Arsenal vs Man City: Time to ask questions of Mikel Arteta’s decisions

‘Mikel Arteta the coach’ there are few qualms about. ‘Mikel Arteta the man-manager and micro-manager’ the jury is still out. Against Manchester City on Sunday, there was another example of the Arsenal boss making the wrong decisions from the touchline.

His pre-game analysis is widely revered as being meticulous and refined. Stalwarts of the managerial scene, Marcelo Bielsa and Pep Guardiola, have both lavished Arteta with praise in the past week alone. Highlighting his thought process, planning and broad expertise, if you ever wanted assurances that Arsenal need to stick with their man, lap up the words of two wise men.

Where Arteta won’t draw acclaim is his substitutions.

There will be no blown-up, reactionary jibe to losing to Manchester City. It will happen more violently to teams far superior to Arsenal. But still in the game with 20 minutes to go, and indeed with one minute left on the clock, it would have been nice to see the waters tested more.

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Time to ask questions of Mikel Arteta’s substitutions as Arsenal manager

Should Arsenal see the game out without going gung-ho, or throw some caution to the wind and potentially lose 2-0 but have a greater chance of scraping a result? Sometimes against opposition of this quality, try as you might they don’t permit you to lay a glove on them even if you come out swinging.

More could still have been done. Above all, the decision to bring Dani Ceballos on with five minutes to play offered nothing. It was at least 20 minutes too late. Mohamed Elneny’s decision-making on the ball even evoked audible groans from Arteta on the touchline. There was nothing to gain in keeping him on for so long.

Arsene Wenger was regularly critiqued for not making changes until the 75th minute onward, his reasons for that being an understanding of how matches develop and open up in the latter stages. Keep a defensive structure, but veer away from routine attacking phases and have forwards on the pitch who can exploit fatigue, work varied and pre-determined patterns and inject some individuality. When the occasion calls for it, this mantra can bear fruit.

Arteta has made more questionable substitutions than just those on Sunday. As stated, this is a culmination and not a singular reaction.