The idea that Mari and Cedric are on Arteta is absurd. They are both very clearly and squarely the work of Raul and Edu. Cedric, honestly, is still kind of necessary, and it's Mari that is the odd one out now that Gabriel has come in.
If you'd asked Arteta where he would be the compromise at the beginning of the window, he'd say out wide, and that's why we have Willian. If he knew that Willian would be the time where he gets "what he wants" and that he'd lose out on every midfielder, there's no way he takes that deal. It's a very strange stance to take to say "well, it's not FM, you don't get to sign players you want" when you watch every club around you doing exactly that.
The players who stay on our books this year are going to be exactly the same players they were last year, I'm sorry to say.
We play like we do because that's the level our squad is at, not because Arteta is a Mourinho clone who hates football.