Getting the right manager for Arsenal will not be easy.
Arsenal fans are quite divided right now, well, apart from Unai Emery being sacked that is. Reading online comments on here, on social media and on Youtube it is fairly clear that most want Unai Emery gone. But that is where the consensus stops.
I have little doubt that if Jurgen Klopp or Pep Guardiola turned up at the Emirates the vast majority of Arsenal fans would welcome them with open arms. I struggle to think of many more that would get such universal approval.
But there are a bunch of managers out there that I believe would still get the majority of fans onside.
Some, like Jose Mourinho, simply will not be able to unite Arsenal supporters, no matter how well they do. For some, there is an inbuilt contempt for some managers that simply cannot be overcome. Mourinho is one such manager.
I am fairly confident that the following five managers have the reputation and credibility to reunite the fan base.
Massimiliano Allegri
His record is almost impossible to pick holes in, he is among the elite coaches of the world for what he has done with Juventus.
Erik ten Hag
Fantastic with young players, has done brilliant with Ajax and plays the sort of football that any fan would want to see.
Brendan Rodgers
For no more reason than he is the flavour of the month right now. Strike while the iron is hot as they say.
Freddie Ljungberg
I doubt many would object to the former Gooner taking charge, even if it was on a temporary basis.
Luis Enrique
A serial winner with Barcelona and would still be Spain manager today if not for personal reasons.
I could add Mikel Arteta, Patrick Vieira and many others to the above list but I do feel the five I have named are either better positioned, as is the case with Freddie or simply better suited than all the other potential candidates.
Managers like Antonio Conte, Thomas Tuchel etc obviously have to be in with a shout and if I did a top ten list then they would be included but they have their detractors in bigger numbers than the five I have named.
Again, this is purely my own personal opinion and not based on statistics or anything else.
Put it this way, while there may be many more managers that would receive massive approval from the majority of the Arsenal fans I am convinced that if any of the five I have listed were named coach tomorrow then a great majority fo the fans would be over the moon.
If and it is a big Emery is sacked, just to pick holes in the managers mentioned for no reason but to highlight how hard it will be. Allegri cant speak English (thats something we know about). Ten Hag has links to Bayern and still turned them down in public for the latest job. Rogers has already distanced himself from leaving Leicester imminently. Lundberg is all ready at Arsenal. Enrique has said he isn’t interested in coming back into football while next summer. Realistically i cant see Arsenal attracting any of them, except Freddie but his influence is already there. I don’t want moronino and the others mentioned aren’t realistic either for one reason or another. Just shows how difficult it would be to not only get the right man but to appease everyone from the start, let alone after 10 games. Its a real dilemma for sure.
Reggie, I said unite the fan base. I never said who would be available etc. I do not disagree with a lot of what you said but that was literally not the subject at hand.
But Admin, my point is it wont unite the fan base if none are available.
I understand that. Its a hypothetical question based on just 5 managers, personally I would give Eddie Howe the job but that’s just me and I never included him in the list because I do not feel he would unite the base.
I agree that Mourinho wouldn’t unite the fan base at all, but he’s a very tempting choice being the best manager currently available by a country mile, and one the best managers in the world.
Unless I have this wrong, I think his spats were always with Wenger, not with the club, or ourselves.
Looking at the names mentioned, I would love the Ajax manager, but would he fix our defence though? Our defending has cost us for about a decade now, and after watching Ajax many times, I can’t see it improving a lot under ten Hag. We badly need a defensive manager.
There are pros and cons for all candidates and that could be the basis for a good article which I am seriously considering doing on each potential candidate, especially with the international break coming up but the whole point of the article is purely about uniting the fan base. I think most will agree that the five I listed would unite the club in the short term. And we do need reuniting.
I agree on that. The fan base has been fractured for a long time. But even getting the right manager, wouldn’t solve this problem, because we still have the divisive figure that is Ozil. We need rid of him as well.
Exactly, someone who can defend conceding goals week after week
Why would the best manager in the world get sacked at chelsea then utd. If he is the best manager in the world im a beauty queen.
Will we ever enjoy a united fan base when we appear to be going backwards?
As it stands, I think most fans would be happy with anyone but Emery at the moment. The board recently gave him the dreaded ‘vote of confidence’ which typically translates as: ‘We are actively looking for a replacement and will sack the manager when a suitable suitor has been found’.
Firstly, I’d go for Arteta if he’s interested to get off Pep’s shadow and run a team with his own idea. If he isn’t, then I’d give Freddie a go. He knows the current issues we’re facing now. Either one of these 2 should give us improvement we need now.
If sacking Emery is going to cost us millions, then I’d suggest we demote him to assistant manager to Arteta or Freddie.
My 2 beers
😀 😀 if only it was possible.
If Arsenal want to hire a new manager, they will only talk to the unemployed ones currently
I believe they would ask Ljungberg to be the caretaker first though. It is the safest and the cheapest option for the board, because they can always replace him if he fails or promote him to be the new manager if he succeeds
If Arsenal have to choose between the unemployed managers, I’d like them to get Laurent Blanc. He is not the Gooners’ favorite, but he would adapt faster in EPL as compared to the likes of Allegri and Enrique
why not give Sam Allayce or Davie Moyes a chance….?
Arteta makes a harder Bouldy face than Steve Bould himself.
EDDIE HOWWE GUYS LET’S GIVE HIM A CHANCE
Agree
what about king Henry?
didnt the fans dying to have him 12 months ago?
Henry failed at Monaco.
Enrique does not speak English. We would have similar issues to what we currently do with Emery.
Arteta, Ten Hag, Naglesman would be the 3 I would be aiming for
The sensible move would be to bring back Wenger till the end of the season, which will allow Freddie to settle down and take over the coming season. There is no harm in reaching out to Le Prof.
*I hope this time the comment is published after the moderation!! Last time a similar comment was deleted😥
Why are we wasting our time on such topic??
Anyway board is not going sack him
2 contradictory articles…
Previous article we were urged to accept that Emery will not back so we need accept and now we are talking about replacement…
Nope, I wish some of you would actually read the article properly. It is a simple question, can these managers unite the fan base. That is it. Not should Emery be fired, not should he stay or whatever. But the fans are divided and whoever comes in after Emery, whenever that is, will have to unite the fan base. Mourinho would not do that. This article is purely about managers that can unite the fans, not of these managers are available or do a good job or whatever, just one simple criteria. Unity.
Allegri, Enrique
No Brenda or Maureen
Maureen because he’s a liability
And certainly no former players unless as a caretaker manager
We will never beat Klopp and Guardiola with Brenda, Arteta, Hag, Emery
Bring in Llungberg as caretaker and then in summer get Allegri or someone who has won trophies in England, Germany, Italy or Spain and done well in Champions League
Both Enrique and particularly Allegri would have difficulty communicating in English; probably more than Emery.
Then again Ponchettino used an interpreter for his first two seasons.
Both would want the Board to bring out the cheque book to strengthen the squad. The deficiencies in midfield and central defence have been well known for some years now.
The perfect choice for Arsenal is Nagelsmann, the board either need to make a choice of either putting up the cash now to pry him away from RB Leipzig or wait until the summer to take him then.
Nagelsmann ticks every box, he’s young, he can communicate with the players well(can speak English), very skilled tactically, can work with youth, can get the best out of players and knows how to build a team with identity
CannonSpike, I was about to post a reply when I read yours. Julian Nagelsmann would also be my choice for the reasons you state.
Two years ago I would have gone for Allegri but realistically I can’t see him coming here and we probably can’t afford him.
Nagelsmann was nicknamed ‘baby Mourinho’ but he’s more like ‘baby Klopp’ with his style of football.
Results will unite the coach and fans.We require a tough no nonsense coach who can handle inflated egos and bring to zero the pampering that has been done by the two coaches.A man who can put those not interested in performing on the pitch in their respective places. Doubt Arteta can handle these egos on his own. At City, Pep has discipline in place, which makes it easier. Arterta may have the technical nous, but man management, ruthlessness, I doubt. Brendon would have been a fine choice after Arsene, he could sign his own type of players. After investing 200M+, I doubt the board will be on another spending spree. With our crop of players, Brenden would prefer to remain at LC. What can one do with Socrates, Luiz, AMN, Kolasinac, Xhaka, Mesut and Mkhitaryan, Elneny when the come back? Same applies to Tag. Enrique has won only at Barca, his stints at Celta and Roma do not inspire confidence.Max has only won domestic at Italy, bottled on both occasions at UCL finals.That leaves us with Jose, the man had spats with Arsene, but now both do punditry and get along well. Jose won the ultimate UCL with lesser known Porto, took CFC to greater heights, won the EL with Utd. in his first year, took the fight to City in the EPL, finished second.So he has won where ever he went. He suffers the third year syndrome, who cares, if in two years we win 2-3 majors which we are dreaming for the past 15 years. The FA is a consolation prize which we have failed to win in recent past. Once we become dominant again, we can look out for a younger coach. Trust me, once results go the right way, we move up the EPL ladder, progress to the semis/finals/win, the fans will support him. After all the objective of the club is to win majors, why be myopic when the man help us achieve our aspirations? A contract of 2 years would be good for us and Jose.
First of all, if Emery is sacked, the new manager will need to be unemployed at the moment or at least not a first team manager.
So Allegri ticks the boxes, so does Arteta.
But Rodgers, Ten Hag, Nagelsmann etc. will never come to Arsenal in the middle of the season. Why would they and why would their clubs let them leave? Ajax and Leipzig are in the CL, doing just fine. Leicester is fighting for top 4.
So Allegri, Arteta possibly are the only few choices to take over in the middle of the season. Ljungberg of course as caretaker.
I would love to see Ten Hag manage arsenal in the future, someone said in the comment above that he is bad defensively, but u 4get to understand that when you play possession base football your defenders have little to do.He plays the kind of football we #Arsenal fans grace 4.
Ljungberg has absolutely no experience at this level. Arteta is no more than an assistant.
They have a playing record for us, but why would that be important???
We shouldn’t sack a manager and replace him with a novice.
Ljungberg is the only realistic option.
Allegri – I don’t think he speaks English, just like Emery and see where that has got us.
Hag – Already said he doesn’t want to work in England.
Rodgers – Why on earth would he leave Leicester to come to us? They are second in league and we are practically a mid table team.
Enrique – He’s not ready to break his sabbatical after his family loss.
I’d take Ljungberg, even just to the end of the season.
BUT, I am now convinced Emery won’t be dumped until the end of the season when his contract is up and therefore no compensation required.
Wow we are already split and no one has come in yet.
I’d love it if we were all united again… and to see the picture of Just Arsenal changing to that of Martin in an Ozil shirt 😜😂👍
It doesn’t fit me no more Sue. I do not hate Ozil and will cheer him every time he does something good. This is not and never has been esonal. My love is for the club and not an individual player.
I was only kidding, Martin… ah so you admit you used to have one?! 😆
I know it’s the club for all of us, not just one player. I was just having a laugh, as right now, it’s needed, trust me!!
Of course I have his shirt, just no longer rate him. When he arrived I was as giddy as the next person and he was brilliant at the start. Just not now. And yes, we do need a laugh.
julian nagelsmann would do great as well
Admin MARTIN, YOU NEED TO DEFINE “UNITE THE FAN BASE”. UNITE MEANS AS ONE AND THAT IS CLEARLY AN IMPOSSIBLE TASK. SUPPOSE WE SAY A 90% FAN APPROVAL. EVEN THAT WOULD BE NEXT TO IMPOSSIBLE , SO I SAY YOU CAN ONLY HOPE TO EVER GAIN A SMALL MAJORITY OF ALL THE FANS FOR ANY ONE MANAGER. Life is like that. MOST WOULD COME ROUND ONCE THE NEW MAN IS CHOSEN, BUT AS FOR “UNITE”, IT DOESN’T EXIST MARTIN!
Jon, I know it’s your style but please, try to cut down on the capitals. Makes reading what you say a less enjoyable experience.
Jon, I’m united with you on that one!!!
Are you still of the opinion that UE will be gone in the two week window you suggested?
It seems increasingly unlikely now in my opinion, but if he does go, my belief is that freddie WOULD unite the fanbase…if it were to be until the end of the season and then reviewed.
Otherwise, we just have to get behind the team and hope UE can produce some kind of magic in the cup competitions.
Just a shame you didn’t include Raphael Benitez on your list he is in China and I’m sure he will be happy to be back in UK in decent club.
Enrique has personal issue, lost his baby girl, young daughter, left Spain team for that issue… Then Allegri is not at all an Arsenal coach like as much as Emery is wrong, defensive football, same for Mourhino. Other option not realistic, they all have a good job, beside all these coaches wanted by top clubs we are not anymore!
Today the only option to save this club is Arsene Wenger! He was offered jb but until end of season, he did not, can’t accept this, unless he has a year option upon results in German league and CL… Most likely, they will!l stick to assistant coach in charge as he provides results, a 4-0 against Dortmund and a win in CL since Kovac left!
With young players he develloped for decade now ready Wenger will do way better than any coach who won’t give then time is EPL as Emery does. Wenger was not scared to bench anyone if a youngster burst on the scene, Bellerin as many…Our football and club image need Wenger urgently. None of these drama would happen,he would Ozil as Xhaka, any players, fans and club! This is so amateur looking!
Embarrassing!