One minute you’re playing in a World Cup final, the next you’re struggling to make an impact against League Two Fleetwood Town. Martin Zubimendi’s last few months have been quite the ride.
The midfielder was pivotal to Arsenal’s title success last season, with only Declan Rice playing more outfield minutes. Yet he faded towards the end of the campaign and lost his place to Myles Lewis-Skelly, who went on to start the Champions League final.
His summer with Spain was stranger still. Zubimendi didn’t play a minute at the World Cup until the final, when he was sent on in extra time to help his country get the better of Argentina. His 21 minutes at MetLife Stadium were probably the most important of his career, but a World Cup winner’s medal hasn’t made getting into Arsenal’s midfield any easier.
So far this season, his only starts have come in the League Cup. An untimely ankle injury hasn’t helped, while the summer arrival of Bruno Guimaraes has added another obstacle to his route back into the side.
Mikel Arteta has been emphatic about his admiration for his compatriot, dismissing suggestions towards the end of the transfer window that Zubimendi, reportedly admired by Real Madrid, could be sold. Finding room for him in a midfield that has largely performed well is another matter.
“He’s a very important player for us,” said Arteta ahead of Wednesday’s Champions League game with Slavia Prague.
“He’s been a bit unlucky with what happened with the ankle, with the nose afterwards. He had some minutes as well.
“We have options in midfield. Like anybody else, everybody has to be ready. Everybody’s going to have the chances to play, and then it’s about performing and helping the team to win football matches. But his energy, his application, his will to help is over there.”
Zubimendi isn’t the only Spaniard spending more time on the bench than he would like. After earning a reputation as a super sub for his country over the summer, Mikel Merino has returned to a familiar brief at club level. Useful for the manager, perhaps less satisfying for the bloke forever expected to score with his first touch.
Arteta, however, pushed back against the suggestion that a lack of starts means either player has become peripheral.
“They are playing a pivotal role,” asserted Arteta. “If we \[only\] focus on the players that are starting, obviously, that’s something else.
“Mikel has started some games already, some important games, and he’s coming from a World Cup, a very successful World Cup.
“We know the value of the players that we have in the squad. They need to feel important.
“I do think that they feel very important, and we have to make sure that they continue like that, because if they have that spirit and that belief within themselves every time they play, they will make things happen for the team to win the game.”
Keeping experienced internationals engaged when they aren’t starting is part of the challenge of managing a deeper squad. Arteta believes their response to being left out matters as much as their ability to change a game once called upon.
“Yes, accepting the role on the day \[is important\]. Everybody wants to start games, but I think this season and last season, we have experienced some incredible moments by the players that have come in, and that’s going to be equally important, especially when you play every 72 hours.”
For Merino, winning the World Cup has brought fresh confidence and reinforced his belief that Arsenal can build on last season’s success.
Speaking from Prague, he said: “It’s an honour and a privilege to be part of those little ones that have won the World Cup, the Euros and have had success with the national team.
“Honestly, it lifts your confidence; it’s something that gives you energy to keep working, reflects the hard work that you put in every single day. I’m extremely proud and full of confidence because of that.
“I believe that having won before gives you the experience to win again, and having players around now that have won the Premier League, international players that have won international trophies, that helps a lot to create that winning culture that we want to create at Arsenal, and hopefully that can help in the future.”
That confidence doesn’t mean he is content to spend his afternoons waiting for the fourth official to hold up his number. While Merino appreciates praise for his contributions off the bench, he made clear that doing the job well shouldn’t be mistaken for accepting it permanently.
“I mean, I can’t say that it’s disappointing when they’re saying something good about you.
“If I come on as a sub, I want to do as good as I can, and if they’re telling me that I’m doing a good job, it’s something I take pride in.
“It’s not easy to come off the bench, and it’s not easy for players at this level, where we are either World Cup winners or Euros winners, or we come from clubs where we all play regularly, to adapt to a new role and context. But this is what football is nowadays: you can’t win big trophies or be alive in every competition until the end if you don’t have a very deep squad.
“We all have to fulfil our roles; that doesn’t mean that I’m happy with the role I have or the role my teammates have, it’s about trying to do your best whenever you have the chance of playing, and if you do your best you’re going to have more chances to play and then who knows maybe you’re a regular starter.”
Having shared a dressing room with Zubimendi at Real Sociedad, Spain, and now Arsenal, Merino is well placed to judge how his teammate is coping. He acknowledged the frustration but offered a firm endorsement of the midfielder’s quality.
“Obviously it’s hard. It’s difficult for us players when you’re used to playing games, and suddenly you are not in the same role; it’s very tough. But it’s the job that you have to do.
“He’s a very focused guy. He knows his job; he knows his role at the moment, and the good thing about him is that I see him training every single day, and he’s got the level and he’s got the quality to be in the squad, to start regularly to me, he’s one of the best number sixes in the in the world, and he’s proven it.
“He only needs chances to keep proving it, so he understands that that is difficult because of the competition that we’ve got in this squad. It’s probably the best midfield in the world, and we all have to respect our role at the moment and do our best, and then it’s Mikel’s decision to put one or the other on the pitch.”
With 12 games to come between now and the end of the year, Arteta will need more from his midfield than the same three names on every teamsheet.
Merino and Zubimendi should get their opportunities. You suspect both would appreciate a few that come before the hour mark.