Three years ago today, Mikel Arteta was appointed Arsenal head coach and it's safe to say that plenty has happened since.
From winning the FA Cup within eight months to seeing his job title upgraded to manager, then overseeing consecutive disappointing eight-placed finishes in the Premier League, going agonisingly close to sealing a top-four finish to establishing his side a genuine title contender this season, it has been a roller-coaster ride for the Spaniard.
Not to mention some huge decisions Arteta has made along the way such as freezing Matteo Guendouzi out of the first-team picture, allowing Emiliano Martinez to leave despite the goalkeeper's FA Cup heroics and of course, stripping Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang of the Arsenal captaincy just over a year ago.
READ MORE: Three years of Mikel Arteta's Arsenal reign: Progress through the process after rocky start
All of this has led to the Spanish tactician moulding the Gunners into his vision and it's clear to many supporters as to what is his best line-up when everyone is fit and available for selection. But in an alternative universe, what has been the best Arsenal team in terms of players used?
Well, thanks to a little help from transfermarkt, football.london has listed Arteta's most-used players across all competitions over the past three years position by position to answer the question with the added caveat of minutes played. Below, is the starting XI in the Arsenal manager's favoured 4-3-3 system.
Goalkeeper
With 6,382 minutes played, Bernd Leno is the most-used goalkeeper during Arteta's three-year reign at Arsenal. This shouldn't come as much of a surprise given the German was the undisputed No.1 either side of a spell on the sidelines with a knee injury up until the beginning of last season.
Losing his place to Aaron Ramsdale who arrived at the club in the summer of 2021, Leno's playing time totalled 720 minutes across all competitions last season before sealing a move to Fulham in the search of regular first-team football. If things go to plan, he will drop down to second place in this list by the time Arteta's next anniversary comes around.
Defenders
Gabriel Magalhaes (7,674), Kieran Tierney (6,855), Rob Holding (5,996) and Ben White (4,538) are the Arsenal defenders whom Arteta has given the most minutes during his tenure so far. Interestingly, this could be the back four that lines up against West Ham United on Boxing Day with William Saliba and Oleksandr Zinchenko doubtful.
Remarkably, Cedric Soares (59) - a more natural right-back - has made more appearances under Arteta than White (55) but the £50million signing from Brighton last summer has been a regular whether that be as a central defender alongside Gabriel or as a full-back this season following Saliba's return.
Midfielders
Arsenal's strongest midfield trio at present are also the most-used midfield trio during Arteta's three-year reign with Granit Xhaka, Martin Odegaard and Thomas Partey accumulating 9,756, 5,637 and 5,178 minutes respectively. In fact, only one player has played more games for the Spaniard than the Switzerland international, but more on that later.
There's a strong argument that if not for the consistent injury setbacks since his £45million transfer from Atletico Madrid in October 2020 then Partey would have cracked the top 10 in terms of minutes played, whilst it shows how much Arteta trusts Odegaard given the current Gunners captain first appearance for the club came in January 2021.
Forwards
No Arsenal player has featured regularly under Arteta over the past three years than Bukayo Saka. This includes minutes played (10,053) and appearances (131). As a result, he takes his place on the right-hand side of the attack - a position he has really grown into over the past 18 months.
Joining him in terms of minutes played is two former Gunners in Alexandre Lacazette (6.224) and Aubameyang (6,055). The Frenchman played 103 times for Arteta - the third highest on the list - whilst no player has scored more goals (38) for the Spaniard than the latter prior to his departure just under a year ago.
Arteta's most used Arsenal XI: Leno; White, Holding, Gabriel, Tierney; Partey, Odegaard, Xhaka; Saka, Lacazette, Aubameyang.
Honourable mentions
Nicolas Pepe is actually the 10th most-used player in terms of minutes and fifth in terms of appearances (93) during the Arteta reign so far and is unfortunate to not make the line-up. The same applies to Eddie Nketiah and Gabriel Martinelli who, have both made more appearances than Aubameyang, for example, but haven't played enough minutes yet.
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