It's definitely a delicate balancing act, but I think Arteta erred too much on the side of caution. Nwaneri would most likely come out the side and return to his backup role when Odegaard is back anyway, so managing his minutes and exposure would come naturally via Odegaard's return imo. I think it's disappointing that his only starts have come in the cup vs lower league opposition.
You're right that there isn't really a set way to integrate youth players, each situation/circumstance is different, and it could eventually turn out that Arteta had a perfectly valid reason to slowly drip feed him minutes, despite injuries to other players. On the surface though, it does feel like he's holding him back because he wants to rely on the experienced heads to grind out results.
