Alan Shearer says he’s realised something about Arsenal after they beat Athletic Club

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Alan Shearer has revealed that he realised something very positive about Arsenal after they beat Athletic Club on Tuesday evening.

Mikel Arteta’s team overcame the Bilbao-based side thanks to late goals from substitutes Gabriel Martinelli and Leandro Trossard.

While the Gunners struggled for long periods against the La Liga outfit, they ultimately were able to grind out the result due to the quality they were able to introduce off the bench.

Arsenal host Manchester City in their next fixture, which takes place on Sunday afternoon at the Emirates.

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Alan Shearer says he realised how deep Arsenal’s squad is after Athletic Club win

Arsenal spent £250 million on eight players in the transfer window.

After being significantly derailed by injury issues last season, the Gunners sought to protect themselves from such problems by ensuring Mikel Arteta has a deep squad at his disposal moving forward.

Now boasting an exceptionally bulky ensemble, this bore fruit in Tuesday’s game against Athletic Club.

The Gunners kept it tight in the opening 65 minutes, before bringing on fresh legs in Trossard and Martinelli, both of whom were regular starters last season and who ultimately changed the game at San Mames.

Speaking on the Rest is Football podcast, Shearer said this specific game made him realise just how deep Arsenal’s squad now is.

“I think what that highlighted the other night for Arsenal was, is how strong they are, what they’ve got to come off the bench, which wasn’t the case last season,” the pundit said.

“I mean, you bring in Martinelli and Trossard, who are very good players in their own right. If the game’s not going the way you wanted, players might be tired, and you’ve got quality coming off the bench, which Arsenal probably didn’t have that firepower last season.”

Mikel Arteta still needs to rotate more

Arteta can have the largest squad in football, but it won’t mean anything if he’s not willing to rotate and trust every member of that squad.

While it’s still early in the season and players are fresh enough to not have to rest every three days, Tuesday’s game was a prime example where a few players could have been sat down with City on Sunday to come.

Instead, he made just one change from the team that beat Nottingham Forest, which was enforced due to Martin Odegaard’s injury.

Moving forward, the Spaniard has to see certain players as completely interchangeable and at the same level.

Across the back four, there is no reason that he should feel he can’t simply rotate every single game, given the quality of options he has at his disposal.