Opinion – Is Arteta the answer to Arsenal’s problems?

Will a former player do better as coach of Arsenal? Is Arteta the answer to Arsenal’s problems?

Something tells me that Emery’s future at Arsenal has been decided already, and the club owners are only slowing down on sacking him to see if he can turn things around, starting from this weekend. But if he still finds it difficult winning games, then he may eventually be relieved of his job sooner rather than later.

Now, if Emery was to be sacked and Arteta was hired to replace him, do you think Arteta would do a good job? What will Arteta bring to the club that will change things? A lot, I will say.

Arteta signed on with Arsenal on 31 August 2011 on a four-year deal for a reported fee of £10 million. He made his debut on 10 September in a 1–0 home win against Swansea City and scored his first Premier League goal for Arsenal in a 4–3 loss against Blackburn Rovers at Ewood Park. Arteta then got his first chance to captain the Gunners in the third-round FA Cup victory over Leeds United, a game that marked the second Arsenal debut of Thierry Henry. Arteta suffered an ankle sprain in his side’s 2–1 loss to Wigan Athletic on 16 April after less than ten minutes, which sidelined him for the remainder of the season. Despite this he made 29 appearances all season, scoring 6 times, and was voted by the fans as the fifth most important player of the 2011–12 campaign in Arsenal’s Player of the Season poll.

I won’t want to get you bored with all of his history with the club, so I will just skip that and talk about his coaching experience.

On 3 July 2016, Arteta was appointed an assistant coach at Manchester City alongside fellow assistants Brian Kidd and Domènec Torrent, and manager Pep Guardiola.

In May 2018, Arteta became strongly linked with the Arsenal manager’s vacancy, following the departure of his former manager Arsène Wenger, but Unai Emery was eventually hired. On 19 September 2018, as a result of Guardiola serving a touchline ban, Arteta stood in for the manager in a 2–1 Champions League loss against Lyon.

Ever since his appointment as assistant coach of Manchester city, Arteta’s profile has risen. He has been doing so well at Man City, to the extent that Guardiola had left Arteta to solely manage the team in crucial games; an assignment he proudly excelled in. He has learnt from the master and was always ready to handle the team, whenever he is being asked to do so. Can you imagine what Arteta would do if was made coach of Arsenal? If as an assistant coach he is being successful, then won’t we love to see how he will fare as the chief coach of Arsenal? Is Arteta the answer to Arsenal’s problems?

Sylvester Kwentua

17 Comments

  1. We need a no non-sense coach like Jose mourinho and Diego Simeon.

    You play rubbish, you are benched for the next game!

    Just take a look at what spurs are playing under mourinho, all the players are on top of their game because they know mourinho will not take non sense from them.

    Not a fan of mourinho though but Arteta can bring discipline, team work and exciting games that we all need, he should be given a chance.

  2. I would still prefer to have a manager who had actually managed a team.

    Big difference between being an assistant and making all the decisions yourself. He may be talented, but I dont think he is ready to take on the top job at a big club just yet.

  3. Nearly “anyone” will be better than more of Emery.

    having said that, I was a fan of Mourinho because I don’t think we can afford to miss out on CL football and I do think Mourinho is still agreat manager who could have helped us win a EL trophy. I also think the guy is not dumb and will have reflected on how he had to change his way to be a success in modern football.

    Poch didn’t become a bad manager overnight. If Poch goes to Man U and Mourinho does well at Spurs, all of a sudden Arteta looks light.

    Koeman is rumoured to be next in line for Barca but I would not mind Koeman or Ten Hag.

  4. Yes, please.

    So what if it’s a gamble? His salary would also not make it too difficult to fire him if he fails. He may be the only chance we currently have to hire someone whose team will excite us. Yes there are a few options who are already proven, but among those we can realistically get — only proven in lesser leagues and/or easier circumstances, so would be gambles as well.

  5. Can somebody please help me here, what makes Arteta a better prospect than Ljunberg? Perhaps I am missing something here.

    1. Arteta has served under and learned from a coach that has in relatively recent times actually won the ECL a few times, and has won the local league with each club he has coached.
      Freddie has been unfortunate in that he served under a has-been and now under a nincompoop.
      That’s the difference between the 2.

      1. That still does not make Arteta a miniature Pep. Freddie is here and he knows the club better than Arteta no doubt. He has also had success with our reserve hence his promotion to the first team while Arteta has never coached independently before. Sure Freddie coached a reserve side but he has coached non-the-less, unlike Arteta. Ljunberg also knows what it’s like to win from his playing days and as coach of the reserve side.
        I guess we’ll never agree on this but Arteta is no better than Freddie in my eyes.

  6. Arteta is not the answer to Arsenals problems, it would only add to them. The guy would be a massive risk and a shot in the dark. Alegri or Benitez is the only options and im not sure the latter is available to Arsenal.

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