Chief among Arteta's early realisations was that Granit Xhaka's role should be redefined from a deep-lying playmaker to a left eight, focusing on his athletic capabilities rather than playmaking skills.
Xhaka's strengths as a durable, straight-line runner with good distribution skills were overshadowed when played as a deep-lying playmaker, leading to errors and disciplinary issues over the years.
Declan Rice is viewed as a potential Xhaka replacement due to his passing abilities, though not strong enough as a primary distributor. Changes in Rice's role have impacted Zinchenko's position in the team due to their similar playing spaces.