Mikel Arteta Criticizes Premier League Towel Ban

Mikel Arteta is not impressed. The Arsenal manager has taken aim at a new Premier League directive that bans players from using towels to dry the ball before taking throw-ins, a tweak that cuts right across one of his side’s more unheralded weapons.

Arteta bristles at towel ban

Arsenal leaned heavily on the long-throw ability of Ben White and Declan Rice last season, especially in the final third. Those set-piece routines were rehearsed, detailed and, at times, devastating. Now the landscape changes.

“Not being able to use the towels is already a big one,” Arteta said in his press conference, only half-joking as he mulled over alternatives. Then came the punchline: “Let’s see what we do. Maybe we will play with hats on!”

The humour masked a genuine irritation. For coaches who drill every restart, the removal of towels is more than a cosmetic tweak; it alters how teams shape their attacking plans from the touchline.

The directive sits inside a broader clampdown on time-wasting across English football. The Premier League wants the ball in play more, and anything that slows the game down is being stripped away.

Last season, towels lived in a grey area. Both clubs had to agree before kick-off if they were to be used. That uneasy compromise blew up in one flashpoint when Riccardo Calafiori tried to use a towel near the Newcastle United goal. Referee Jarred Gillett stepped in, took it away and ruled that, because there had been no mutual agreement, the prop was off-limits.

Now there is no debate. No towels, no prolonged drying, no long, theatrical build-ups before a heave into the box. The league wants to kill off the spectacle of players meticulously polishing the ball before launching it like a javelin, a tactic that drew heavy criticism last season from managers, pundits and supporters who saw it as yet another way to run down the clock.

New time rules reshape the rhythm

The towel ban is only one strand of a much tighter framework. The Premier League is rolling out a series of measures designed to quicken the game’s pulse.

• Goal-kicks and throw-ins will be governed by countdowns, forcing teams to restart play more quickly.
• Substitution windows will be watched closely, with less tolerance for meandering changes and touchline theatrics.
• Injury protocols are being hardened too, aimed squarely at what many see as tactical stoppages.

Outfield players who receive treatment must now remain off the pitch for at least one minute. Crucially, if a goalkeeper needs medical attention, one outfield player from that team will also have to leave the field for a minute.

That detail could bite. Arsenal have already been accused of pushing the limits. Brighton manager Fabian Hurzeler publicly criticised David Raya last season after the goalkeeper went down for treatment three times during a narrow 1-0 win for the Gunners, hinting at gamesmanship rather than genuine injury.

Under the new rules, those pauses will carry a clear cost.

Adapt or fall behind

Arteta, though, is not panicking. He insists Arsenal have been fully briefed and will adjust.

“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 at the top are shrinking. Every restart, every countdown, every enforced pause will shift the feel of a match.

“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,” he added. “So I am very curious to see.”

Arteta still backs the broader idea. “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 clock is king, and the tiny tricks that once bought a breather are now under the spotlight. For Arsenal and their rivals, the question is simple: who can bend quickest without breaking their edge?