Does it matter who replaces Arsène Wenger?

Morning all.

I know it’s his last match and all that but we’ve been there, done that, said thanks for the memories and the boys/fans have said their goodbyes at The Emirates. Ideally, a similar kind of performance to the one against Burnley is on the cards for later today but considering the way we’ve played away from home this year, that’s highly unlikely. We’ll soon see.

It’s only natural that the fan focus is all about tomorrow when it’s out with the old and very soon, in with the new. Someone with different ideas and a different team of coaching staff around him. The same goes for the academy too as the clearout runs deep into the club. Rumour has it that Jens and Bouldy have been asked to stay, the rest, well they are history. Ding dong, a new Arsenal from top to bottom. Something which has been long overdue.

Excited? Too right I am. Ivan made his promise around this time last year and after twelve months of hard work behind the scenes, his promise has come to fruition. We’ve all seen the shortlist doing the rounds in the back pages and to be honest, any one on the most recent list will be good in my opinion, yes, even Arteta. I’d thought it was too early for him, but since then, after mulling it over, why not? Look at the managers he’s worked with and if he’ smart, he can take the best ideas from them, discard the bad and be a good manager. Two years with Guardiola will have done him the world of good too. Guardiola himself was hardly vastly experienced when he first stepped into management, nor were some of those whose names we are discussing either.

Nagelsmann – only just 30 years old. Allegri – he hadn’t turned 40 years old when he first stepped into management. Jardim, well he’s 43 years old and has been in management for a while now so he was very young when he first took charge of his own team.

Mikel Arteta, well he’s young and inexperienced of that there is no doubt but he knows the club, he was a well respected captain and a well respected man in general around the club apparently. He was around when things were already going pear shaped, he’d have heard the moans and browns within the camp and he’d have certainly experienced the day to day mundane training sessions the players were put through. After all, if it’d have been great, exciting and something he believed in, surely he’d have accepted the coaching role offered to him by Arsenal instead of joining Guardiolas team? If he gets the job then I’m sure he’s intelligent enough to know the team around him will be just as important as himself and that’s where experience will come in. If he chooses his team wisely, there’s absolutely no reason why he should struggle.

All of the above can be applied to Vieira too should he be the one appointed.

Of course I’d love Max Allegri to get the job because what he does speaks for itself but all I’m saying is if it’s Mikel Arteta, then I personally won’t be all doom and gloom about it.

I’m just glad the chain has been broken, the controller is leaving the building and we’re heading into new and exciting times. Not only for the first team either as already said. It’s a wake up for every single player currently at the club.

It’s a new beginning all round I’d say and the first time Raul, Sven, Ivan and even Fahmy can work together during a transfer window without Big Brother sticking his nose in.

That’s got to be good. No, that’s got to be great!

72 thoughts on “Does it matter who replaces Arsène Wenger?

  1. potter says:

    The fountain of optimism is flowing to capacity in downtown Berkshire . It is of course the attitude that we have to adopt. Tomorrow we head towards a new horizon .

    The King is Dead , Long live the King.

  2. Wavy says:

    Morning all.
    The more I read, Ornstein included, the closer I get to the conclusion that Arteta is in the box seat. It seems he ticks all the lozenges! Bar one, experience! However, and despite my choice was / is Allegri, I think a new young and eager man would be a forward thinking appointment. It would give him the chance to exceed Wenger’s 22 years and he wouldn’t have even reached his 60th birthday!?

    Yep, the one man band is almost silent long live the new noise/boy So!

    A bit cloudy here but the sun has been spotted briefly.

  3. rico says:

    I think I’m similar Wavy. I wasn’t all for Arteta but l can see why Ivan and co would choose him. Young, ambitious, knows the club, respected etc etc, there’s a lot going in his favour imo.

  4. allezkev says:

    If Arteta was being seriously considered, would the club be sacking the likes of Primorac, Peyton and Banfield…? He knows them and would probably be able to seamlessly work with them.

    Allegri on the other hand, would want to bring in 2 or 3 of his own people to help him with coaching, prep etc and the club would need to move people on to make room for the new staff.
    So that points to a senior appointment to me…

    I think the club/Gazides have done a great job so far, they’ve been very thorough in investigating all the possible candidates and they’ve done all this work whilst respecting the manager as best they could, despite all the media speculation.

    I’m still hopeful that it’s going to be Allegri.

    Morning All.

    Good post Rico

  5. rico says:

    I’d say yes Kev, because they are a big part of what’s been the problem and Arteta would have seen that during his playing days..

    Whoever comes in will want their own team, not Wengers old leftovers I’d have thought..

  6. allezkev says:

    Yep, he would be a risk, it could pay off of course but we’ve been here before when replacing a successful manager.

    I just worry that the decision would be based primarily on finance.

  7. rico says:

    Isn’t any young manager’s first appointment a risk though?

    Arteta could be another Guardiola, Jardim, Allegri in the making of course he could be a massive fail.

    Could also be that those we’d prefer, aren’t prepared to move clubs right now.

  8. Begeegs says:

    Arteta would be an incredibly stupid appointment, in my opinion. Hardly one to send the supporters to snap up the season tickets nor attract new players. If it goes badly, people will not turn up to games again and the board will become the target.

    He may be highly regarded in coaching circles, but he doesn’t have any experience. Pep managed a season of the B Team before being appointed. Wenger was hardly an unknown commodity despite the myth being purported. He won a title and a cup in France as well as being in a European final.

    I just can’t really the board would be so stupid and short-sighted and a massive, massive risk. He won’t get time from fans either.

  9. Adam says:

    Arsenal is one of the best jobs in football and Arsenal need to get back in the CL. Things have changed enormously since Wenger arrived. I think we need an experienced manager myself and not a hopeful project.

  10. rico says:

    I can Begeegs 🙂

    Allegri has to be the best option though and the club should move heaven and earth to get him to imo.

  11. Adam says:

    Rico. I agree that he would be a safer option than Arteta or that ghastly little creep who sat next to Mourinho for years.
    Nagelsmann is interesting though.

  12. Begeegs says:

    The prerequisite for a new manager should be that they were a manger previously.

    Arteta would be a crazy appointment, but then again, so was Wenger getting a new contract last year, so I could see the board doing it.

    If it goes badly, it will be another long season, but hopefully one which brings fans together to take aim at getting the American parasites out of the club.

  13. Begeegs says:

    and when I say manger, I mean one that was fully bedded in a stable somewhere….;-)

    I meant manager..Another posting fail from me 🙂

  14. Adam says:

    Who knows Rico? If the board appoint a newbie and he blows out, I can hear the fans now.
    Didn’t Ivan say that the club were going to flex their financial muscles over the next couple of months?

  15. allezkev says:

    I won’t believe a word about a new manager until I’ve fought my way through a million adverts and read it on the Daily Cannon or Metro

  16. ScottfromOz says:

    When it comes to experience, I see people driving cars every day that have been driving for 30 years and are still no good at it, so I believe experience is over rated.
    If we want an experienced manager, Arsene should stay.
    Arteta for me-I believe he will be superb.

  17. rico says:

    Starting XI: Ospina, Bellerin, Mustafi, Holding, Kolasinac, Xhaka, Ramsey, Iwobi, Mkhitaryan, Aubameyang, Lacazette

    Subs: Macey, Maitland-Niles, Mertesacker, Monreal, Willock, Welbeck, Nketiah

  18. Joaquim Moreira says:

    we won !
    The reason for successive disappointments is, it turns out not to be difficult to explain.
    In two flops near the end, we had one ball hit the bar and another hit the pole.
    The last pass, in the last third, is always wrong. Predictable, poorly performed and wrong choice.
    We always give one more touch to the ball than is necessary.
    Iwoby and Ramsey are too complicated to think about the game. They perform poorly, are quick to decide and disarticulate the whole team.
    A new phase, changes and above all a new idea of game will be fundamental.
    There is a lot of work ahead.

  19. Wavy says:

    What a fitting end…..1-0 to the Arsenal. Right back to what he inherited! A win’s a win and at the very least old Arsene has left with a bit of success at the end.

    Goodbye and good luck in the future wherever you haul up.

  20. Marshall says:

    It sort of matters who replaces Wenger. I for one I’ve been gritting my teeth on how we cannot defend. Am so glad Wenger ‘s leaving with the old guard at the back.

    It’s for this reason I prefer Simeone or Allegri. We’ve just got to shore up our leaky defence. Not sure if Arteta fits that kind of game plan.

    Finally, took us just5 months to win away.

  21. allezkev says:

    Yep Wavy, the end of an era, we’ll not see his like again, it’ll be I guess the kind of managerial turn over like everyone else, for good or ill…

  22. rico says:

    My thought on the heading about it not mattering who replaces AW was more towards the chain being broken. The man who controlled everything is finally gone so if the next managerial appointment doesn’t work out, he’ll have to answer to someone. Unlike Wenger who for nearly 22 years, could do what he liked. Or that’s certainly how it appeared to me…

  23. allezkev says:

    Could be a few managerial vacancies this summer, wouldn’t surprise me to see Everton get shot of Allardyce (how we would laugh), David Moyes at West Ham can’t be 100% secure, then there’s Chipperfields Circus at Stamford Bridge and Claude Puel at Leicester.

  24. micko says:

    Spot on rico, 22 years running a major football club, where else in the world would that happen, pray God we’ll never see the like of it again.

  25. allezkev says:

    Yeah Rico, but that was the fault of Hill-Wood and Fiszman, they couldn’t wait to get shot of Dein, then realised they had nobody else to do the DoF he filled, gave it to Ken Friar for a short time before handing it over to the hopelessly out of his depth Keith Edelman, that’s why Wengef felt he had to do everything. What else could he do at the time, as he was surrounded by a Board resembling the Marx Brothers.

  26. allezkev says:

    Wenger at Goodison Park?
    I can’t see it myself, but it would make next season interesting and the entirety of Untold Arsenal would become Everton fans.

  27. andrewh1313 says:

    Don’t think Wenger would manage in England, certainly a glutton for punishment if he took over at Everton, then they defend like we do.

    Glad we ended up braking this depressing away record, and AW leaves on a win.

    Now the fun starts!!!!!

  28. Cicero says:

    The question we have to ask is whether we want a manager or head coach. With Gazidis and his three acolytes in place I suspect we will go for the latter option. In which case the obvious choice is Arteta.

  29. Le Coq Monster says:

    Evening all and another quality post from The Guv`.

    I doubt we will get who I want (Simeone) and it sounds like Allegro is negotiating at Juve`, Enrique aparrently wants more than Wenger and Nagelsmann at 30 years old with no experience of EPL etc`………………………….makes my wild card for a while back………….. Arteta ……………sound a good idea !

    I shall remember Wenger with good feelings but I cant stop having a final dig as he flirts with a quote that begs a response !…………………………..”‘We need two or three additions, but after that I believe the club will compete for the Premier League.’…………………………why didn`t you get them then ?…………………every man and his dogging session has been saying it for years so much so that it`s become a cliche that every season we have been two or three players short !……………………..now he says it on his final game !

    Rumour has it that there was another banner being flown above Hudderfield saying……………….” Kroenke you`re next !”…………………………………….music to my ears !

    Hi Scotty ! 🙂

  30. Cicero says:

    Andrew Everton’s majority share holder, Farhad Moshiri, is a big fan of Wenger. Going to Goodison Park is not out of the question.

  31. rico says:

    Thanks Lc, didn’t hear anything about the Kroenke banner so I guess you’re joking.

    This is where we see the real Kroenke and board imo as whoever they appoint, they have to back financially. Although Wenger says we only need two or three players…. ?

  32. Marshall says:

    Can we have DB10 back please. He’d be an awesome assistant coach.

    Ljungberg, BFG, Mad Jens, am hopeful the next breed of players will be churned out the arsenal way.

  33. rico says:

    There was a ‘well miss you too’ fly by Lc which prompted the home fans to accus3 the Arsenal fans of being two faced, so I read anyway..

  34. frednerk says:

    Evening Rico and All

    As a lot of our fans have not known what
    its like to have any body else,but Arsene
    Us older Gooners have seen the other side
    of how long you keep a manager when the team
    walks around the pitch with flip-flops on.
    I read the other day how southampton only
    give out 3 year contracts to new managers,
    maybe thats the best way ahead.
    If we do get a good-un..Won’t it be strange,
    begging the board to keep him.

  35. Cicero says:

    Rico, I don’t think we will ever see another manager with the absolute power that Wenger enjoyed (abused, some might say) there would be little purpose in Gazidis recruiting his three wise men unless he meant them to take over much of the work carried out by the manager. Thus it seems logical that the new man will have far less to do with the running of the club and will concentrate on coaching the first team squad.

  36. rico says:

    Cicero, agree re the control but Wenger could have been head coach and still done all things he did but as Kev said, he was given much of that when Dein left.

    I’d imagine whoever comes in next will be all about the football, the players he wants and that’s it, regardless of what title he’s given. Lol

  37. Cicero says:

    Neville knows all about incompetent management as evidenced by his disastrous four month spell at Valencia.

  38. micko says:

    Cicero, no-one’s perfect, that was just a blip in Spain, the guy is clearly a football expert.

    Fred, out of curiosity is your CV up to date mate lol.

    Nite Gooners, how would I describe this season……..pure shite………thanks for the memories Arsene.

  39. Lee says:

    Arteta is a big no from me (at the moment) Allegri first manager to win 4 consecutive doubles in Europe’s top 5 leagues, he’ll do for me…

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