Arsenal: Arteta’s awful short-term planning damaged success

Arteta Made Terrible Short-Term Player Mistakes

Going back to before this season, Arteta made selection decisions in which he prioritised short term gain over long-term success. In some ways, that’s forgiven since he needed results quickly. But it doesn’t signal strategy, clear thinking or proper guidance. Furthermore, none of the decisions paid off.

Shkodran Mustafi and Sead Kolasinac were given a farcical amount of playing time while William Saliba and Ainsley Maitland-Niles had the chance to develop. These are but two of the examples of players who instead of being integrated accordingly, were unused in the belief that the preexisting members of the squad could deliver.

Offering Mustafi a contract extension while Saliba plays every minute over in France? It’s baffling. That is not planning for the future and instead clinging on to the past.

It stretches further.

It’s important to caveat any disgruntlement about the summer transfer window with what the club were actually capable of doing. Investing in the spine of the team with Gabriel and Thomas Partey was in every way a wise course of action.

Signing an exciting young central defender was part of the strategy this club has to strive for. No more David Luiz’s. As for Thomas Partey, signing a player at his age with little resale value and at his fee was a risk. Equally, not signing him was a risk as his acquisition was an essential cog. Both were, prior to the season unfolding, smart signings.

Not acquiring a creative midfielder was not, and nor was persisting with Willian when others were left to rot.

The Willian experiment was an unmitigated disaster. Opting to continue fielding him despite tormentingly awful performances while the likes of Reiss Nelson and Nicolas Pepe, two players with age on their side who would either develop or boost their transfer fees, was a perfect example of a short-term decision that damaged any long-term aspirations. Furthermore, those decisions yielded no success.

Luiz has been arguably been Arsenal’s best defender this season, but how different would the Premier League scenario be if Saliba had played? Likely not very, although Luiz’s role in the squad fronted that move.

Willian has played over 1,800 minutes for Arsenal, time that could have been spent on Pepe, who after healthy development is finally starting to blossom. Gabriel started the season strongly and then got dropped after some dodgy displays, but he is the one the club forked out big money on. Buy the talent then develop it.

Even after making many of the the above decisions, opting against selling Maitland-Niles for a healthy £20m on the promise of minutes he never got and then not loaning Nelson and Nketiah out in the January window exacerbated the original calls.

There has to be an alteration in approach moving forward. Arteta may finally see some sense in Willian, who now barely features, and for next season the goal can be nothing other than developing that core for the future, not devaluing long-term success. Arrest the slump by dictating a new trajectory.