Arteta only answers to the Kroenkes with Edu now working under him

Mundo Deportivo reports that Mikel Arteta is no longer reporting to Director of Football Edu, but more that things are the other way around.

The Spaniard was initially signed as head coach when he was brought in to take over following a string of struggling results under both Unai Emery and Freddie Ljungberg, and his impact was immediate.

He brought a newfound feeling to the club, a fighting spirit to be seen on the pitch, and an aura which lifted those inside the club, as well as the onlookers on the outside.

He’s since been promoted to manager, which while unreported was expected to bring more importance and a stronger say in the goings on at the club, the Spanish report now claims that he has since moved further up the food chain.

Raul Sanllehi was one of the cogs which was removed, someone who was believed to play a key role in signings, with one of the Kroenke family tasked with control over contract negotiations.

The report claims that the departures, and the reshuffle in personnel has seen Arteta given a role similar to that of Arsene Wenger previously, and that Edu now answers to him within the hierarchy.

Has Mikel done enough to deserve such power within the club? Are the club piling too much pressure on such an inexperienced manager?

Patrick

Tags Edu Mikel Arteta

35 Comments

  1. TBF that is how it should be ,not having when Emery was in charge and being a yes man and in the end lost all control of the team and putting us back 2 -3 years after Arsene left .
    This is the way it should be ,no excuses if it goes pear shaped that’s on Arteta ,no more silly fans making the most stupidest of excuses IE ,translation problems ,players
    Not playing for him , he didn’t get the players he wanted .all bullshit excuses ,let the man manège and see what happens ,if it does not work out then that’s on him ,and I wouldn’t
    Use constant excuses to to excuse him .

    1. Dan kit, how was Unai Emery a “yes man”, given that as head coach, he was supposed to coach the players recruited and bought by others.
      Arteta as manager should have a considerable say in the recruitment of players he is expected to coach, to play the style and implement the tactics he wants to employ.
      Maybe KS&E have recognised the mistake they made in not giving Emery a say in recruitment?
      By the way I am still waiting for examples of where I have “slagged off” Arsene Wenger.

      1. ozziegunner I can assure you he will not answer that, it was Emery that gave Saka, Martinelli and Smith Rowe the Chance to show us what they can do, I’m sure if Arteta was here last season we might still not know what Saka and Martinelli can do. As bad as Pepe May be, under emery he played some good games for us, it was the same emery that took us to our first European final in over 14 or 15 years, the fa cup we won last season, it was emery that took us to the quarterfinals, emery played smith Rowe a lot in the Europa league, it was emery that made us know how good Martinez is by starting him in the Europa league and cups competitions, emery gave lots of chances to the young players something Arteta is scared to do, even Mattéo Guendouzi Played we’ll under emery. I’m very sure if emery was still here last season, we would have beating Olypiamcos because emery will start Martinez and Smith Rowe and he will have some talented youngsters on the bench. But no let’s ignore all that and hate on the man. Arteta has my full support but no one can tell me Arteta is a better coach than Emery.

        1. *the fa cup we won last season, it was emery that took us to the quarterfinals*

          This is not true, Unai Emery left in December, FA cup started in January, this is 100 Arteta

            1. Last season we played Leeds in Third Round on the 6th January. We won 1-0
              Learn a bit about your club please…

        2. But it’s Arteta with a cup to his name Leno ,people don’t remember managers who get to the quarter finals of cups and played a couple of youngsters along the way

  2. PATRICK Easy answer to your final line question YES , NO, respectively! Any efficiently run club MUST have the manager as overall control of all team matters Simple as that, Kroenke. If you don’t rate him then don’t appoint him. But as you have, then let him manage as he sees fit.

  3. If that’s the case now, I am asking Arteta to sack the incompetent Edu asap and get someone that can get the transfer deals done swiftly. He needs somebody with good negotiation skills to get rid of the fringe players too.

  4. Best practice in the industry is to put player in and out decisions in the hands of a team architect, above the manager. The architect, often referred to as technical or sporting director, is responsible for long term planning for the entire squad.
    If the manager, especially one on a short term contract (who is therefore being incentivized to win now) is allowed to acquire and sell players, he will sacrifice the young academy prospects for the older, experienced players in order to win now. The long term planning needs of the club become less important. I think this could explain our current situation.

    1. RFrancis, agree, but the manager/head coach should be consulted cooperatively, particularly regarding the type of player required to implement the style of play and the tactics the manager/head coach wishes to employ.

  5. After seeing the way it affected AW in his last two /three years, despite his decades in management, I find it completely irresponsible for the club to… firstly give this reported amount of power to an unproven person… secondly, that this has happened in just a few months that included corona virus and all that entails…thirdly, that he has no proven assistant to help him.

    I am very hopefull that MA will become a great success, but to put this amount of responsibility on one unproven individual at a club the size of The Arsenal is astounding and unrivalled in the PL.
    Good luck to you Mikel Arteta, I hope you are big enough for the job.

    1. Once again Ken this is a rumour and one hopes that Arteta and Edu are working cooperatively for the good of the Club.
      The last thing the Arsenal needs at the moment is a power struggle in management.

      1. OG, I don’t see Edu as being any more experienced than MA to be honest, as some of the signings and contracts are proof of that view!!

        UE was ignored regarding the players he wanted, by so called experts in the transfer market, but he was employed as a coach and that’s where he failed.
        Now, the club seem to have said OK that didn’t work, so let’s lump it all on an unproven person in his first role as a manager.
        Nothing seems to make sense behind the scenes at the moment.

        1. ken1945 I don’t believe this rumor to be true but if it’s true then the decision makers in the club are more foolish than I thought. Even the likes of Klopp and guardiola have people behind the scenes that do that for them.

        2. Ken, one could argue that UE coached well enough to finish one position higher and reach the final of the Europa League in his first season, until the players downed tools and the Club was 8th, when he was sacked in season 2.
          I am still concerned should Arsenal meet Emery’s Villarreal in this seasons Europa League.

        3. KEN Are you not unnecessarily dignifying a mere rumour with this post? If you have a case for your alleging of Edu and MA both being not up to the job, then why are you standing by MA -as I am doing, though, in mycase, I have complete confidence in MA – instead of calling for his exit to protect the club you love?

          This is exactly the reason I was so anti AW those last years and said so, consistently and forcefully; to help thr club I love.

          So which side are you on, as you seem to be playing it both sides, IMO?
          For full context and because I know how you will answer -assuming you do- I need to point out that all managers make good AND poor buys. Good for MA are GABRIEL, PARTEY; poor are Willian, plus extending Luiz’s contract.

  6. If this is true it’s completely irresponsible on the part of ownership…even Edu has more experience when it comes to player recruitment than Arteta…just think of how poorly this model looked under Wenger after Dein was escorted from the building…I’m not slagging Arteta, this would be a tough ask for most managers, even though most would love to have total control over personnel decisions…this likewise makes me think that Edu only got this gig due to his close connections with Kia and the current Brazilian players on our squad, which minus Marts have yielded mixed results(btw Cagigao discovered Marts and they gave him his walking papers), and to appease a disgruntled fanbase…if that’s the case, I can only hope they will bring in a more Dein-like figure to provide Arteta with some much-needed assistance at season’s end or sooner

    1. TRPV, A Dein like figure eh? If only there were such geniuses around! DD was a magificent one off that our club catastrophically and stupidly betrayed and from which all our subsequent problems , including Kroenke, have flowed. I want the one and only REAL DD, NOW!

      1. Jon, I agree that there’s nobody in football like Dein, and his partnership with Wenger was unrivalled, but didn’t he introduce Kroenke to Arsenal?

        1. Yes, as a source of external funding. When he was forced out the door, Dein sold his shareholding to Red and White Holdings (Usmanov et al) David Dein introducing Kroenke was not the problem; the long term Board members selling out to Kroenke, not Usmanov was!

          1. Ozzie, Spot on ! So many simply do not know exactly what happened. We older ones need to constantly remind them of the whole truth, as you did!

        2. Jax, yes he did and lived to regret it. But as you will remember, in the end he opted for Usmanov who was ,lets not forget, a true fan and used to come to games, unlike Kroenke, who has no love even for the sport “his” club play!

  7. Southampton had their most successful period when producing giving chances to young players ,selling players like Mane for great fees,their policy at the time was to hire a coach with a define football philosophy not afraid to give youth a chance who would work in the system already in place meaning when the manager needed a player he told the club which position,age,attributes qualities he was after and the recruitment department would provide a list of players including some from the academy in the latter stage they started losing their way now they’re back to the same thing I read an article about Ralph’s work at the club he put a football manual together which was given to every coaches at the club which tells them how to train players,which systems they need to learn play which is the same as the first team every team inside the club plays the same way I think it is a great idea!

    1. One more thing Ralph explained that he uses many things he learnt working for the Red Bull organisation that’s how they do things but added his own touch to it.

  8. If there is any foundation to this “report” it suggests the Owners are at least aware of problems in the Management structure at the Club culminating in the signing of Willian ,who thus far, has proved to be a yet another bad investment. Our appalling recruitment record has made us the laughing stock of the EPL and even the Kroenkies , with their limited knowledge of the game, must be aware that their investment will be at risk unless this major problem is sorted out.

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