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

When the draw was made and Arsenal avoided the three big-hitters on their proposed pathway to the Europa League final, there could be no excuses for failure. Slavia Prague, Villarreal and then whoever would follow. In many ways, the ideal route.

That opportunity has been squandered in embarrassing fashion. Aspirations of lifting European silverware dashed, a trophy that Arsenal have perhaps never felt more pressure to win than before.

Not because of quality of opposition left, nor the immediate entry as a top seed in the Champions League, but instead because it was their only route left into Europe.

Bowing out in whatever fashion from the competition would have been tough to swallow, as it always is. Knowing it spells the end of a 25-year spell without European football next season adds layers to the dismay. This is a low few supporters will ever have endured previously.

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Mikel Arteta’s awful short-term player planning at Arsenal damaged success

Leading that troupe of underperforming players is a man who in 18 months as a football manager has overseen the history books being rewritten weekly. Not in a positive sense.

Mikel Arteta bears the brunt of the criticsm this team has faced. He hasn’t shied away from it yet that does not excuse it. Throughout his time in north London mistakes have been remedied with further errors, culminating in Arsenal crashing out of all three competitions they entered and facing the likelihood of a mid-table finish in the Premier League.

Uncharted territory for the masses.

Looking back on his tenure so far, if he was called up to the boardroom to be relieved of his duties, there is little he could say in his defence to argue such a decision.

A panoply of questionable calls, bemusing statements and managerial mysteries, the cases for his sacking pile up. He will not lose his job just yet, but he very well deserves it, even if whether making that call will have any impact, detrimental or otherwise.

Among his most failed ventures, was developing for the short-term, not the long-term.

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.