It’s over.
Arsene is OUT.
A new future awaits.
We know very little about what’s actually going on with the status of the managerial interview process at the moment, but what we know for sure is now the season is finished, the club can talk to Bundesliga candidates and people from the Premier League. Next week, we’ll be able to meet with Serie A prospects.
I’ve been weighing up the next coach for years, plotting out who could be the best candidate for Arsenal, and now the options are starting to narrow, it’s clear the front runners are Vieira, Nagelsmann, Arteta and Allegri.
I think the Juventus maestro is looking less and less likely by the day. Someone on his team leaked a story to The Sun that he’d look for a £200m transfer kitty to come to the club. Firstly, that’s never going to happen, secondly, what does that tell you about the way he operates? Things could go very Conte, very quickly. By that I mean back channelling complaints in the media, throwing games to make a point the squad is shite, and letting emotions get in the way of doing the best job possible.
Sources close to Allegri, who first revealed his interest in our exclusive TWO MONTHS ago, claim his ambitions have to be matched.
He will accept the job if Arsenal can take him to the levels he is used to at Juve, which include competing in the Champions League.
Allegri won’t be working in a perfect environment, and it’s telling that his team are already making demands about the environment. We are not going to be operating like Juventus immediately, if that’s his expectation, he’ll be disappointed. It also reads like he’s looking to turbocharge the rebuild to suit his rush to win a Champions League. Though that would be lovely, we have to be real, Arsenal won’t be on that path for a while. We’re not going to give him Galactico budgets, we’ll have to make an impact using a different strategy.
I do wonder how Allegri would cope being at a club that doesn’t have the funds to compete with City, United or Chelsea. When you’re one of the best, with just the Champions League evading you, how are you going to feel about working with tier two funds? Fine if you’re Klopp, he likes being the underdog and relishes the challenge. Allegri is at the Manchester City of Italy. Arsenal will never be that.
The leak could also be a white flag from his team, making their reasons as to why he’s not heading over very clear. Either way, it’s not a good sign. For all Wenger’s faults, he never really complained in the press about the board or his lot in life, he ploughed on through the dark years. That’s the Arsenal way, that’s one of the values you want from your new hire, loyalty to the cause however tough it is.
Also, though his football is tactically exciting, as Paul Merson mentioned, it takes us back to the George Graham era of football. Catching teams on the break with incisive counter-attacking football. I could live with it, but it’d be a sharp deviation from what we love. I appreciate there’s a lot of excitement about having a manager who can defend properly, but we don’t have to destroy our style in the process. Look at how United fans are dealing with Mourinho football. Who wants 2nd place that way? Also worth noting Allegri is taking English lessons. Small detail, but building out Arsenal and a new life whilst getting to grips with a new language is tough.
Nagelsmann is the hottest young coaching option in the game, what he’s done at Hoffenheim is next level. I don’t think his club is going to let him go, he’s tied into a strict contract that would require a big fee to release him. Also, he’s apparently planning on settling down with his lady, and it sounds like Munich is the dream. He’s 31, if he does well at Arsenal, there’s a cap on his tenure, a bit like signing a young Barca player. He’ll always pine for Bayern.
Patrick Vieira being on the list is an odd one. He’s not set the world alight in the US and he’s been working with average players. The fans obviously love him, but I’m not sure that’s enough to land the job.
That’s why I’m throwing my vote behind Arteta.
He’s a very interesting prospect if you have the stomach for strategic risk. He’s not been the head coach at a club yet. But that shouldn’t scare people off, because there are so many interesting facets around his star that make this potential move feel very exciting.
I’ll start with the easy one. Leadership is in his blood. He’s been the captain of two Premier League clubs, Everton, then Arsenal at a time where he needed to help stabilise us post-Cesc. I’m really not worried about him being overawed by the head coach role, some people just naturally gravitate towards responsibility and can lead. He’s clearly one of those people.
He’s also been in on the ground floor at Manchester City, actively contributing to the creation of one of the best Premier League sides of all time.
Guardiola is desperate to keep hold of Arteta, who he considers pivotal to his backroom staff at City.
The Catalan immediately approached Arteta when agreeing to take over at the Etihad – valuing his knowledge of English football.
They hit 100 points yesterday. That is insane. Arteta has been there from the start, he’s witnessed how you coach new ideas into players, he’s helped improve people like Sterling, he’s in the day to day. He has helped create history. He worked through the very average first season with Pep and helped fix it in the most spectacular way.
Why would Arsenal not want to hire in someone with the hottest intellectual property in world football?
In business, a tried and true strategy for smart hiring is pinching the young people in and around great successes at other companies. If you make a great advert that wins a bunch of awards, that team is decimated the next year as rival agencies pick off the people who they ‘hoped’ worked on it so they can infuse that magic in their client accounts.
Tesla has been bleeding engineers and senior managers to Apple’s car division. Why are they raiding them? Because those people have been part of something special from the ground up. Does anyone say that’s a bad strategy because Elon is such a dominant force in the media? No, because in business, it’s more clearly understood that the person taking all the credit always has an incredible body of thinkers/doers underneath them making the work happen. We tend to think of football differently to business, despite clubs increasingly moving to structures that closely resemble traditional corporations. A collection of specialists reporting into a CEO (the head coach).
It’s also worth remembering that Pep G and Pochettino both fought it out for Arteta’s signature before he’d even hung up his boots. That’s two of the best coaches on the planet. A pretty strong endorsement of what people think of him. This is the Spurs manager.
“I love him and he loves me,”
“You know our history from Paris St Germain, when he was 17 and I was the captain.”
Arteta said no to his mate Poch because he wanted a way back to Arsenal.
An even bigger endorsement came from Pep Guardiola after the City game yesterday.
‘Mikel’s contribution was outstanding, amazing, and we have been so good together,’
‘So, if he stays I will be happiest guy in the world. If he decides to move because he has this option I will not say: “You don’t have to go”.
‘I want the best for my friends and he is a friend. If he decides to go I will be sad but I will understand his decision.
‘Because it is his career, his life and family and I am not the right guy to say you don’t have to do that.
‘But hopefully he can stay and finish what we have together in the coming years.’
Pep could have easily said he doesn’t comment on speculation. He could have said he wasn’t ready. He could have said no. Telling that he didn’t.
Back to Arteta, the guy cried on his last game with us. He loves the club, he’ll know there are doubts about his ability to transition, and he’ll go through brick walls to make it work. I love his ruthless ambition to make it big. Mourinho like moves on a major job.
The most important thing he can do for me is bring sexy football back to The Emirates. I want to see innovative thinking. I want to see a continuation of the Wenger legacy in a more modern and disciplined setup. Where better to find that than from under the wing of Pep Guardiola?
There’s also the brass tacks of this sort of move. The club is having a clear out of the coaching staff. Colbert, Boro, Banfield, Peyton, Bibbo and maybe even Bould might be off. I have no doubt the club will want to control the coaching hires, and I expect they’ll be making offers as we speak. You need a manager who is comfortable with the club decentralizing power and control. Allegri is unlikely to tolerate that if he’s putting his reputation on the line. Even the relative novice Thomas Tuchel was fired because he couldn’t deal with the power structure at Dortmund.
In Arteta, we’re hiring a coach. The club doesn’t need someone to manage transfers, contracts, and every single department of the club. We need to hire someone who knows how to train players, keep them motivated and ultimately improve them. We need a person who can work with different departments, synthesize data, and make bold and imaginative decisions. We need someone to coach the kids, recalibrate the senior players, and help support smart additions to a squad that needs surgery.
This is not us signing Steve Mcclaren or Carles Queiroz.
- This is hiring in a b-team coach called Pep Guardiola for Barcelona in 2008.
- This is Hoffenheim hiring a 28-year youth team coach in Germany, a move apparently so absurd, the local press called it a PR stunt. The guy who owns Hoffenheim, billionaire Dietmar Hopp, co-found SAP, one of the most successful software companies on the planet. They know a thing or two about staffing and what it takes to build a success machine. He’s been working in and around the club for a very long time and has taken them from nowhere to Champions League for the second season running.
- This is Madrid hiring their greatest ever player because they wanted to do a Pep G in 2016.
- Salzburg hired their youth team manager, Marco Rose, and he made the semi-finals of the Europa League. Redbull is a mega-organization dominating their chosen fields in sport, they know how to run and staff highly effective enterprises.
- Schalke hired a 31-year-old coach with a degree in business engineering and a master’s in innovation management and he made the Champions League in his first season, going from 10th to 2nd.
- Portugal has an esteemed history of taking chances on young innovators, with Porto winning big with Jose back in the day.
This move isn’t a madness. It’s positioning ourselves as a modern club and getting ahead of the curve.
Arteta will need to work on some internal PR at the club. He was at Arsenal when he was on the back nine of his career, his legs were clearly failing him and his body was going into freefall, I’m not surprised he wasn’t great to be around. But people grow, and he’ll have to make sure he’s good to folk around him if he wants to make this work. Bringing people together is so important in a rebuild, especially when morale is low.
Finally, just remember, no manager guarantees success. The key thing is matching the hire to the job in front of them. I think Arteta could be a perfect fit. The pay off could be unbelievable, and look, Arsenal has to take a risk if they want to beat out Manchester City. We need to try something different. We need to move into the future. Why not do it with a coach, who according to Matt Hughes, is a potential successor to Pep at Manchester City.
I think this could be an inspired move, and I think people are coming round to the potential of Arsenal doing something visionary with their next hire. You only have to look at the #WelcomeMikel tweets after Pep spoke out about his assistant. Even Ian Wright is onboard! Fans will get behind progress, and I think people are starting to see that this could be very exciting for thier Arsenal experience next season.
In conclusion, yes this a brave decision, it’s also the most logical. We’d be hiring a former Arsenal club captain who has an emotional attachment to the club, someone who has been mentored by the greatest coach alive and has been a massively integral part of a record-breaking Premier League winning team. We shouldn’t pass up this opportunity. We should embrace it and see where it takes us.
Right, that’s me done. See you in the comments.
1st
2nd
3rd
Arterta in !!
Tr4phy
Damn you Mr. T
This is one of the major reasons I love reading Le-grove. Fantastic post.
Haha Grooveydaddy 🙂
though it hasn’t been mentioned above, Arteta is also classy. Was a classy player and captain, albeit a fading player. That’s the Arsenal way too. But hey… que sera sera let’s see what the next few months bring
If we go for Arteta, it will be another season of shit until baldy realises we need a proper manager and not some cheap wannabe.
If Arteta loves Arsenal so much then why didn’t he choose the coaching role he was offered at Arsenal when he retired? He could have helped us to keep us in the top 4. After all, we had paid him handsomely in his dotage and Long after his legs had gone in the pitch.
What a complete joke if Arteta gets appointed new manager. Is that the best they can do? A man who has never been head coach? Weak.
Groovedaddy I retired the 4th place trophy after stealing the piece of crap from wankz it’s only fitting as Wenger has gone and it was his trophy. 😉
In last night’s post lol
Moray
That is not a fair point. Arteta obviously knew he would learn much more under Pep than Wenger.
You are absolutely right.
I wish your words can reach CEO.
With all your examples of manager with little emanagerial experience, they have actually managed a team, implemented tactics even it is at youth level, arteta hasn’t even done that at youth level first…
I like the way Pedro shreds all the alternatives to justify the preferred candidate he’s had from the beginning. I’m sure he’s smart enough to see all the implicit biases in his thinking. It reminds me of when presidential candidate George Bush appointed a certain Dick Cheney to head his team to interview and select the Vice Presidential candidate. Dick Cheney then conducted a thorough interview to rule out every viable candidate until Bush chose him as his Vice President. The entire process seems like an exercise in futility designed to pick Arteta eventually. The club wants to roll the… Read more »
Why didn’t Arteta take a coaching job at Arsenal?
Because Wenger saw him as a threat and offered him the most junior role possible to ensure he didn’t stay on. That was wengers spite and insecurity all over, build power structures to delay any challenge to authority
Sounds like there is a good chance he will be next manager, might as well give him a go.
The club cannot make Allegri join
Like Madrid arsenal need to groom Arteta for a few seasons as a full time academy coach or under a good manager like with zizu. He’s just not ready. Bring in Joachim or Benitez or Enrique for say 3 seasons with Arteta as assistant and then he can be a contender
Apologies for my long diatribe
It’s clear that Pedro loves Arteta (has every right to since the blog is his).
It’s just that there’s a feeling I have that people are trying very hard to convince us that what’s smells like dog pee is actually the cupuscient rain of harvest.
This will be a risk of epic proportions. They don’t have Wenger to hide behind anymore. Let’s see how it goes.
Arteta? Really underwhelming, no matter how much you try to spin it.
I like the way Pedro calls out Tuchel as “relative novice” when he has managed Augsburg and Mainz, creditably for EIGHT years before proceeding to Dortmund. Is this about control. – let’s get a young manager that does know right from wrong and place him in an environment that is controllable. Every manager ought to have a system that’s they’ve tested over time and will use as a template. Arteta has none that has been tested. He won’t know when to say NO and will really be a yes man. Yes men to whom? Technocrats in the background whispering what… Read more »
“I love him and he loves me,”
WTF ?? Who gives a f*ck about Poch’s love stories ??
“the guy cried on his last game with us.”
WTF ?? (bis)
In fact you’ve just made a copy what you read on the internet.
Thanks Pedro for trying to reassure us about Arteta being the chosen one, but it don’t really work for me…
The board members are still the same ol’ pussies.
Pedro Good read, just far too Debbie on Allegri and his style to boot. Allegri and GG don’t belong on the same page, let alone sentence. He’s keen defensively, but that’s an Italian trait where tactics awareness shinses through. Juve averaged 2.3 goals per game and 56% possession this season. Arsenal averaged 1.9 goals per game and 58%. If we’re a possession-based fluid side on our day then I’m not sure how Juve are getting dubbed counter attack merchants when they average all but the same of the ball we do? Look, billy basic stats for sure. But bottom line… Read more »
Pedro Strange switch to Arteta. Id rather not. He might work out but like you say massive risk. The only sacing gracw is we will have no qualms sacking him if things dont turn out. i dont agree with the way your talking up his leadership qualities and tenure as captain which was largely invisible at Arsenal. Allegri has already said hes staying at Juve by all accounts but that shouldnt diminish the quality of the man because he may want money to re-build the squad? If we look at it objectively thats the kind of sums were gonna need… Read more »
Arteta would make sense though because that would be the easy and lazy appointment. The lemons at the board want someone they can control.
I see a pattern starting to emerge,those who hounded Wenger from the club are likely the same set of fans that wouldn’t give Arteta a fighting chance IF he comes in,how about SUPPORTING the club for once? you fvcking mugs.
Absolutely, steve.
lol clitorious.
Too many half truths in this Article. “This is not us signing Steve Mcclaren or Carles Queiroz.” This is exactly us signing Steve McClaren. He was known as an innovator when he joined United as Fergie’s assistant. Pep: Unlimited funds, City, Bayern, Barca. Arteta: small change, nothing And people think this is a smart hire? If we had the funds to go and buy the best players, hiring Arteta would not be such a bad idea, but we don’t. We need a Simeone, a break away from Wenger, someone defensive minded. The Graham back 4 was a springboard for Wenger… Read more »
Very well-reasoned post , my only reservations are lack of experience as head-coach and the fact he was apparently not liked in the dressing room, but these guys maybe need a shake-up from someone tough. His excellence as a coach in this set-up might be stunning to us as he has top- class people around him but I do believe looking at the ins and outs of our transfer dealings that we can generate a bigger budget next season but I would shed Mustafi, Bellerin and Ospina. Xhaka may improve with Arteta’s input. That would give us a budget of… Read more »
Coming round to the idea of Arteta as boss.
Unai Emery anyone? man knows how to win Europa league(get us back into champions league) and good at working on a budget. my only problem with the Arteta appointment is what Rep does he have how is he going to inspire and excite players to Join us?
More often than hot when a businessman gets involved in football all their basic business sense tends to go out the window. That said the truly big clubs don’t gamble in terms of managerial appointments and going after someone who hasn’t had a period as a number one for me yes it’s a romantic proposition that wouldn’t just be a strategic risk it could equally be termed madness ! Rarely, very rarely does a manager , a coach or whatever job title the new incumbent will be tagged with, deliver sustained success in football without resources at their disposal being… Read more »
Hiring Arteta will be the worse decision Arsenal F.C ever make.
worst* hehe
He is a Wenger clone, sympathiser and enabler. He will not be respected, feared, or acknowledged.
No he will not receive support.
Arteta… no thankyou.
The days barely begun and the two resident keyboard warriors are at on Legrove again. Relax!
As someone who is hiring people for 3 decades I fully agree. The trend in the last 10-15 years is to go for talent. I suggest that the author sends this to all Arsenal board members!
Aubergine “So already before an appointment has been made you’re convinced of failure. Even if we hire Alegri we ain’t going to win every game 3-0 you lemon.” right on the money…kind of like some fans struggle with basic comprehension,NO MANAGER CAN GUARANTEE SUCCESS!..there must be something about Arteta that we don’t know about. Pep basically has his neck on the line coming out with such glowing verdicts about the man, Wenger wanted him among his backroom staff, you don’t get so much noise buzzing about a man without nothing in there,i’m starting to get around the idea that Arteta… Read more »
#Artetanothankyou
let’s get it trending lads, for the sake of the club you love. We must SAVE Arsenal from repeating the mistakes of the past.
Pedro
That’s an inspiring read.
It’s got me pumped up an ready to accept Mikel.
Fuck it bring it on.
Sham
Give him a chance a great start an players want to play for a young exciting manager …
Give him a chance
He will have enough board support
Fuck it I’m looking forward .
I agree with Pedro. I think that it is increasingly likely that Arteta is going to be appointed Manager. First the club wanted Arteta to stay at the club as an assistant coach when he retired. Arteta chose to move to Man City as an assistant to Guardiola and that was probably a better option for him in the learning process. He has spent two years under the most successful coach in the business. Guardiola has also indicated that he will not stand in the way of Arteta if he is appointed the next Arsenal Manager. Arsenal have always shown… Read more »
“Unai Emery anyone? ”
What about no one ??
So Ozil will be the happiest man in the universe if Arteta becomes the manager. It will be status quo for him.
Ozil will never be happy again now that his father figure is gone.
That’s why I’m throwing my vote behind Arteta. Flip flopping as per. And then you mention all these times club’s took chances on inexperienced coaches that worked. Well Pep and Zidane had experience coaching B teams. Jose had how many years on the bench before getting the Porto job? Bet it was more than two. And to make a point that Red Bull Salzburg took a chance on a rookie and it worked out for them so why not us well I’m sorry but they ain’t Arsenal and the Austrian league isn’t the Premier League. We’ll see what happens but… Read more »
Henry Root
“Very well-reasoned post , my only reservations are lack of experience as head-coach and the fact he was apparently not liked in the dressing room,”
where’s this not well liked thing come from? got the impression he was probably quite a demanding captain, and if that’s where the dislike comes from I can live with that.
Sid
I ain’t so sure …
“the guy cried on his last game with us”…
can’t get enough of this one, really lol
Wallace
I remember reading some articles to that effect … that he was unpopular
Anyone have any stories ?
“got the impression he was probably quite a demanding captain”
This one kills me, too.
I really can’t think of a good reason for paying Arsene the final year of his contract and then bringing in someone like Arteta who is unlikely to improve on him. If we can’t get a world-class manager, then it honestly would have been better to have given Arsene a farewell season and then made sure we had a successor like Allegri lined up. Let’s also not forget that the big downside with Arteta is that it is really difficult to go from teammate to manager, as Arteta will have to do with a large number of the squad. Allegri… Read more »
It’s going to be Arteta isn’t it . We really are a mid table side now .
I would remind some of the posters that Arsenal appointed Bertie Mee as manager at the club who went on to win the first Double.
Mr Mee had absolutely no previous management or coaching background. He
was a physiotherapist before taking the job.
I like the way Pedro calls out Tuchel as “relative novice” when he has managed Augsburg and Mainz, creditably for EIGHT years before proceeding to Dortmund.
Don’t let facts get in the way of making a point. 8 years managing a club two years as another coach same thing.
I was worried about the Buvac rumours but at least he’s got more than two years experience as a coach at least he’s got experience as a number two
We haven’t had a demanding captain since Vieira maybe Henry.
still??
Have to say I dont understand the complete obsession with Arteta. Its like hes your friend or something. While I think ANY fresh pair of eyes will lead to improvement, I do think Arteta should be the very bottom of the list out of all the options we’ve seen. The difference between Guardiola, Zidane, Rose etc is that Arteta has never, ever, not even once managed a game. I dont see how he can even be an option. Sure he has a lot of experience putting cones out, and cutting up oranges for half time, but Arsenal dont need this,… Read more »
Pedro if you’re the head of recruitment in a company , can you pick a non-experienced guy to be a Manager?
You amaze me with your artetamatics. It’s your opinion and I pity Arsenal FC if they try that route. It’s embarrassing if it happens.
Arteta also has absolutely no coaching team, so cant bring any infrastructure with him.
He wont even know who to go after.
Its a nonsensical appointment.
If everyone in the game got this mythical appraisal and nothing but good things to say about Arteta’s ability to become the number 1 at a club let’s see if a club that really has ambition in Chelsea holds talks with him to be their next boss . They’ll be sacking Conte shortly , they need a new coach , surely they’ll also want this hottest new property coming off the manager production line won’t they ?
Sid “So Ozil will be the happiest man in the universe if Arteta becomes the manager. It will be status quo for him.” Good. And I tell you who won’t be happy.. Aaron Ramsey. Why.. Because Arteta will want his midfield to play with discipline unlike at the weekend when Ramsey decided to play centre forward for the last 15 minutes when we were protecting a one nil lead…. Let’s hope, if it is Arteta, that he installs discipline into the midfield which in turn will allow our very creative players to do the business up front…. I am sure… Read more »
Bottom line, whomever they bring in will represent change, change from a stagnant and steadily corrosive influence that Wenger absolutely was and is. To that end, I’m more than good with whomever they bring in because it actually represents an opportunity for steady improvement and a new direction as part of a much needed change.
like I said before, a sunday park manager is better than wenger the mr magoo of football. So if its arteta, we are already infinitely improved. No complaints, he may be brilliant. (remember wenger was unknown….managing grampus nought in japan….hahaha)
Dont see why Artetas lack of popularity matters.
I dont think much of that squad will be around any way.
You could make an argument for selling all but Aubameyang. Hopefully we do.
Dead right on every count, Pedro, Mikel is the man. Let’s hope Ivan has the nerve to hire him.
I’ll just add that it will likely mark a sea-change in the way the football side of the Club is run, a brain trust more than a dictator. Acting together there’s a sporting chance they can get Arsenal back to the eiite without a benevolent owner.
#ArtetaIn
“If Arteta loves Arsenal so much then why didn’t he choose the coaching role he was offered at Arsenal when he retired? ” Although I understand and agree with this sentiment the reason Mikel didn’t stay is because he could see Wenger was a busted flush… no new ideas just the same mistakes. With the managers out there at the moment I would rather we went with someone tried and tested but we need to move forward, and stop fighting amongst ourselves. We need to channel that energy at making the Arsenal dominant again. I don’t agree with this hire… Read more »
When people say “Mikel is the man” you realise we are heading back into Wenger-like Personality cult territory.
I will be excited if Arteta comes in, if anyone comes in, and I will wait to see what they can do.
However the idea that anyone would see Arteta as the perfect choice is a little bit strange, and almost certainly agenda driven.
It will start the whole AKB thing all over again, with people backing the man before the club.
That’s a great read. Well said!
Arteta also has absolutely no coaching team, so cant bring any infrastructure with him.He wont even know who to go after.
Exactly. Recent departures from Arsenal suggest it’ll be a coach with his own entourage and that’s not Arteta. Honestly after so many years of not competing for major titles and having a manager we KNEW wasn’t capable of competing for major titles we just want an appointment that we can be confident will at least give us a chance to compete and there’s nothing to suggest that’s Arteta at this point
Stroller “I would remind some of the posters that Arsenal appointed Bertie Mee as manager at the club who went on to win the first Double.” Very true… And it worked because he had a very good coach alongside him.. Don Howe. Bertie Mee had literally no qualifications to be a football manager but he definitely knew what he was doing,he changed the club when he was appointed manager and it was a great time for me personally as a teenager watching the club compete for trophies again…the memories of watching fairs Cup final victory at Highbury and then the… Read more »
What is it with Pedro and this Arteta rubbish?
I’d rather have Wenger back than take a risk with Arteta.
To think I’ve wantwd Wenger out for years.
It will all count for nothing if after getting Wenger out, the club makes a hash of the appointment.
Whoever they appoint will go a long way to determine if we become shit or great again
And I tell you who won’t be happy.. Aaron Ramsey.
Why.. Because Arteta will want his midfield to play with discipline
He will will he? Good to know. Sure there’s evidence that his team’s have had disciplined midfielders
Thought it is going to be Arteta for several days now. It ‘s just hopeful to state that this would be the right decision. We will know a lot more whether it turns out the right decision or not when we see what sort of summer transfer window “the team” overlooks and undertakes. And signing young defenders from Bundesliga is not going to cut it. Unfortunately there is still an elitist snobbish attitude from some Arsenal fans and this does not bode well for fixing weaknesses that have been there for so long now. Maybe they will stay terminal these… Read more »
Blissful naivety Arsenal FC has been for too long now and opposing teams the good ones that is with the pedigree have been taking advantage of this for so long.
And from plenty of opinions and views this naivety is set to continue whether with Wenger or not.
Marko
In case you didn’t know, Arteta was a midfielder (with discipline) himself as was pep guardiola (though pep was better) so he should know something about the role…
Lots if reports linking us with Emery. Great job at Sevilla definitely maybe not so decent at paris but the expectations were extremeky high with many new players last couple of years. Any comments?
Good post Pedro! Hiring Arteta is too much of a gamble. We spent years trying to emulate Pep Barca playing style and failed and now we want to hire a member of his coaching staff. If the club liked Pep so much why they didn’t sack AW and gave him the job when he was available. I might be wrong, but Arsenal is too big for an inexperienced Arteta. Steve Bould is more experienced and is not even considered, so I just don’t understand why Arteta is even a candidate. Arteta is not a better manager than Jardin or Emery… Read more »
Even Arsene, although he wasn’t well known in England, he had a track record.
What’s Arteta’s track record?
A bunch of gold stars from Pep and a pocketful of “Well done” stickers.
Wenger resigns… and for the longest in a while, our rivals are disturbed because we might hire someone noteworthy and become a threat and a force again in football terms and we turn around and hire a complete novice.
It’s like we enjoy handicapping ourselves, so we have an excuse to fall back on if it goes wrong.
Why?
It’s obviously Arteta.
The way that idiot Ian Wright mentioned it last night on MOD2 was a bit of a giveaway, It was as if he had been told something by the club and was asked to be publicly on board with it.
Zidane would be a considerable option should he leave real this summer. Based on what he has delivered he is the most underestimated coach by far..
http://www.skysports.com/football/news/12961/11372030/massimiliano-allegri-wants-juventus-stay-amid-arsenal-interest
That is probably that then
Arteta is not exactly a spring chicken. He is 36 with at least 20 years experience in the professional game. He has played at several leading clubs and in the last 2 years coached in first team at Man City. By all accounts he is a highly intelligent guy with an excellent football brain and he is also multi lingual. The fact that he chose to leave Arsenal to progress his coaching demonstrates also that he is an “independent” thinker. I am not unhappy with this choice if Arsenal takes this route. If he fails it will be a lot… Read more »
Arteta was known more for his passing than his defensive work in the deep midfield role.
In fact defensively he was seen as a bit of a weakness.
Ring any bells?
Still smells of Wenger all this and there was I stupidly thinking the club would actually break away from Mr Wenger.
I’m not sure fans really want to break away from him.
“I’d rather have Wenger back than take a risk with Arteta.”
lol maybe not at that point…
I am with Peds about this.
You are not going to beat Pep with any manager.
The only way you can beat him is by beating the market, not with something the market coughs up.
It has to be blue ocean. So yeah, if that is the thinking, lets roll with it.
Paulinho
Why is wright an idiot
I have a lot of respect for the man. Good ambassador for the club.
Ishola 70
“Gorgeous” George Graham was a creative footballer and not known for much discipline during his playing career.
Yet when he became manager he was the most methodical manager and focussed on building one of the most disciplined backlines in history. Hence 1-0
to the Arsenal.
How many times has it been said on this blog that if ANYBODY came in it would automatically be an improvement- if Arteta can come in and bring with him his ideas and knowledge gained under the best coach in the world then we have to give him a chance – it’s not like Arsenal will keep him on for 22 years is it – those days are over
I’ve posted this before but it was late so not sure who got to see it and if you’ve already had a read then I apologise …… http://metro.co.uk/2018/05/12/arsenal-can-expect-mikel-arteta-succeeds-arsene-wenger-7540262/
“It will start the whole AKB thing all over again, with people backing the man before the club.”
Arteta knows best…..LOL
The banter never left!
The great early years of Arsene Wenger at Arsenal coincided with him bringing new ingredients, offensive ingredients to a team that was strong defensively beforehand.
Now we see that the pendulum has swung too much in one direction that is to say naive football that too many times disregards defence you would think fans would want to see a swing back to even the characteristics of the team.
But no more than enough want more of the same but done in a somehow better more successful way. Superior naive football.
When you look at our specific weaknesses, I really dont undestand what we think Arteta is ging to do?
We have conceded way too many goals this year. Does anyone really think Arteta is going to be out there working the back 5 all day every day?
The only hope is that he lets Bould and Lehman work significantly with the GK and Defence – something Wenger was apparently not willing to do.
In case you didn’t know, Arteta was a midfielder (with discipline) Being kind of vague describing him. He was a RM/CAM we converted him into a deep lying midfielder because for some reason Arsene continually failed to address the defensive issues in midfield. He had discipline towards the end there because he had no legs left. Anyway if it’s him he’s got this summer to convince me that he’s got what it takes. Who we sign and who we target will be key to knowing if he’s got it. But if he doesn’t if he goes into next season for… Read more »
Pierre
Good point at 10.23
The club need to embrace the idea that change is good.
Of course there will be turbulence over the season but we have to accept that he will be wanting to succeed .
R.S.P.C – Because he’s all over the place. A flip-flopper who runs with the crowd or whoever he’s just spoken to that day.
Guarantee if Arteta flops he will be on his radio show talking how he lacked experience etc.
Remember for years he was slating fans that wanted Wenger gone and then ended up jumping on the bandwagon himself.
George Graham was from the old school canny Scots breed.
He is a million miles away from Arteta however he played the game himself.
And his grounding in football management was very humble at Millwall.
Arsenal need this humbleness back again a bit of grounding but instead we get delusions of grandeur yet again.
Hi Pedro, Have you lost your fucking mind. This is Arsenal and the last thing we need right now after 22 years of stability is an unknown untested manager who will have zero star attraction power. If Arteta is appointed that will be Arsenal as a kid table team. Plus how is he a better candidate than Veira. Veira has improved his NY team year on year and has them at the top now of their division. Don’t forget that was a completely new team into the league for the first time. This article is absolutely absurd. It’s like you… Read more »