Mikel Arteta has opened up about the difficult decision to substitute Martin Zubimendi against West Ham United, just minutes after bringing him on—a move that left many fans scratching their heads.

The drama unfolded when Ben White went down with an injury in the first half of Sunday's Premier League clash. Instead of the expected switch—Riccardo Calafiori shifting to right-back and Myles Lewis-Skelly slotting in on the left—Arteta sent on Zubimendi. The surprise substitution saw Declan Rice drop into the back four, a change that visibly disrupted Arsenal's rhythm.

Realizing the experiment wasn't working, Arteta made swift adjustments. At half-time, he brought on Cristhian Mosquera for the injured Calafiori, moving Lewis-Skelly to left-back and pushing Rice back into midfield. Then, in the 67th minute, with the score still level, he made the tough call to replace Zubimendi with Kai Havertz.

"It's never easy to be a substituted substitute," Arteta admitted after the match. "With the game I expected, bringing Mosquera on would have locked something we believed Rice could give us—the fluidity and chance to hurt them. But sometimes you have to make another change."

The manager explained that while Mosquera is a solid defender, he doesn't offer the same attacking threat as Arsenal's other right-backs. With the Gunners chasing a goal and over an hour still to play, Arteta was hesitant to bring on the centre-back. But when Calafiori's injury forced his hand at half-time, he had no choice.

"The one on Zubi was tough," Arteta continued, "but I really felt we had to put two attacking midfielders in that moment to generate the kind of issues I've mentioned. Thank god it worked out."

The bold move paid off, as Arsenal eventually found their breakthrough. It's a reminder that in the heat of a Premier League battle, even the most unconventional decisions can be the difference between dropping points and walking away with all three.