, the atmosphere they create and how much they care for each other.
“So all those things are going to be very critical, and all of them are going to play for sure.”
Arsenal return to action this Sunday, when they host Manchester City at the Emirates.
