Well boys and girls, lovely Arsenal people, Mikel Arteta. Let that sink in for a moment. The first manager we’ll hire mid-season in over 20 years is likely to be him, and it’s an appointment that will at the very least divide opinions.
To be honest I am disappointed with the board again. This was a time to show ambition and pride. To go and just take Poch, or Allegri or Simeone. Hire a top manager and show we have top ambitions. Instead if we pick Arteta, we’re going cheap.
This shows we lacked the desire to invest in the squad, so we’re giving it to someone who will take it mid-season, just because we can’t find anyone else. Don’t get me wrong, I will support him, and I do hope he does the best he can, but the odds are massively stacked against him.
He’s very highly regarded at Man City for his training with individual players, but it’s a bit easier to coach the talent of Man City than ours. Also, he has 0 days of managerial experience. Will he be able to respect the squad?
We have a bunch of bang average overpaid players who don’t bother turning up for a legend like Freddy, how will they respond to Mikel Arteta? Also, there’s the small problem of the lack of coaching staff.
After all he’s the assistant at Man City, not the main man. That’s Pep and he won’t let anyone else go, just because Arteta has a good opportunity to take over. The thing we’re hoping on is that he’s taking some of Peps mojo with him, but it’s a huge gamble.
Even if he does, Man City are not really famous for their defence. We are a complete horror show at the back and how will Mikel Arteta prove that we can improve there? We need someone who knows what it is to come in a messy situation where you need a result and get it in any way possible.
Rafa Benitez would’ve been ideal for the current situation but we don’t want to pay the Chinese his buyout clause because we are cheap. I wonder what the interview was like. “Hey Mikel, what can you do with no money and a bang average squad?”
“I will dominate the league with possession football which died 10 years ago!” And Raul Sanllehi is like “You are hired!”. I mean we were impressed by the reports Unai Emery had for every player in the squad and how did that turn out?
The people making this decision are so incapable of running a football club and it’s plain evident now. The idea of hiring a former player is an attractive one. It has something romantic in it, but romance does not win football games. You still need to be a proper manager.
Lampard was appointed at Chelsea, but at least he managed in the championship, and he’s won a lot of trophies for Chelsea, while Mikel Arteta is not quite an Arsenal Legend. As I said, we do have one now and I don’t see any change in motivation.
That said, if we hire him, I will support the guy. You need support in the first place to take this job anyway and I will wish him all the best if he comes, because I don’t think it’ll be his fault if he fails.
The board are just opening Pandora’s box and it’s only hope that’s left. By the way Everton will hire Ancelotti. We’ll see where that will take them, and we do play them soon. I just hope the board are watching very carefully or another one will bite the dust before the season ends.
Konstantin