3 improvements Mikel Arteta must make next season

Mikel Arteta perfectly embodies this new-look Arsenal from the players on the pitch to the owners. The entire club is shedding its soft, apathetic exterior, with youth and energy shaping the club. Those suiting up in the red and white are young and ready to prove themselves, Edu and Vinai are lively, and Arteta is the youngest manager in the Premier League.

Like his players, Arteta does not boast the experience of his contemporaries. This is his first job as manager and although he learned from the very best in Arsene Wenger and Pep Guardiola, there was always going to be an adjustment period.

The hierarchy at the club expected and accepted this when offering Arteta the job. He will make mistakes in the short term as he grows and develops but the long term will vindicate his appointment. Offering a new contract to the Spaniard before the culmination of the 2021/22 campaign illustrates that the board and owners have bought into his project

3 improvements Mikel Arteta must make next season

Arteta has come a long way but is still learning the ins and outs of one of the most nuanced jobs in the world. Here are three improvements he must make next season.

3. Handling Injuries

There is no doubt that Arsenal were unlucky with injuries in the recently concluded season.

For example, Takehiro Tomiyasu came from Italy, and had to adjust to a new environment, playing style and team. It seems as if he barely touched down in London before suiting up as a starter. With limited time to bed into the squad, Tomiyasu was already racking up minutes as the undisputed right back. Over the course of the season and adjusting the Premier League football, he suffered a calf injury. Arteta waited until Tomiyasu seemed fairly fit but threw him in against Liverpool before he was ready. The subsequent injury he suffered was inevitable.

If this situation of rushing a player back before they’re ready sounds familiar, it’s because it is. Arteta did the same thing with Thomas Partey in the 2020/2021 season. The Ghanaian was a huge miss for large swathes of both that season and this most recent one.

Injuries to Partey and Tierney in a crucial run-in led to Arsenal dropping out of top four. How Arteta deals with injuries moving forward is integral to Arsenal’s success. The solution can be found in multiple places. Bringing in suitable backups, rotating towards the ends of games, not rushing players back and changing the style of play to cover losses can minimise the effects of losing key players at key times. Improvements in this area cannot be stressed enough.

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