@GoonerReverend ponders the hereafter this morning and the Great Leap Forward
Football waits for no man and as recent events at Arsenal have shown the show always goes on no matter what is happening or who is leaving the game that is the English Premier League. Arsene Wenger & Arsenal have parted company after 22 successful years and the club is much stronger & much better positioned than when this partnership started back in 1996. The King is dead “Long Live the King” but now we have to prepare for the next chapter in the history of The Arsenal Football Club. Replacing a manager is never easy replacing a long serving manger is nigh on impossible and you only have to look at Manchester Utd to truly understand the scale of the task facing the powers that be in the Arsenal board room. Everyone has a view on who should be Arsenal’s next manager but at the end of the day the only opinion that matters is that of the Arsenal board members designated to choose Wenger’s successor.
The future is both exciting and frightening at the same time because nobody really knows what is going to happen when the new man takes over. Arsenal supporters all have their ideas on who should be the next manager with many demanding the appointment of a high profile manager like Max Allegri or Luis Enrique but the reality is that Arsenal have never been a club that appoints this type of manager in their entire history & are more likely to appoint a young manager with ties to the club as they feel that appointing a manager that fully understands and believes in the Arsenal values & principles will be of far greater benefit to the club’s stability than employing a short term fix that may or may not bring instant success. Fans have always been good at spending money that is not theirs because they don’t need to worry where this money is coming from and it is no different with the forthcoming appointment of the new manager.One of the fan favoutites & Juventus current manager. Max Allegri reportedly wants to know how much the Arsenal board will give him to spend on new signings & has supposedly said he would need to bring in up to 5 new players to make the team competitive. Now this is all media speculation as Arsenal never publicly divulge any discussions they are having or may have with candidates they have identified, The other alleged issue is that he is unsure if he can work within the new management structure implemented by Arsenal. Ivan Gazidis has now taken a hands-on role with the football club and moved his office to the training ground to be closer to the action along with Raul Sanllehi Head of Football Relations and Sven Mislintat Head of Player Recruitment.
This new structure is not going to suit everyone and Gazidis stated that he is looking for a manager that will be similar in his philosophy to Wenger’s along with the clubs philosophy of developing young players while working within the club’s self sustainability model. In this current climate of spend spend spend the Arsenal manager position may not be as attractive to some big name coaches as many Arsenal fans would like to believe it is. Luis Enrique has reportedly priced himself out of the position which is very believable when you look at Arsenal’s spending policy. Joachim Low has just extended his contract with the German National Team & despite the numerous rumours and many Arsenal fans insistence that he is coming Allegri is still contracted to Juventus and they will be very reluctant to let him go. If you believe the British press former Arsenal mid-fielder and current Manchester City No.2 Mikel Arteta is the red hot favourite to be the next manager of Arsenal. Sure there are a number of reasons why Arteta is not seen by many fans as the ideal replacement for Wenger as they believe his lack of managerial experience counts against his ability to transform the current squad into a title contending squad.
Some Arsenal fans had convinced themselves that the board would plump for a big name coach no matter what the cost but if you look at Arsenals history there is nothing to indicate that they were ever going to do that. Bertie Mee 1966-1976 Terry Neill 1976-1983 Don Howe 1983-1986 George Graham 1986-1995 Bruce Rioch 1995-1996 Arsene Wenger 1996-2018. Arsenal prefer managers with some connection to the club as they feel that if the manager has an intimate connection with the club they are more likely to respect the values of the club. Arsene Wenger was a left field appointment with no connection to the club but over the next 22 years became the focal point for the clubs values that he enthusiastically embraced and championed. Should Arsenal appoint Arteta as many are predicting it will clearly be a gamble but it will be a calculated gamble because they will be appointing a manager that clearly knows the culture and values of the club as well as many of the key stakeholders and football club staff and players he will be working with. There has been some negative comment about the possible appointment on social media but that is to be expected because everyone has their personal favourite and social media is the focal point for voicing disappointment.
Many fans believe that only a top coach with a history of winning trophies can manage Arsenal and turn them into a championship winning team but if you look at the growing influence of Josh Kronke you will understand where the club is possibly heading. In 2016 the Kronke’s fired Head Coach Jeff Fisher from their Los Angeles Rams football team and replaced him with 30 year old management rookie Sean McVey. This was a calculated gamble which has proven to be a good decision and it has become clear that Josh Kronke was central to this decision. Arsenal have always been a club that do things their own way and Josh Kronke is also a man who is very much his own man who likes to do things his way and is not adverse to taking calculated risks. There is no guarantee that the Arsenal board will appoint Arteta as their next manager but its even more doubtful that they will spend 10-15 million pounds a year on a high profile manager trying to buy success. Whatever happens and whoever they decide to appoint it is exciting times for Arsenal supporters because changing manager is a leap into the great unknown. No one really knows how it will turn out and in todays football world every new managerial appointment is a calculated risk. If Arsenal are going to take a gamble on a young manager with potential and give him the time & support to grow into the role we really are heading off into a brave new world and in the process we could be creating a new era of sustainable success for our grand old club.
Positively Arsenal 
Bob on.
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Thanks GoonerReverend
As someone who only started following Arsenal after Wenger’s appointment (97..So just in time heh) it is reassuring to me that the values that Wenger upheld so well for so long, were actually Arsenal values and not just his. I hope whoever we appoint shares the same values. I don’t want the moral dilemma that I’m sure some ManU fans face (although they had that with Ferguson and their cheating as well and lived through it so…)
I would like to talk about the Kroenkes. finsbury keeps referring to Fiszman’s decision to sell to Kroenke. I would hope he was right in his judgment, though his options, and sadly his time, were limited. So far, I think KSE have been good at that aspect. They’ve also taken the club forward financially.
But now comes their time in the spotlight. Specifically Josh Kroenke’s. Now I don’t know why we’re supposed to dislike him. I assume a lot of it comes from jealousy that this rich guy gets everything we’d like to have handed to him. But anyway, we are told KSE are terrible owners who send their teams down to mid-table obscurity or worse.
You touched on the LA Rams signing the 30 year old. I follow the NBA a bit and the Denver Nuggets in 2013 fired legendary coach George Karl and their GM left for Toronto. Even the guy supposed to replace him left for Sacramento. In hindsight, too much change at the same time Josh Kroenke said. After 2 years under a young head coach, they replaced him with Mike Malone in 2015, whose only previous head coach experience was with the Sacramento kings where he was fired after a season and a bit. Since then they have steadily improved with a young team, and play some good basketball, only narrowly missing the playoffs in a difficult Western Conference.
Apparently their NHL team did something similar in appointing a young coach and have improved a lot. That seems to be the KSE way now. And I think it fits nicely into the Arsenal way of doing things. Since we are not going to be the biggest spenders (like the Kroenke’s other franchises, except maybe LA in the future) we need to take these kinds of risks.
Also, while most football fans are snobs about US sports, I think we’ll see more and more influence from there seeping into the game. One, in management structures. Increasingly, you won’t see a coach’s departure or mismanagement bring a club to ruin, because responsibilities will be distributed. Executives, like Mislintat, or Monchi now at Roma will become as important hires as the coaches.Two, in the game itself, you will see greater use of stats to drive recruitment and in broadcast (you already see xG). And hopefully, you will also see greater fairness through VAR etc because just like you don’t want to entrust your investment to one guy as manager, you don’t want to leave it to someone like Mike Riley either.
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What Phil said.
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Yes indeed Phil,
but with the scale of the staff clear out post-AW (bar Bouldie), I’m somewhat doubtful Arteta is first choice to replace the legend. It could be a smoke screen. They could be lining him up to replace Bouldie as #2. C’est possible.
A slightly less brave but more-in-line-with-“recent-history” move would be to hire Željko Buvač. A supremely experienced #2 with everything but chatter on his side.
A higher grade of tactical nous is priority number 1 for any team trying to compete with the sugar-loaded Manc teams. Buvač is my preferred option.
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Good job Phil. let the debate continue.
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Aman
Regarding the staff clear out. Primorac was always going to leave with Wenger. Colbert, Peyton and Banfield were already replaced with Shad and the Aussie guy now running the show, and with Sal Bibbo and Lehmann to an extent. The only surprise to me was Colin Lewin, but a physio is not that big a deal. I think the club want Bould and Lehmann to stay to offer continuity, and any new guy, even Arteta, is going to be expected to bring in some new faces. I guess I’m saying the ‘clear out’ was desired or anticipated, and prepared for in advance, and doesn’t point to any particular manager coming in.
I like the choice of Buvac, but now I want him as Arteta’s assistant
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@Shard
May 17, 2018 at 10:32 am
I agree with every point
Except I started following well before 97
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Oh and I follow the Knicks
But I don’t want to talk about that.
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People keep banging on about there being no proof that Arteta will be a good manager. Well, there’s no proof he won’t be. For my part, I fancy he’ll be excellent.
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Shard,
fair enough on the departing staff members but I’d be somewhat odd for Buvac to leave Klopp & Liverpool to become Arteta’s #2…@ age 56 and with 20 years of management/coaching under his belt.
we wait and we wonder
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corr: it’d be somewhat odd…
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Aman
True. It would also be somewhat odd for Arteta to leave Pep’s side at ManCity to become assistant to Buvac.
Honestly, I don’t think Buvac will join us. But there does seem to have been some falling out with Klopp, and he would have a prior relationship with Mislintat. Maybe he likes being an assistant because it allows him to coach without the pressures and the media interviews etc. Otherwise he might have left Klopp to manage a club on his own long ago.
When the Buvac rumour broke it seemed more credible than any other we’d had till then. Long shot, but intriguing.
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Shotta
Thanks for your excellent article, ‘bury/praise Wenger’.
I haven’t passed through the grief yet.
Thanks also GRev & A5.
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I wonder if it’s a big part of the thinking to try find a manager who, in the event of failure, would be likely to do little or no harm.
I’m thinking of Everton and perhaps Utd as well. Eye-Waveringly expensive mistakes have been made at the former, with few signs of any overarching design; and the latter have not been that much better, though their mistakes are partly insulated by an ability to keep spending and shop at the top end.
It’s not only the sheer cost of transfers (or severance packages!),though. The wrong type of manager, particularly a very defensive-minded one, could well attempt too big a change in playing style and effectively leave us in a no man’s land, unable to make the most of the current attack-geared squad we have, while trying to beat more defensive outfits on defence with less funds than at least a couple of them- Utd, Chelsea- and without any culture of defence-first play to start from.
Obviously, the hope is that the new man is a resounding success, but it does seem plausible that there could be an inbuilt contingency or damage limitation plan, even the idea that in the event of it not working out we would effectively have a bridge, between the Wenger era and a different one, where a significantly different style is much less of a challenge than it would currently be.
It won’t be anything like the primary consideration for decision makers, but it feels like we owe it to Wenger for all of his work to go with someone who shares a great deal of his ideas about football. That would completely rule out plenty of candidates.
Luckily, as sentiment is likely to have no role, common sense also surely dictates we don’t attempt any severe change in style right away.
We’ll see if a new fresh mind can offer their tweaks and changes to the house Wenger built. Hopefully yes, and if not we’ll go from there.
Idea of Arteta has certainly grown on me, after a great deal of misgivings initially, with the extra bonus of him having so recently been part of our midfield, which for me is by a distance the most important section of the pitch for us, and the one where despite having many players I have liked or loved we haven’t managed to nail the right balance (though Coq and Cazorla was pretty damn good, and Arteta, Diaby, Cazorla- just three games together i think- looked like it could be outstanding)
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‘Top football is not without sacrifices. Playing for years in the Premier League is taking its toll.
‘That is football in the highest gear, so bad that I experienced the matches in the Champions League as practice matches.
‘If you suddenly got two or three metres to take a ball, you were not hacked. Well, that was impossible against the likes of Swansea, Bolton and Sheffield United. Those kind of teams did not give me a metre.
The pgmol world we have to live in. Maybe, hopefully, the new man will have some good ideas about how to cope with it- on the evidence of this year’s away games it would be extremely handy- but the scope is small if the refs won’t adequately protect you from the hackers. Fifa and Uefa have this mad idea it’s a key part of their job but what do they know.
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The biggest thing is getting a manager to fit the club. We have seen many managers do well at one club only to fail at another. When fans say we should have got so and so because he did well there it doesn’t mean he will do well on our hallowed turf.
So the fit is the priority
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Thank you Phil for the wide ranging view behind us, and the light rapidly advancing towards us as the appointment process draws to a formal conclusion.
I was musing on Twitter today about timing of the appointment and when it will be announced to the masses. It did occur to me if you are CEO of a billion £ business, and the owner gives you the job of finding a new person to fill a very important, probably the most important role in that organisation, then you make sure that there is someone in place when the previous guy packs in. You don’t say “Sorry boss, couldn’t find anyone” – you don’t just shrug and say I will give the recruiters a call after I get back from Bognor. You don’t allow your £1 billion to wander across the sea lanes like an oil tanker with a drunk at the wheel.
The announcement is imminent – 31/5 or 1/6.
.
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I am not sure if this runs against protocol or is generally poor form, but I wrote something elsewhere that might appeal to some of you fellow travelers. If you will excuse the self-promotion, you can find it here: http://youaremyarsenal.com/remembering-arsene-the-lequipe-interview/.
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Come on Arteta… you know you want to put the icing in this team!
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Really enjoyable Wenger interview,folks.
https://www.theguardian.com/football/2018/may/17/arsene-wenger-interview-emptied-desk-arsenal-mikel-arteta
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Lacazette has not been included in France’s World Cup Squad.
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Very interesting times ahead,the media seem sure ,they may be right, but this can be a club of twists and turns, smoke and mirrors.
A monumental decision awaits. Not just replacing a manager, but also much of the supporting team, and i would guess some players. There are big changes.
Quite a clear out of the back room staff, think some loyal servants may feel hard done by, some intrinsically linked to an outgoing manager and may need to make way for the new man, or woman if Ivan really wants to be bold, and his team, but what has the respected Mr Lewin done to upset anyone for starters? but things move on i guess.
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now we are being told that it will be Arteta, and that Cazorla might be one of his coaches, as may Henry too.
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I don’t see Henry leaving his lucrative job at Sky, especially if he is not going to be the main man. His ego could never handle it.
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I hope its not Henry. Because I think Henry is a political animal. He seems to have curried favour with Josh Kroenke based on earlier reports where he was in line to replace Wenger. He may be a compromise of sorts by Gazidis and co towards Josh, but I fear he will come in hoping it goes wrong for Arteta and then he gets the job.
Maybe that’s unfair on Thierry. I could be totally wrong. But his time as captain, his lack of qualities as analyst, turning down a youth coach job, and his lack of loyalty towards the club players just makes me think of him that way. And I loved Thierry Henry the player.
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I put up a link here yesterday to some evertonian website which seems to have been blocked by the spam filter.
Anyway, not important. It was interesting though. Speculation that Usmanov is going to join his pal Moshiri at Everton. (They seemed excited about this) Which means he would be giving up his shares in Arsenal.
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the new home kit
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shard that rumor was about a few months ago and usmanov said then that he was not selling his stake in AFC, and that in fact he had turned down an offer from KSE and that his offer to buy out KSE still stood.
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Pierre Limerick Aubamayang
Pierre Limerick Aubamayang
@molekh7
There seems to be a very calculated and coordinated attack on Ozil from all podcasters with AST membership. From ‘he’s lazy’ to ‘sell him’
3 different podcasts, 3 different AST members and all targeted Ozil and his wages.
Mutual appreciation society wankers and pricks.
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Support Arsenal or fuck off
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Apologies for the poor language but it’s time people that support Arsenal call out those who are against the club and the club’s mystical seldom articulated “values” (it’s not that hard to classify yet so few so seldom do!). Because it’s not about the manager! Can you see?
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Absolutely agree, if I was Arteta I would be seeing the bile aimed at him before he is even offered anything and walk the other way.
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Eddie Nketiah has received his first call-up to the England Under-21 squad for this summer’s Toulon Tournament.
The prolific young striker has been included in Aidy Boothroyd’s 20-man group alongside Ainsley Maitland-Niles, after helping us win the Premier League 2 title.
Nketiah scored eight goals in eight games for England Under-19s and will be looking for gametime in the group-stage matches against China, Mexico and Qatar.
Holders England kick off the tournament on May 26 against China, before facing Mexico three days later. The Young Lions will wrap up the group stage with a June 1 clash against Qatar.
Read more at https://www.arsenal.com/news/nketiah-receives-first-england-u-21-call#ezpJDFI0yLiFj2td.99
Read more at https://www.arsenal.com/news/nketiah-receives-first-england-u-21-call#xY5hFWeDIImP0ulu.99
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Maitland Niles better than several in the senior squad imo
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Southgate the best yes man press monkey since whiney Bobby Robson who’s best results were because he was forced to change the team due to Robson’s injury and Wilkins sending off.
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Matt Law
@Matt_Law_DT
What on earth is Jack Wilshere doing releasing statements he should be in the World Cup squad? He is a prime example of a footballer ignoring good advice and let down by bad advice or no advice at all. Shame he left a good agent and ignored others who wanted to help him.
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It’s not about the manager! Can you read?
Can you see!
Hack dwarves (not journalists) telling footballers who should be their agent, not for the first time. It is, what it is.
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You’d have thought the negative vibes against the club might ease offfor a few weeks? Then you or I might’ve been wrong!
It’s almost as if some sad little squeaking souls have been denied a prize that they have long sought.
Too early still to quantifiable make that conclusion, but there’s little doubt at this moment in time regarding what we are witnessing from the PR Experts. Who appear to be all in a tizzy after having been outflanked by Ivan the Terrible. hehe.
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ArseneWengerIvanGazidas&MikelArteta
are having a party…
…I’d like to sing the rest of that song (minus one or two elements).
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Arsenal FCVerified account @Arsenal
Goal of the Season ✅
Player of the Season ✅
Top stuff, @aaronramsey 👏
https://pbs.twimg.com/card_img/997427495258525696/Gragim25?format=jpg&name=600×314
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Fins, I do think the non selection thing is a tactic to unsettle our players for sure. It’s a joke the players picked by puppetgate ahead of a half fit Jack even. Hope he enjoys the bent wonga the boring yes man big nosed twat
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Liking the sound of Mikel arteta; with Santi Carzola; Per with the young guns… looking good all round me thinks. Freddie around there also
Not liking the sound of Thierry Henry around there… likely to have a bigger ego than he is entitled to! Esp as he has to be assistant….
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IslingtonGoonerAFC
@Born_a_gooner
11h11 hours ago
France XI not going to World Cup
Costil
Debuchy Zouma Laporte Kurzawa
Coman Rabiot Bakayoko Martial
Lacazette Benzema
Subs:
Ruffier, Digne, Sahko, Payet, Ben Yedder, Gameiro
WOW!!!
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And Koscielny
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fins
Exactly what I thought. Matt Law is publicly telling Jack that if he hadn’t fired his agent he might well have been in the England squad. What else could ‘bad advice’ and firing his agent mean in this context?
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If, as it seems, it is to be Arteta, a very bold move. Might come off, might not, same could be said for Allegri, Ancelotti, Naglesmann and Owen Coyle.
But I am sure the club have done their research if they do appoint him, will provide a strong supporting cast for a man who is clearly extremely intelligent, loyal to the club, has worked with some interesting characters and, unlike our ex wide man, or so some say, Arteta clearly has a football brain.
Of course it could go horribly wrong, but equally, Colney remain a coaching centre of excellence, with the players getting the benefit of some,of the brightest , young minds in football . Can only imagine what being coached by Cazorla would be like for a young player should he arrive.
One great legacy manager replaced by a group of specialists , some with history at the club with a common aim.
This could work, and certainly deserves backing, should it happen
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FIF , should you chose to believe him has long had some very interesting things to say about the influence of agents over the England squad
But do find it strange that Southgate hasn’t really picked any creative Mfs of the Jack, or even Shelvey mode, don’t think lallana is there either. Still at least we have dier and Henderson in mf……hooooooffffff……
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Mandy: The English midfield is dominated by enforcers and bruisers. I am sure they will dominate the ball, not!
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Just saw new one to add to the ‘ew, football’ folder. Supposedly, Jonny Evans might be off to Leicester with them activating a 3 mill release clause, but there’s a potential problem as his agent wants 4 million for ‘doing’ the deal.
Could be bullshit, of course, but sadly it’s very believable. It’s where we are.
I genuinely can’t fathom why players, in this instance Evans, would want to go along with it, and in the process potentially mess up something that they want.
It can only be that in the vast majority of cases they go along with it as the agent promises to get them-ie the player- the maximum amount possible, and so ‘earns’ their own gigantic reward. Even that ,though, seems something that would only apply some of the time, and surely not to a degree to justify the agent demanding so much.
Here it seems particularly galling, with their being a set price and a modest one at that, as well a the move looking like a very good one for Evans.
Either these agents are masters of cunning and psychology or a lot of these players are weirdly gullible. At the least, it seems there’s a huge gulf between perception of general public in regard to agents- ‘greedy amoral bastards, and so forth- and that of the players, who seem very happy to let them push things ever further.
Often, they must like and really trust these guys, as seems case with out own Mkhi, who strikes me as a thoroughly decent bloke, and yet ties his destiny to Raiola!
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