Arteta Responds to Premier League Towel Ban Impacting Arsenal
Mikel Arteta has bristled at a new Premier League directive banning players from using towels to dry the ball before throw-ins, describing it as a major tweak to one of Arsenal’s most carefully honed weapons.
Last season, the Gunners leaned heavily on the long-throw ability of Ben White and Declan Rice in the final third. Now, that routine has been stripped of one of its key props.
“Not being able to use the towels is already a big one,” Arteta said in his press conference, acknowledging the impact on his set-piece planning. Then he undercut the frustration with a grin. “Let’s see what we do. Maybe we will play with hats on!”
Towels gone as Premier League tightens the screws
The towel ban sits at the heart of a broader clampdown on time-wasting across English football, with officials determined to squeeze more actual football into the 90 minutes.
Previously, towels lived in a grey area. Their use depended on both clubs agreeing before kick-off. That uneasy compromise blew up last season when Riccardo Calafiori tried to grab a towel near the Newcastle United goal. Referee Jarred Gillett stepped in, confiscated it, and ruled that, without prior agreement, the prop was off-limits.
Those days are over. Under the new rules, players will no longer be allowed to methodically dry the ball before hurling it into the box, a ploy that drew heavy criticism for slowing games and turning throw-ins into mini set-pieces that took an age to execute.
The Premier League wants the opposite: speed, rhythm, jeopardy.
Countdown clocks and stricter stoppages
The towel issue is only one part of a sweeping reset.
Officials will now use countdowns for goal-kicks and throw-ins, forcing teams to restart play more quickly. Substitutions will be tightly marshalled within defined windows, cutting out the slow walks and theatrical delays that have become a familiar sight in the closing stages of tight games.
Injury protocols are also being hardened to stop teams from using treatment as a tactical breather. Any outfield player who receives medical attention must remain off the pitch for at least one minute. Crucially, if a goalkeeper goes down and needs treatment, one outfield teammate must also leave the field for a minute.
That detail will sting for some. Arsenal themselves have been accused of pushing the limits. Brighton manager Fabian Hurzeler openly criticised David Raya last season after the goalkeeper received treatment three times during a cagey 1-0 Arsenal win, accusing the Gunners of managing the clock as much as the game.
Arteta ready to adapt to a new rhythm
Arteta, though, is not treating the new landscape as a threat. He sees it as another tactical puzzle.
“We have had the Premier League and the referees there with us to explain and go through everything,” he said. “We will have to see when the season starts and how this unfolds and what is more doable and what is less doable and what we need to adapt.”
He knows the margins will only get finer.
“We know that everybody is paying so much to the details, all the restarts and the countdowns, that will bring something else, a different dynamic, different momentum. So I am very curious to see.”
For all his irritation at losing the towel routine, Arteta is publicly backing the bigger picture.
“They are really good rules because what we are doing is trying to promote more game time and the fluidity of the games which is better and hopefully that will work.”
The towels are gone. The clock is louder. For a team that lives on detail and set-piece craft, the question now is simple: can Arsenal turn these constraints into another edge in a title race where every second counts?
