From Martin:
Morning Myles,
We would all like a coach of Allegri pedigree and then a coach who like Pochettino had earned his stripes at other clubs before moving to the next level of club
As you know my younger preference was Eddie Howe based on the fact he has managed a Bournemouth team on limited resources and they have remained in the league relatively comfortably and without abandoning playing a decent brand of football. Howe has been guest on Monday Night Sky a couple of times and he speaks an awful lot of sense as he analysed games and players.
Gary Neville says a lot of things you have to agree with, but could not translate that to a group of players, its not just about knowledge its how you inspire action in others, and thats usually innate,
So that was a risk, but not without merit
Arteta? Serious footballer, definitely had an edge to his game and not without talent, likely wasted his best years keeping Everton afloat and though we got him past his best he was literally at times the only one who seemed to know what was doing in center of the park in keeping team organised and in shape.
He was also one of the few footballers who get talked to after the games who gave serious responses and was quite candid in assessments,
So I would say Arteta was a serious footballer who understood the game.
His CV from coaching perspective is working under Moyes, Wenger as a player and with Guardiola as coach. So in terms of this appointment we hoping its the Guardiola influence that sticks the most!
Guardiola took 3 years with a massive budget and squad turnover to achieve the excellence we now see and brought the experience of managing at Barcelona and Bayern to bear in being strong in influencing the change needed.
Lets not forget Guardiola was questioned heavily about 18 months in. His experience allowed him to keep his nerve and focus as pressure was placed on him, basically unflinching, whereas a new coach may have panicked at the pressure and sought an instant remedy,
Arteta will be asked to just coach the first team so it’s a narrowed remit, take these players we give you, get them organised and put in place a brand of progressive football that brings the crowds back and also, youth must be given its head, the Arsenal way, and budget dictates players need to come through the ranks.
I am not opposed to Arteta but he needs Arsenal to have patience. Maybe for three years
I am also an advocate of the expression of if you are good enough, you are old enough as in my own profession I have seen some extremely capable young persons being given an opportunity and taking it with both hands. You only really ever know if anybody is good enough by one thing, what they do,
So any new manager deserves instant support and you judge him on the brand of football and in Arsenal case us fans seeing a team out there which has a semblance of strategy, that looks like it knows what doing, particularly against the better teams. We all got depressed even at Arsenal turning up at Liverpool, knowing exactly what first 30 minutes will look like.
Seeing Arsenal attempting to outpass them from the back = Completely overrun and embarrassed.
The Wenger ethos of we play our football and impose ourselves on the opposition worked when we had dominating gladiators and latterly just against the lesser opposition but time and time again the decent teams would toss us around like rag dolls.
If Arteta sends out a team in the circumstance above, that played quite pragmatically for the first 30 mins taking the sting out of the game as many of best sides do, then, at that moment, i will feel we have progressed.
So we shall see, it will at least be interesting, change has started, more is coming, and just thankful that have something to talk about thats wholly different as seriously could not have coped with another season of stagnation and so we may think Gazidis is taking a huge punt, and putting his own job at risk, but he did put in motion the dethroning of the emperor and saw it over the line, so there should be eternal thanks for freedom we all now feel.
One final note, saw it said that Arsenal fans are hypocrites for the Merci Arsene after lambasting him for so long. That shows how much they are not in touch with ordinary fans, as it was simply that once it was done, it was done.
Then it was : thanks for the good times, and thank you for finally accepting it was time.