Mikel Arteta Far From Infallible

We all knew that when Mikel Arteta got appointed last season, it was going to take time.

But that doesn’t mean that he is void of any criticism at Arsenal.

There is no doubt that Arteta has done many good things since taking charge. He has drastically improved the defence and has instilled a level of resilience that Arsenal hasn’t had for a very long time.

But we have also seen many mistakes from him that have probably been down to his lack of experience in management, such as having favourites when picking his team as well as being a little bit naive and stubborn in hi selections.

For me, the most annoying one is the lack of trust that he has in the young players. Not including William Saliba in the Europa League group stage squad is one of the most puzzling decisions in the Arteta era seeing as he preferred players like Pablo Mari, who haven’t even been fit enough to play any minutes this season.

The team selections that Arteta has picked this season have also got many Arsenal fans irked. The most peculiar choice has been leaving Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang out on the wing. This has been the main reason for the Aubameyang’s downturn in form. The 31-year-old has an xG (expected goals) of 2.76 for the whole season. Take that in for a second and continue reading.

Secondly, constantly picking Willian when, since his first game away at Fulham, hasn’t put in any good performances. Meanwhile, not giving players like Reiss Nelson and Joe Willock any Premier League minutes having been Arsenal’s two best players in the Europa League campaign so far needs to be brought up.

A lot of fans have also been calling for a change in tactics for different games. While most fans have been fine with Arsenal being a bit more pragmatic in the more difficult away games, Arteta has not changed his tactics or system for the games where Arsenal should be more aggressive.

https://twitter.com/JackFutbolStuff/status/1325546654255226882?s=20

Teams such as Aston Villa and West Ham have come to the Emirates and dominated the game from start to finish and Arsenal were very lucky to get three points against the former, while Aston Villa could’ve come away from the Emirates with five or six goals and it wouldn’t have felt undeserved.

Yes, Arteta needs time to get Arsenal to the level he wants them to be at. He also needs a playmaker that he so desperately wanted, but that one signing doesn’t mean that he gets away with constantly making the same mistakes over and over again.