Arteta should be the new manager of Arsenal (Long Read)

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Come on, you thought I’d go more than 2 days without giving my full endorsement to the most exciting unknown in the world of football? Don’t be ridiculous. Today, I’m going to refresh the argument for why Arsenal need to put all their chips on the pristine black hair of Mikel Arteta.

As you’ll remember, it was my firm belief that we should have pulled the trigger on the Spaniard 18 months ago. The timing was perfect. Fan expectation was low, the club had a chunk of change to spend, and the set up seemed fairly solid. Instead, we opted for common flawed wisdom and hired in Unai Emery and 9 of his coaches.

The stability of experience did nothing to move the club forward. Hiring in a ‘winning’ manager actually took us back a level. We’re now in the midst of the worst start in 38 years, and we’re struggling to exit out of our Europa League group. Hiring in experience has been an absolute disaster.

There are once again calls to move for the trusted hands approach of experience. I didn’t buy it last time, I don’t buy it again. The only manager that’d be a sure fire bet to progress us into the top 4 would be Pochettino, but regardless of the noise around him, I don’t expect him to entertain the Arsenal job with the PSG call likely to arrive in 6 months time.

Anyone else is a 50/50 gamble, so why not gamble on the next level of football, versus taking a chance on a manager with limitations we’ve all seen.

Here are the reasons I think hiring in Arteta makes sense.

Communication

Really simple one here, but communication is essential to this role. English is the language of the club, the kids coming through have mostly been raised in London, we need someone that understands what is going on at the club. Arteta speaks 4 languages fluently. He speaks the noise of players having been a very good one himself. He has alpha male qualities we lacked in Unai Emery. He was a captain at two of his clubs, so the players will look to him.

I have been told that there were concerns about his demeanour from when he was at Arsenal. He held others to very high standards and could come across as abrasive. However, I am willing to pass on that firstly because holding players to a higher standard on an off the pitch is something we need, secondly, we’ve read in the press over and over that the City players love him.

Coaching

It doesn’t take much googling to find out that Arteta is a players coach. He’s an obsessive and there are plenty of high endorsements of his work in the media from players like Delph and Fernandinho. The biggest credit to his name goes to the transformation of Raheem Sterling into one of the best players in the world. This is Guardiola.

“Mikel Arteta is working many, many hours and days after training specifically about the last action on the pitch – that control in the last moment to make the right movement in the final three or four metres.

“Raheem has wanted to stay there on the training pitch, to improve, to practise, to shoot at the goalkeepers.

This is is Arteta explaining in a new book exactly what he was looking for from the player.

“He’d picked up a few bad habits along the way,”

“He’d played on the inside a lot or out on the left wing. When you move to the right wing, the direction and angle of possession coming to you is very different. When the ball reached him he really had his gaze fixed on it – rather than half-touch instinctive control and the vision of what’s around him.”

“If he’s found a space about three metres off his defender but he’s half-turned towards the goal then his sprint takes him much more quickly to a space where he can shoot and that’s going to cause the rival much more damage. It’s also a tactic, dropping off a little, so that your defender gets drawn into a position he mightn’t want to be in. It leaves space behind him and Raheem can attack that space. If it’s close to, or in the penalty area, they also have to hesitate before putting in a challenge.”

The man was born to coach, he retired early to learn his trade, he went for mentorship under the greatest coach in the world and now he sits next to him in the dugout. According to reports, he also runs some of the training session there, he’s no cone boy.

Elite work ethic

You’ve all seen the Pep documentary. You’ve read the books. Pep is a workaholic, he has more energy than anyone in football, a total obsessive. This is what he had to say on Arteta a few days ago.

“He was an incredible player, normally with a holding midfielder they have a vision of all the pitch,” Guardiola said.

“The holding midfielder is an incredible lesson during your career as a player to learn what happens. You don’t need to go to [coaching] school, he was so clever in that.

“More than that he is an incredible human being, work ethic, he works a lot. I said after a few months we were together that this guy would be a manager sooner or later. He is already a manager, he works like a manager.

“That is why we’re satisfied to have him here.”

That is high praise, the part about him being a great human is lost on me, but I do love that his work ethic is being called out by a man that had to quit Barcelona because his wife thought it would kill him. I want someone at Arsenal with that level of obsession, because that usually means attention to detail, that means curiosity and it hopefully means innovation.

Manchester City IP

Manchester City are now one of the best clubs in the world. I know Arsenal are a long way from that, but the things Pep has done there have transformed the place. The way he thinks about the game is different to everyone else, that’s why he’s consistently delivered world-class teams across 3 leagues (money helps, but look at Jose now). Pep Guardiola is different because he has a philosophy that has evolved over the course of time. That way of thinking is a process, Arteta has now been in the process contributing ideas, designing how they’ll be implemented, and watching the master make the magic happen.

Manchester City won the league last year making the least tackles in the league. That is future football. Their off the ball movement is debilitating. Their on the ball approach is so good some sad sacks say it’s boring. That is the sort of football that could be taken, developed upon and unleashed at Arsenal. It’s a longterm punt at having a team built for competing in the Champions League in 3 years. It’s not a stop-gap where the pinnacle of the football is 4th place and a last 16 spot in the Champions League. It is not taking a hit on the Arsenal brand and doubling down on bland pragmatic football. It is not selling your soul to Kia or Jorge. This is the sort of punt that we should be taking, because unless it’s Poch, who else has the keys to a more exciting future this January?

The Culture

Let’s get one thing straight, no manager is going to come in and sort out the leadership function of Arsenal. Raul and Edu have to address that, but they’re not going to do that by installing an outsider with poor taste motives. They’re also not going to achieve anything by bringing in someone with a giant stick, good short term solution, not for the longterm.

They need someone to come in and connect with the players and the fans. That person needs to understand the club, how it operates, who the staff are and how the league works. There’s no better person for that than Arteta. He can only look after the playing side of things, he can’t do anything about the mess around it, but make no mistake, he’ll come in, connect with people like Per and Freddie and he’ll take a sweep to bus drivers that fight and do teamtalks, he’ll move on Dave Priestly, and he’ll make sure the people at the club are offering value and there on merit.

Galvanise the fans

There are no doubt going to be doubters, but I think the communcation of a clear and articulate vision of how he wants to play the game and what he’s going to do to achieve it would be a huge step in the right direction. To remind you, he already outlined this to the Arsenal magazine years ago.

“My philosophy will be clear,” he said. “I want the football to be expressive, entertaining. I cannot have a concept of football where everything is based on the opposition.

“We have to dictate the game, we have to be the ones taking the initiative, and we have to entertain the people coming to watch us. I’m 100 per cent convinced of those things, and I think I could do it.”

“You can have an idea of a system, but you need to be able to transform it depending on the players you have – how much pace you have up front, how technical your team is, what types of risk you can take and whether your players are ready to take those risks.

“It’s important to analyse your players because you can’t always play the same way. There have to be different details and changes in how you approach things, and you have to look at how you can hurt whoever you are playing against. Is there something they don’t like to do? If so, we’re going to make them do plenty of it.

“Then the most important thing for the manager is that, the Friday before the game, you imagine what’s going to happen on the Saturday.

“And if what happens on Saturday is not what I had planned, then it’s not been good enough from me.”

Imagine how vivid his vision would be now? He’s had 3 years in a winning machine to hone his beliefs about the game. I am positive he’d come to Arsenal with an exciting view of how the game is played and that would settle the fans.

Future

We are back at ground zero. We are where Chelsea were this summer when they hired Frank Lampard, coming off the back of a bland season with a transfer ban. Our ban is self-imposed because we spent next summers money this year.

This is the perfect time for the club to set a new agenda built around a 3-5 year plan that’ll have us competing at the very top again. We could build our future around young players, we could refocus transfer efforts on players like Matteo and Martinelli, we could promise the fans ups and downs, but at the very worst… we’ll be playing football you’d want to wake up for.

We need a future we can believe in, we need to be excited about football again, the person who could give that to us is Mikel Arteta.

Who’s with me?

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Freddie Ljungberg

Common, I read the whole lego man puff piece and there’s still no one here?

Shad

surely not 1st?

Shad

..and I rad the piece as well..

Shad

*read

Jeff

No Pedro, Arteta should not be the next manager. It’s a terrible idea.

Shad

All in all, thankful we didn’t move for Allegri or any other Jorge Mendes coat hangers.
Give Freddie time, if he performs well, good on us all, if not, the expectation was low anyway. Hoping that we at least finish top 4 (huge stretch) but more importantly, have a semblance of structure, pattern of play and better atmosphere. Make us hard to beat.

Then we can hope or a better summer..maybe get in Arteta or Naglesmann..and also get rid of a lot of joy riding players.

Shad

I’d like to see Martinelli start a few more games especially in the EPL. Kid is a beast.

Dolomite

Agreed Shad.

The most crucial thing is to give Freddie time and not make a hasty appointment that we may end up regretting.

For all we know Freddie might just be the one we’re looking for

Leftsidesanch

I wouldn’t mind him being appointed for the simple fact Pedro won’t ever let it go unless it happens.

Sohara

Wouldn’t it be amazing if Freddie does turn out to be a brilliant manager for us, perhaps with Gilberto ( as rumoured) or Pires , that would make me truly happy. Also it gets us to the summer, where we would have more choices of manager than we have now. My first choice would be Naglesmann but doubt we would get him as he is highly sort after

But for now I am happy to give Freddie a chance to see what he can do

Jeff

I think the general idea of the board is to give Freddie a chance till probably the summer to see where we end up. If it goes well, he can stay and build on his success. If not or if it’s all very average, the season has gone down the drain anyway so there’s no risk in keeping Freddie on till the summer and re-evaluate then.

CG

Another humdinger of a post by our mecurial PedRo and I off course thank him for it. But – here is the crux of the Arteta Conundrum. Arteta was always the right man for the job from day one. (Everyone knows that) And if they dont- they are living in cloud cuckoo land. But he was humiliated and shafted by Raul. That leaves a scar tissue that cant just vanish overnight. Arteta comes across as a very principled man- I just can not see him coming to Arsenal whilst we have Raul at the club. Imagine the tension from day… Read more »

Joppa Road

Another great post. As always, spot on.

Jeff

We got a manager who had experience managing at top level and he was a total flop. So the answer must be, let’s get a manager who has NO experience at all. Some really good stuff being smoked by various people on here.

Jeff

Kroenke is of course still a problem as we all know and have known since he turned up. An absent, indifferent, stingy, non-football loving owner isn’t what we deserve but even with this handicap, I believe we can still be a great club. Just need the right manager and Emery wasn’t it. The search goes on but I’m happy to let Freddie have a go for a while at least.

bnsb

– He actually wanted to extend Emery and presumably his Nine(9!!) coaches contracts in the summer!! ( Ornstein) –

Did they come by train?

Edu me a favour

“ No Pedro, Arteta should not be the next manager. It’s a terrible idea.”

Did you not read this post ??

Arteta should be our no. 1 choice – everything points to him.

CG

bnsb

“””Did they come by train?”””””

They sure did.

The Arsenal Gravy Train.
Its bloody famous.

Domagoj B

I fully agree with you Pedro. I’ve been for Arteta when Emery was signed, you wrote all the arguments there so I won’t add anything there. CG, If that is right (it does make sense what you wrote), then we’re fucked. Either Raul admits to Mikel that this was a wrong decision and finds a way to show that he can work well with Mikel – because hiring goes two ways nowadays, you also need to show people they will be respected and given free reins in their scope of work – then we might get Arteta. I am just… Read more »

Jeff

How many top teams has Arteta managed? 0.
How many games has Arteta managed and won? 0.
How many trophies has Arteta won as a manager? 0.

So what qualifies him to manage Arsenal?

He’s a disciple of Guardiola.

Come on, what is wrong with you? At least Lampard managed Derby County for a bit and his appointment was risky – but Arteta?

Emiratesstroller

Clearly the departure of Emery is a good time to review other issues at the club apart from First team Head Coach and Coaches. It will be also time to consider also the Senior Board, which needs most definitely refreshing. Garry Neville has made the case that Arsenal’s problems this season were not just about Emery, but also playing staff at the club and in particular in defence who in his view are not only uncoachable but also unimprovable. Looking at the contract positions and Arsenal’s apparent new policy of players being offloaded 2 years before contract expiry if not… Read more »

Luteo Guenreira

I hope Arsenal move forward with a proper plan this time. Best of luck to Freddie.

For all these points Arteta would still be a first time manager and will need to learn on the job, I just worry that Arsenal can’t afford that luxury, nor will the majority of fans have that kind of patience. Considering the state of things I’m not against allowing someone to learn on the job.

David Smith

Agree, would be very happy with Arteta, but also willing to see how Freddie does.
And how about Gio?
But sadly, for reasons mentioned in previous articles and posts, I suspect Raul has very different ideas, suspect Edu might as well. Cannot imagine Arteta being forced to bend to the will of super agents, or inadequate players Raul decides to bring in for whatever reason.
Whoever it is has a massive job on their hands, was listening to Keown this week, he reckons defensively, our team is uncoachable, perhaps why Emery gave up?

china1

I’m sorry but you’re lumping all experienced managers in as one and the same pedro ‘we tried experienced and it failed’ yeah dude we tried one manager. uno. eins. yi ge. ergo experienced managers are bad or agent traps. the frustrating thing with you pedro is that you’re an excellent writer and very clever, but I assume it’s because you’re in marketing, you have this habit of trying to oversell on narratives and go beyond just making fair and good points (of which you made several above) by going a bit overboard with your assessment of pros vs cons etc… Read more »

James wood

No matter what chef you put in charge.
If the ingredients you are working with are
Shit then you will produce shit.

David Smith

Agree ES, the board really needs refreshing, just worry who Raul would put on it.
Joorabchian, Mendes, the Gentlemen of Cali and Sept Blatter would probably rank among his choices.
Whoever the manager is, really hope they are incredibly effective with young players, we have a decent crop, hope they do not go to waste on the whim of some agent

RockyRoe

Oh no, not this BS again

Victorious

How could people see what Lamps is doing at chavs and not want to give Arteta or for that matter Freddie a chance?

Would absolutely give up on the club if they go and do something stupid by bringing an old past it dinosaur as coach

Time to try something fresh and visionary.

Ten Haag
Nagelsmann
Arteta
Poch..
Rodgers
Rose

Have no doubt any of those will give the fans hope and get us excited once again

Freddie can have a say also if starts with a stormer tommorow

Edu me a favour

“ How many top teams has Arteta managed? 0. How many games has Arteta managed and won? 0. How many trophies has Arteta won as a manager? 0.” Now replace “arteta” with “emery” – and then look at where Arsenal are now – what did emery’s experience , games won and trophies won do For us ? Turned us into an even bigger laughing stock. His experience and all his trophies resulted in him bringing on Torreira when we were a goal down against Frankfurt. You have the best manager in the world telling us that arteta is basically a… Read more »

Yiannis

Excellent read. Arteta is the future. If we bring him in now we have to be patient. I’ll be 100% behind him for the period he needs to turn things around. And that won’t be a short period. My only worry is the Arsenal fan base. Ready to crusify anybody after a negative result.

Jeff

It’s really a very simple mistake in logic when people use the failure of Emery as proof for likely success of Arteta. The two are not connected in any way at all. Any new manager may be a gamble but which of these is more likely to succeed? An experienced top level manager or a complete novice?

Graham

I get that Pedro has been pushing this idea for two years and it is an interesting one.

But will Arteta really form a bond with the fans in the same way Freddie will in his interim stint?

Do Arsenal fans have good memories of Arteta?

I mentally associate him as captain of the years of Wenger drift as our ability to pull fourth place out of the hat, papered over (at least for the Board and the AKBs) the ever widening cracks in our set up from which we have not recovered, including an ineffectual midfield.

Graham62

Still the hype about recruiting a new manager and yet we now have Freddie at the helm with no one knowing what’s going to happen next.

Let’s give Freddie a chance. For all we know he may he the answer to all our problems.

As for Arteta, not so sure.

Jeff

And the reason City have done so well under Guardiola isn’t just because of him. They have a world class player in nearly every position. They play dynamic, attacking football. They are well drilled and organised. And even with all of that, this season they find themselves behind Liverpool and Leicester. So does that now mean Arteta isn’t so good as we imagined after all? No, what it means is that City’s previous fortunes were not the handiwork of Arteta. He may well be very good, he may well prove to be a success but it is the biggest gamble… Read more »

Graham62

If someone can give me 5 good reasons why Arteta would be a perfect fit, then I could be convinced.

Please do not include “he is an Arsenal legend”

Over to you Pedro.

Cesc Appeal

He can speak English, people have said good things about him and he works at City. That is about it, right? Lots of managers speak English. Lots of coaches are extolled by their managers. How well does the City ‘IP’ translate when you aren’t allowed to spend £1 billion? Even Guardiola doesn’t have answers tactically for shortcomings and will spend masses (thinking particularly of the defence which he’s whining about despite spending £300 Million or more already on it). If Arteta wanted to take an interim role, sure, but if we’ve got to agree to 3 or 4 years on… Read more »

Champagne charlie

Pedro Agree but disagree at the same time. You know I’m a big fan of Arteta, and fully behind him as an idea, however the landscape at Arsenal causes me concern. I flat out don’t believe in or trust this ‘structure’ to operate smoothly for the foreseeable. With that I’m not convinced putting a manager like Arteta into the mix does him or us any favours when another bump in the road emerges. With all due respect on your ‘we’ve went with experience and it tanked’ line, that’s incredibly reductive and not entirely accurate. We went with a poor fit… Read more »

Emiratesstroller

I want to refer to an experiment which occurred in the mid 1960s and early 1970s at Manchester City. The club employed Joe Mercer [ex Arsenal Captain] as their Manager. He was elderly but highly regarded as being a “safe pair of hands”. In addition the club appointed Malcolm Allison a brilliant young coach to work alongside him who was effectively the head coach. During the seven years that they worked in combination at the club Man City won 6 trophies including the League Title. Manchester City were not in contrast to today a wealthy club, but they produced under… Read more »

TR7

I am repeating myself here but there’s no better candidate available than Poch. He knows the league inside out, can speak English, has already worked wonders with a team with limited resources and his style is anything but boring. We won’t need to pay any compensation to a club for his services.

Lari03

Arteta is not ripe to be the head coach at this moment.

In inculcating the Arsenal way, we need figures like Vieira or Freddie who actually played good football during the Invincible era.

Leaving Man City to Arsenal would be a different proposition. In terms of personnel, staff and transfers.

Arteta would need a “Messi” in our team to genuinely challenge.

Un na naai

Lots of Rodgers talk this morning The names being linked with the job are very exciting. All of the best coaches available bar klopp and pep. Rodgers Arteta or Poch would be fucking brilliant. Early Xmas pressie please arsenal RH must be hating life at the minute. Very bitter now the lame horse he backed has tanked as anyone with a brain predicted he would. Now we are being linked with the very people he railed against All we need is for one of them to be a roaring success or even just attain champions league football while delivering our… Read more »

Un na naai

Arteta would need a “Messi” in our team to genuinely challenge.

Lari

Maybe Martinelli might turn into the next big thing. Has a touch of the Cristiano about him for me

Guns of Brixton

How many times a day do you think Pedro polishes his Portrait of Arteta ?

I’m thinking once in the morning and maybe twice by the evening

🤣🤣

Danny

What I find astonishing is how Emery managed to win the Europa Cup 3 times! After our nightmare 18 months of him, I just don’t see how he’s capable of winning anything!

Cesc Appeal

TR7

Reading the rumours etc it sounds as if Pochettino is the target for Arsenal but that there is a recognition he might be difficult to convince. The next line is then Rodgers and Nuno, in my opinion.

Edu me a favour

“ It’s really a very simple mistake in logic when people use the failure of Emery as proof for likely success of Arteta. The two are not connected in any way at all. Any new manager may be a gamble but which of these is more likely to succeed? An experienced top level manager or a complete novice?” No one is using emery’s failure as proof of the likely success of arteta. What we are using emery’s failure as proof of however , is that proven success and experience Which emery clearly had – doesn’t necessarily translate. Again , nobody… Read more »

Victorious

Puzzling that Allegri has turned down our offer a second time if you believe the tabloids with reports stating our board labelled him as being ‘arrogant’ during the interview process

Wonder if he’s scared of the challenges a job in the EPL will bring or simply just waiting for a sugar daddy club like PSG where he can splash the cash with minimal coaching input,good riddance if that is the case

Upstate Gooner

“Who’s with me?” Not me. Sitting next to Pep in the dugout for a couple of years doesn’t automatically make him Pep Jr. Name other team(s) that were after Arteta? That’s right, not a single one. Captain? So was Xhaka until a few weeks ago. And to compare him to Lampard is a bit of a stretch as well. Lamps is Chelsea’s legend, and he actually did have managerial experience before taking over from Sarri. Not a ton but more than Arteta. As for the perfect hair Spaniard, the 5 yard pass king is certainly no footballing legend. He had… Read more »

71Guns

Go with Freddie till the end of the season then get in an experienced guy with some decent management experience under his belt – not a rookie. This stuff about Arteta strikes me as an understandable but nonetheless slightly comical case of wishful thinking – and reactive in the sense that it’s effectively saying “we’ve tried experience and it didn’t work, so now let’s go with someone who has no management experience whatsoever”. Crazy, IMHO, sorry…

Nelson

Danny

He didn’t have the language problem when coaching in Spain. Also, he wasn’t disturbed by the fan noise.

TR7

Cesc

If we don’t get Poch, I wouldn’t mind sticking with Freddie till the end of the season. As per reports we will have to shell out £12.5M to get Rodgers which is a very hefty amount. We have already paid close to £4M to Unai and his team.

Leftsidesanch

Pep is hardly going to come out and speak in anything less than glowing terms about one of his assistants in Arteta. He may turn out to be a good manager but I’m not sure if he’d be suited right now with the problems we have .

I’ve seen him compared with Lampard, lets not forget that Lampard did his apprentice with Derby County and in a notoriously competitive league at that.

I’d be more comfortable if he had some sort of experience but at the minute he’s nothing more than a potentially exciting wildcard.

Victorious

Calling it right now that Freddie will start with a banger tomorrow by sweeping aside Norwhich

Very easy to really improve on the paint dry we’ve been subjected to watch under Emery all season

Leftsidesanch

Freddie will communicate simply with players you hope. You hope that he focuses on our strengths and tries to minimise our weaknesses. Emery always appeared as if he was content just not to lose which is a bad base to start from.

Playing players in their correct positions will help and for the love of everything holy please don’t rely on the chuckle brothers at CB. At least Sok looks irritated by his stupidity but it doesn’t stop him from repeating the mistakes. Insanity no?

Graham62

Danny

That’s easy.

In Spain most if not all of the players understood Emery’s lingo.

Also, back then, this playing out from the back crap wasn’t bible.

Nelson

Pedro

Why don’t you send this piece to Josh? If Arteta aligns himself with a few invincible, I would feel more confident. He definitely needs defense support. Also, with more ex_Arsenal legends in his team, he’ll gain more fan support.

Dissenter

Pedro is baring his fangs again for Arteta.

He’s about to enter the facts-free, subjective laden I-am-always-right mode.
There will be dissent and there will be bindings of those that stray from the part of the Arteta-eater.
Beware people.

Cesc Appeal

TR7

I think in all honesty if we landed Pochettino and had to wait until the summer you could let the fan base know, if it was Rodgers you could have leaks it was going to happen and then if it was Ljungberg with maybe Bergkamp as assistant and some other legends forming part of his coaching staff until the end of the season the mood among the fans would be much improved.

It could actually be a fast way of reversing the entire situation.

Cesc Appeal

‘Why don’t you send this piece to Josh?’

The club are hiring a manager with precisely 0 days experience on the recommendation of a blogger.

And Jorge Mendes was the danger to Arsenal?

Dissenter

*binnings

Chika

Amy Lawrence on Arteta

“He interviewed superbly and was in many ways the more tantalising and ambitious choice. His hunger for success, knowledge of Arsenal, clarity of self-expression and the way he presented his ideas made him, in many ways, the outstanding candidate”

Micheal

Good post again Pedro and you make a very persuasive case. I certainly support the idea of bringing in a new face with a visionary plan, rather than a tried and tested safe pair of hands. My only reservation is that appointing a new manager/coach is only part of the problem at AFC. All the most successful clubs in history have had a committed and engaged owner and board of directors. Arsenal have a disengaged owner with no interest in football who has never invested a single penny in the club and a board of patsies whose average age is… Read more »

Chika

Victorious

“Calling it right now that Freddie will start with a banger tomorrow by sweeping aside Norwhich.”

The Emery defenders would accuse the players of not pulling their weight for Emery albeit in a dysfunctional system.

Dissenter

Tottenham have to be the bigger club now since the panacea in the minds of many here is that we hire their just fired manager who won nada.

This Poch love-in is doing my head in.
Poch’s spuds reign also coincided with them stumbling into a pretty good squad. Poch had the benefit of Harry Kane, Son [who was almost sent back to Germany] and other signings he wasn’t responsible for.

Have we reached the level where Spuds turd is our caviar?

scytheavatar

Who do you think should be our next manager, a snake like Arteta who would rather develop the players of our rivals, or someone like Ljungberg who stayed with us and helped us develop our youngster?

Chitom

I’m not against Arteta but let’s not complicate the issue here, the only reason he might be worth a shout is because of Pep he’s been working under.
Everything else is just noise.

Ernest Reed

Nuno for no other reason for the sheer pleasure of watching Pedro bust a gasket on a daily basis. That would be entertaining.

Chika

I firmly believe what we need at the club is a slow and steady rebuilding process with a clarity of purpose and ambition.

Arteta is your man!

Dissenter

Victorious
Freddie will get a new manager bounce that will dissipate after a short while, same as the bounce Emery got after Wenger was signed.
Crap always rises to the surface so the crappy players will resort back to type.

That said, if Freddie can end the silly playing out of the back nonsense and not depend on Guendouzi as much, he should be fine for the first 10 matches.

Chika

Another solid post, Pedro!

Danny

Nelson
Graham62
————–
Fair enough but 3 times? I guess it just proves the point that getting in a winning manager don’t mean shit.

Ernest Reed

I think what needs to be taken into consideration is that regardless of who comes in, the prevailing issues remain – highly questionable management team (Raul, etc.) , absent ownership, players who make a lot of money and show up only when they feel like it (Ozil, etc.).

There is a lot going on at Arsenal right now, and a new manager is not necessarily going to be the fix all, whether that be a novice like Arteta or experienced like Allegri.

Nelson

I am still confused with the current management structure. I would understand that Edu and the coach would provide the recommendation of which player they want. Josh would give the approval and Raul will negotiate the contract. The same would apply to the players under contract. But currently, Raul seems to decide everything.

Ernest Reed

Just curious Pedro, if Arteta does get the gig and turns out to be the wrong person, you going to run him out of town like you did with Wenger and Emery?

Matt

Wow Pedro. That’s some serious wood (or is it plastic) you’ve got for the lego man. Look it’s your blog and you can promote whoever you like but there has to be some context to what Arsenal currently are. Firstly, for all the ‘City IP’ the fact is they have spent more than anyone to assemble that squad. How much of their success is Pep magic dust or just pure player talent we’ll never know. Would some second hand Pep magic dust miraculously transform some of our squad or would it be like applying lipstick to a pig? Secondly, given… Read more »

Dissenter

I think PapSok needs a long benching. Pepe needs some good man management. He needs to start games because we remortgaged our home for him last summer. If he finds his best form, he could be the tip of the spear in most formations and make it easier to sell either of Auba/Laca. Torriera needs to be played in a very limited mode – defensive midfielder with no other commitments just like he does with Uruguay. Guendouzi needs to be told to drive forward and let his runs create spaces. He does the opposite ; runs into dead ends and… Read more »

SUGA3

Arteta, schmarteta. Go Freddie!

Danny

When Arteta joined us from Everton, loads of people here were dancing up and down. I naively wrote that I’d never heard of him and nearly got my head beaten off by you lot! I’ve never followed Everton and I’ve no idea who their captain is today! Plus Arteta had never played for Spain and never did………
He might be worth a punt but I’d prefer Vieira even though unlike Freddie, he never played at the Emirates (or did Edu).

Graham62

Pedro

Remember I’m an “old codger”, I’m on meds, I have an artificial hip, my left knee is giving me grief, and I still believe in things that many on here will never understand.

So, in laymans terms then, what can Arteta give us?

Ernest Reed

“The Emery defenders would accuse the players of not pulling their weight for Emery albeit in a dysfunctional system.”

Of course it would be the truth – as bad as Emery was, the players have been even worse.

CG

Chika “He interviewed superbly and was in many ways the more tantalising and ambitious choice. His hunger for success, knowledge of Arsenal, clarity of self-expression and the way he presented his ideas made him, in many ways, the outstanding candidate” So they chose Rauls mate instead!! Who would not object to the signings he would make. Who would not object when stalwarts like Ramsey and Kos were ushered disgracefully out of the door – because there is no cut there. He did the same with Edu You can read these cockroaches like a book. Lets hope Freddie wins a few… Read more »

Dissenter

Martin Samuel summarizes the problem
MARTIN SAMUEL – CHIEF SPORTS WRITER: Arsenal have a Champions League front two, a mid-table midfield and a defence that could get any boss the sack and a lesser club

There is a player poverty, regardless of Emery.

We have too many expensive unsuitable signings in key areas that have to be moved on with losses. Xhaka is now one of them. He needs to go but we have to prepare ourselves to loses some money on his way out.

scytheavatar

Raul insisted on getting a DoF before buying players, which is why we brought no one but Denis Suarez on loan last Jan……. Raul is a businessman, like Gazidis, and he needs to rely on the opinions of football experts like Edu on who the club should buy.

71Guns

“Remember I’m an “old codger”, I’m on meds, I have an artificial hip, my left knee is giving me grief, and I still believe in things that many on here will never understand.”
Good enough for me mate. When can you start?

Cesc Appeal

Dissenter

I think he’s being kind, the midfield is every inch as bad as the defence.

Emery did not set it up properly which made it look even worse, but it’s still poor.

Dissenter

Nelson
‘ But currently, Raul seems to decide everything.’

You’re a good man and I truly like your perspective but that’s viewpoint is just fantasy.
You think Edu moved his family to London to be a rubber stamp for Raul. There’s zero evidence that Raul decides ‘everything’.

Cesc Appeal

Mertesacker to be made assistant it looks like?

Stewart Moseley

Whether it’s Arteta, Ljungberg or even Vieira, we need to bring in an ex-Arsenal man. The fans will unite behind an Arsenal legend, the man himself will be given more time than a non-Arsenal man would, and this in turn means the board would get some breathing space. I don’t buy into the everything at Arsenal is bad narrative. Things were always going to be rocky to some extent after the 22-year reign of one man. But we do have some good players and the set of younger players could be top drawer. Bringing in Edu was a good move… Read more »

Cesc Appeal

Ljungberg spoke well

MuddyGooner

You win Pedro !

You’ve convinced me Arteta is the right man for the job.

Let’s hope everything pans out the way we want it to.

TR7

Let’s hope Freddie is everything what Pedro expects Arteta to be.

Emiratesstroller

Reverting back to my earlier post the key to recruiting a new “head coach” particularly someone who is relatively young and inexperienced is building a successful football management team and coaching staff at the club. They all need to be “singing from the same hymn sheet” with good communication skills and and clear objectives as to how the club moves forward. One of my major concerns was that we brought in people like Sanhelli and Mislintat and then Emery with no clarity as to whether they could work together and to ensure that they were singing from the same hymn… Read more »

Nelson

“ArsenalAcademy manager Per Mertesacker will be supporting interim head coach Freddie Ljungberg in the short-term. Per will be in the dugout at Carrow Road tomorrow.”

Looks like Arsenal is trying to save every penny. They are using already paid employee. Maybe Edu will be temporary supporting the coach also.

Emiratesstroller

Nelson

I don’t think this is a matter of saving money.

If you are going to recruit a new Head Coach then obviously he will be bringing in additional coaching staff to work alongside him.

This was also a major flaw when we appointed Emery. He was allowed to
bring in something like 6 staff to work alongside him all of whom have left.

That is a big hole to fill.

Kutty

We should go for Marcelo Gallardo

Batistuta

Lolz at City IP

Marc

Pedro We all know you want Arteta – you may be right about him you may be wrong. What if he won’t come to us now? I know I go on about this but it looks like you’re so locked into Arteta that you won’t accept anyone else (maybe the Poch but I think that’s highly unlikely). It looks like whomever comes in will not be good enough for you to the point that you seem to be finding bonkers reasons as to why a potential candidate isn’t suitable. Scaremongering was mentioned several times yesterday – this was not an… Read more »

Marc

Wasn’t there a story yesterday that Gilberto Silva was joining the coaching staff?

Useroz

What’s Mertesacker bringing to the table? Ditto Gilberto. Has he done coaching? Keown on the other hand proved himself when reportedly fixed the defence in the year. we got to the CL final. Not Bould though. In any case Freddie needs to find some assistants ASAP. If Gary N is to be believed part of the squad isn’t coachable. Which means, come Jan TW, we may need some dealings even if Freddie is an interim guy. Last issues. • must reform the darn board. Too old and too naive in the modern football trade • seriously unimpressed with Raul and… Read more »

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