Great phrase by Times writer Henry Winter.
Speaking on Sky Sports Sunday Supplement in the context of Arsenal set to appoint Mikel Arteta, he nailed it when he said what is needed is a hard, experienced man to deal with the softness than runs through the club from the board to the players – someone in the mould of Diego Simeone.
Even the fire and enthusiasm of Ian Holloway, wouldn’t go amiss.
He said the new man needs to be ruthless with a lot of dead wood to dispense with.
The question was put: Is Arteta the right man for Arsenal? Olly Holt from the Mail on Sunday, pointed out that Arteta was captain, when Arsenal were drifting, and implied there weren’t particular hard man leadership qualities exhibiting then. For odds – see best betting apps – why not try it?
Arteta is more of a technician, and is particularly good at working with individual players. He is not necessarily the man to instil a new culture. In many ways he is Arsene Mark II or Arsene Lite and looks like he will be pliable to the wishes of the new power triumvirate of Ivan Gazidis, Raul Sanllehi and Sven Mislinat.
The panel thought that Patrick Vieira would be a better bet given the steeliness and competitiveness of his character and the fact he was an Invincible and would have a better connection to the fans. It was mooted, by the Sun’s Shaun Custis that Brendan Rogers may be a better bet.
In his Mail column, Martin Samuel noted that Arteta didn’t fill the void in the technical area when Guardiola was sent off in the Champions League against Man City, like say Burgos did in the Europa semi-final at the Emirates. But there again Guardiola is said to have an iron grip.
Will Arteta be accepted by Arsenal fans? Olly Holt thought so, as the Wenger saga went on for far too long, was exhausting and it represents a fresh start.