Mikel Arteta says every player needs to earn their place in the squad for the FA Cup final through their performances in training this week.

Despite a win on the last day of the Premier League season, Mikel Arteta says there are no guarantees about who will make the squad for the FA Cup final – they have to earn it.

There were actually quite a few worrying signs in the Watford match. The team rushed into a 3-0 lead, but they did very little to defend it, gifting their opponents chances and goals.

Arteta admitted after the game that the players would need to do even more to earn their place after that performance.

“For me, its gonna start on Tuesday,” Arteta said. “We are going to get back [to] training and they have to earn their place from zero. Everybody, and even more after today.”

That’s good to hear. There’s no point starting someone in the final if they don’t have a strong week building up to it. If anyone turns up to training on top form, they shouldn’t miss out just because others are regular starters at the moment.

It seems like the one exception is Emi Martinez. Obviously, if he plays terribly this week or gets injured, he might drop out. Otherwise, it looks like his place is nailed on.

“Emi has earned his place (in the final) with another brilliant performance today again when the team needed him,” Arteta continued. “He made some fantastic saves. Bernd is still recovering from his injury, so Emi is the one now.”

For the rest, the chance to prove themselves for a chance at Wembley starts tomorrow.