Arteta Criticizes Premier League Towel Ban Impact on Arsenal

Mikel Arteta is not impressed. The Arsenal manager has taken aim at a new Premier League directive banning players from using towels to dry the ball before throw-ins, a small detail that could have a big impact on one of his side’s favourite weapons.

Arteta bristles at towel ban

Arsenal leaned heavily on the long-throw threat of Ben White and Declan Rice last season, especially in the final third. Those set-piece routines were rehearsed, refined and, at times, ruthless. Now, with one off-season directive, a key part of that preparation has been stripped away.

“Not being able to use the towels is already a big one,” Arteta said in a recent press conference, the irritation clear even as he tried to lighten the mood. Then came the punchline. “Let’s see what we do. Maybe we will play with hats on!”

The joke landed, but the underlying point was serious: this is a change that forces coaches and analysts back to the drawing board on restarts, particularly in tight, low-margin matches.

From grey area to hard line

Towels had lived in a strange space in English football. They were never fully embraced, never fully outlawed. Their use depended on a pre-match agreement between the two clubs, a gentleman’s nod that often went unnoticed until someone tried to push the boundaries.

That uneasy truce snapped last season in a flashpoint involving Riccardo Calafiori near the Newcastle United goal. As he went to use a towel, referee Jarred Gillett stepped in, removed it and shut the whole routine down on the spot, explaining that both clubs had not agreed to allow towels.

Incidents like that helped push the Premier League towards a hard line. Now, there is no room for interpretation. No towels. No careful, time-consuming drying of the ball. No extended pause before launching a long throw “missile” into a crowded box — a tactic that drew heavy criticism from managers, pundits and supporters who saw it as another form of time-wasting dressed up as strategy.

A wider war on time-wasting

The towel ban is only one front in a broader clampdown. The league wants more football and less faffing around. That means new measures to speed up the game: countdowns for goal-kicks and throw-ins, tightly controlled substitution windows, and stricter injury protocols.

The message is blunt. Stop stretching the rules. Get on with it.

Under the updated regulations, injured outfield players must now remain off the pitch for at least one minute after receiving treatment. That is designed to deter players from going down to break up play or slow an opponent’s momentum.

The rule bites even harder when it comes to goalkeepers. If a keeper needs medical attention, one outfield player from the same team must also leave the pitch for a minute. Sides who once used the goalkeeper as a pressure valve will now pay a numerical price for doing so.

Arsenal know how that looks from the other side of the argument. They were accused of gamesmanship last season when Brighton manager Fabian Hurzeler criticised David Raya for going down three times during a narrow 1-0 Arsenal win, each stoppage disrupting Brighton’s rhythm and buying the Gunners a breather.

Adapting to a new rhythm

Arteta, though, is not in the mood to complain for long. He understands the direction of travel and has already been briefed in detail.

“We have had the Premier League and the referees there with us to explain and go through everything,” he said. The meetings have laid out what is coming and what will be policed with new intensity.

Now comes the real test: how it plays out under pressure.

“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,” Arteta continued. The margins at the top are thin. Every restart, every countdown, every enforced break will shape momentum.

He knows that, and so does every other coach in the division.

“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.”

Arteta still backs the logic of the overhaul, even if it chips away at one of his own side’s strengths.

“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.”

So the towels are gone. The long throws will have to survive on skill alone. For a team that has squeezed every drop out of set pieces, the question now is simple: in a faster, stricter Premier League, who adapts quickest to the clock and who gets left behind?