Arsenal have had their worst start to the season in 50 years, and although we all know about the injuries and Covid infections that have plagued the club in the last month, there have been whispers that there are other problems in the dressing room and at management level.
Although both Vinai Venkatesham and Edu have made long missives in support of Arteta’s long term rebuilding project, the fact remains that the Gunners are still botttom of the table with zero points. According to David Ornstein (as reported by Football.London), the fact that Arteta himself pushed to be jointly responsible for incoming signings and calling himself “manager” may have been a little too much for a novice to handle.
“Mikel Arteta’s promotion to manager was something that I think Arteta himself was in favour of. Clearly, there’s been huge conversation about this. A lot of people at, around, outside Arsenal close to the club feel this was a big mistake,” Ornstein said.
“Even if it was going to happen, you still needed a really respected, powerful operator. Whether it be Sanhelli or somebody else, who can provide the shield for both the technical director and the head coach/manager.
“Who can be the figurehead of that operation, who can front up to the executives, who can front up the media, who can work the corridors of power, who can deal with everything, football, and non-football, that allows the head coach/manager to just focus on their role.”
It was always the criticism aimed at Arsene Wenger that he had too much control of every part of the business at Arsenal, and it seems that Arteta is trying to copy Le Prof’s style without any long term experience of the job.
Could a part of the disruption of our first three games before the window closed been caused by Arteta being immersed in our transfer dealings rather than concentrating solely on training?
Darren N