Mikel Arteta denies 'coded message' theory on Arsenal substitutions

Despite some tough games coming up, Arteta brought on his regular Arsenal starters toward the end of the Carabao Cup game against West Ham.

Mikel Arteta has refuted suggestions that his substitutions in the Carabao Cup loss to West Ham was a coded message to the Arsenal starters that failed to impress.

The Arsenal manager made six changes from the line-up that thrashed Sheffield United 5-0 at the weekend. Yet, the players that got promoted from the bench didn’t seize their moment. They struggled on Wednesday, as West Ham cruised to a 3-1 victory at the London Stadium.

In response, Arteta brought on players he had wanted to rest. These were Declan Rice, Gabriel Martinelli, Bukayo Saka, and Martin Odegaard, who scored a late goal for the Gunners.

“There are no messages to send,” Arteta said at a post-match conference.

“Whatever messages we send, we send them with words, we don’t have to send them in a different way.

“We have tried to put out the team that we believed was the best to try to compete today in the right way to start the game, and the game took a different direction obviously because of the first goal.

“We can discuss that, but after that, we still have to see much more from the team to earn the right to win in a place like this.”

Arsenal will face Newcastle United at St. James’ Park in their next game in the Premier League on Saturday. They will then host Sevilla in London for a Champions League match next Wednesday.