Arsenal have rolled the dice by appointing the previously untested Mikel Arteta as manager – but will their gamble pay off?
That was the question debated by the Sunday Supplement panel, after the former Manchester City coach watched the Gunners labour to a 0-0 draw at Everton on Saturday afternoon.
Arteta, 37, has never managed a team before but arrives at Arsenal with a reputation as an impressive coach.
John Richardson of the Mirror, says that lack of experience is a concern.
“This is a gamble,” he told Sunday Supplement. “This definitely is a gamble.
“Is he going to learn from Pep Guardiola? I know Pep is very much hands-on at Manchester City, he does all the training, Mikel Arteta doesn’t do it.
“He’s helped individuals – he’s helped Raheem Sterling – but he’s never, to my knowledge, put on a coaching session for the team.
“He’s going into the unknown. If he listens and learns from Pep – which he obviously has – and if he’s Pep-lite, if you like, then he could succeed.
“But it is a gamble because he’s never been head coach of a Premier League side.”
Former News of the World sports editor Paul McCarthy believes the priority for Arteta will be to restore order to the Arsenal dressing room and says the Spaniard does possess the traits required to do that.
“There were factions within Arsenal that had a real willingness to appoint Arteta off the back of Arsene Wenger’s departure,” said McCarthy.
“Other voices won out and Unai Emery got the job. But I think that it is a bold statement now.
“What I know about him and what you hear about him at Man City, he’s not a head coach, but what Arsenal need as much as anything is a direction and a discipline. Everything you hear about Mikel Arteta is there is a very strong disciplinarian streak in him.
“Freddie Ljungberg set a really good example on Saturday, talking about Mesut Ozil.
“Arteta has to pick that up and have a discipline and determination not to let players run Arsenal football club at the moment the way I think under Emery they seemed to run it.”
Patrick Barclay pointed out that one other issue could be that Arteta finds the ambitions at Arsenal not at the same levels as they are at Manchester City – and how he adapts to that could be key.
“Man City is a disciplined football club,” he said. “If anything the only slight criticism you ever hear about Guardiola is he’s a bit too demanding, which is the best fault you could possibly have.
“That’s the culture of Manchester City football club, and if he can bring a bit of that to Arsenal then that’s fine. But the difference is Man City want to be the best football club in the world, Arsenal don’t. The owners of Arsenal couldn’t care less about that.”
