Pundit confident that Mikel Arteta will outlast this underfire manager

Noel Whelan is confident that Mikel Arteta will be given time to rebuild the Arsenal team and should outlast Manchester United’s Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.

Both managers are coaching giant English clubs that need to return to their former glory.

However, while Arsenal looks to be on a path to recovery, United has struggled for form.

The Gunners splashed the cash on several players in the last transfer window and one thing is obvious about most of their summer signings – they are all young.

The Gunners have one of the youngest squads in England and this convinces former Leeds United man, Whelan that Arteta will be given more than enough time to turn things around at the Emirates and to build a team that will return and stay at the top of English football.

“Arteta will definitely have more leeway than someone like Ole Gunnar Solskjaer when it comes to job security,” he told Football Insider.

“They’ve not gone out and spent the money that Manchester United have over the years.

“They have an amazing blend of youth and experienced players who have been at the club for a long time.

“These youngsters have come through from the academy system and know the club inside out – Saka and Smith-Rowe, for example, and that is massively important.

“I think now you’re seeing the jigsaw coming together and they are getting the performances and results they needed.

“Arteta will say there’s still a lot of work to do. They still aren’t near the Liverpool’s or Chelsea’s of the league.

“You can see the progression and the building process.”

The rebuilding job has been tough, and it has required Arsenal fans to be very patient.

But their recent form shows that it is paying off and with time we could have a Premier League-winning team again.

Tags Mikel Arteta noel whelan Ole Gunnar Solskjaer

9 Comments

  1. Managing expectations is key
    Arteta has finished 8th twice in a row and this season sits 9th after 9 rounds.
    Solskjaer has finished 6th, 3rd and 2nd and sits 7th after 9 rounds.
    So down to 7th is a Manager in trouble at Man U.
    But climbing to 9th is a safe manager at Arsenal.

    1. Exactly!! I don’t know what kind of articles people right.. It’s about ambitions & expectations. You can’t compare the ambitions of a club like Arsenal to Man Utd.

    2. This.

      We are 1 point away from the position most people would be happy with considering the clear focus on youth and a rebuild (only gets better with time). Not only that, but we’ve already lost to 2 out of the 3 big teams most everyone expects a loss to.

      Man U are 8 points from the title challenge they were expecting and have only played Liverpool of the top 3 where they were battered 5-0. They are doing worse than us with far higher expectations.

      If you extrapolate the results so far we end up in top 4-6 and Man U end up 10-12th.

  2. 2 managers who should really be plying their trade in the circus .
    Funny how the top 3 teams in the league have top top managers (funny that )and the old top 2 us and Man Utd have gone down the cheap option and we are where we are because of it.

    1. I understand your point of view but in both cases experienced managers at both clubs didn’t revive their flagging fortunes.

      OGS was a sort of caretaker who did well enough and Arteta is still relatively inexperienced and all things considered is doing ok, not stellar, but ok

      Neither are in the same league as Klopp, Pep or Tuchel but then not many managers are.

      A lot depends on the ownership too. Abramovitch has shown his dynamism over his tenure to keep Chelsea relevant and successful

  3. 2006 – Arsenal moved to their new stadium The Emirates at a cost of circa £390M.

    Manchester United at Old Trafford –
    1910 – present.

    Arteta – 8th 8th 10th 14 points
    (December 2019 – present)

    O G S – 6th 3rd 2nd 7th (on goal difference)
    14 points – (December 2018 – present)

    Point being the off field activities that Atreta inherited and is recovering from, are vastly different to that which O G S has had to contend with during his tenure.

    I would suggest the 2 are not comparable when considering ALL aspects of their reigns to date.

    Too simplistic to trot out the 8th, 8th, 10th leagues positions, when AT THIS POINT IN TIME maybe – just maybe – the Arteta / Edu combo is finally getting to grips with approx’ a decade of neglect.

    In my opinion, there is no comparison between the two mangers in question here – M A will prove to be lights years ahead of O G S.

    O G S is completely clueless – long may he stay in his current role.

  4. Yeh, we can all look at our situation with all sorts of Rosy specs. We are in form because we had an easier run and we are a happier ship that 6 weeks ago. BUT utd are ahead of us in the league on the same points and we have a minus goal difference, they dont. We play each other in a couple of weeks, Should the loser get the sack and the winner a reprieve?

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