Kevin Whitcher
So much for Mikel Arteta. Who knows how close the club were to appointing the former club captain as the next manager in reality. One thing that we can conclude from the last week though is that you can’t believe everything you read in the press, or use the bookies odds as any kind of guide to reality. What is certain is that the club didn’t start talking to PSG manager Unai Emery yesterday. Talks with candidates (including I am certain, Arteta) would have been going on since April 20th and a month on, it seems that agreement has been reached and an official announcement is imminent.
Emery apparently speaks a little English, although not a great deal. No matter. Mauricio Pochettino didn’t utter a word of the language to the media in his year at Southampton but managed to get his team playing decent football. There are a number of Spanish speakers in the squad. The fluency in English will come. Antonio Conte did not need to be a master of the language to take Chelsea to the title in his first season. More important is Emery’s ability to solidify a team so that they can pick up results, home and away, as his time at Sevilla proved. His age is 46, the same as Arsene Wenger when he began his 22 years at Arsenal. His record in his time at the Spanish club reads as follows…
2013-14 – 5th in La Liga, Winners Europa League
2014-15 – 5th in La Liga, Winners Europa League
2015-16 – 7th in La Liga, Winners Europa League
And before that, at Valencia…
2008-09 – 6th in La Liga, Europa League Round of 32
2009-10 – 3rd in La Liga, Europa League Quarter Finals
2010-11 – 3rd in La Liga, Champions League Round of 16
2011-12 – 3rd in La Liga, Europa League Semi-Finals
Interesting to note that in spite of the league finishes, under the current rules, Emery would have qualified Sevilla for the Champions League every season he was there.
His record at PSG is less relevant, because Arsenal’s current level in England is similar to Sevilla’s and Valencia’s in Spain. There, they have the big two, with the clubs on the level below knocking on the door – Atletico Madid, Valencia, Sevilla and Villarreal. In England, Arsenal are now at the level below the big three, competing with Liverpool and Tottenham for a share of the spoils. That is how far they have fallen since the stadium move. We might not like it, but it's the reality. Emery has shown he has the ability to deliver success with a team at this level, and as part of the process of rebuild from the wreckage left behind by his predecessor, he ticks the boxes. Results are what are required. Three European titles in a row are a surefire indication Emery can achieve on that front. Everyone would have preferred Allegri from Juventus, but it was not to be. The club need to get to a higher level – a return to regular Champions League participation (and its attendant income) for one, to entice that level of manager.
Emery enjoyed mixed fortunes at PSG. The French club appointed him because of his success in Europe, in pursuit of a Champions League. When his team beat Barcelona 4-0 in 2017, it looked like a good decision, although the second leg defensive collapse at the Nou Camp (6-1) in 2017 and a season on conceding five goals in the tie against Real Madrid in 2018 are not arguments in his favour. He won five out of the six domestic trophies in France available to him in two seasons, although I was astonished he kept his job after Monaco won the French title in 2017. However, one thing about PSG that he will not face in North London is having to deal with the number of egos he had to control in Paris. Arsenal players do not have much of reputation for that these days, linked to their lack of achievement, with the exception of Mesut Ozil, who one suspects the club will try to get some money for if he has a decent World Cup. There is no other explanation for the contract he was offered in January. And if he stays, Emery has managed the world’s most expensive player. He should not be fazed by Ozil.
Mikel Arteta was always going to be a gamble, having never been the head coach before. If stories in the press are to be believed, he insisted on a veto on transfers, which may not have gone down well with certain of the decision makers at the club. Arsenal are operating under a new structure now. The first team coach may be consulted on potential targets, but he no longer has the final word. On the transfer budget front, Sevilla never paid more than £10 million for a player during Emery’s time there. He will have more money at Arsenal, and the club may even decide to invest guaranteed future earnings in buying players now. The £50 million transfer budget story is one that suits a club that is in no position to pay over the odds, although with a rising wage bill matched with decreasing turnover, there is probably an element of truth to it. More will be raised by player sales, and the wages of those retiring or departing on free transfers will add to the kitty.
The other minus point about Arteta, in light of the divided fanbase that the recent seasons have created, is that he was too tainted with being a part of the decline under Arsène Wenger. The WOBs would have seen Arteta as indicative of the board’s lack of ambition, a cheap option. Certainly, he would have cost nowhere near what an Allegri or an Ancelotti would have demanded. The last thing the club want is to continue with the fans at war with each other. Emery will not have been as cheap as Arteta, probably on a similar deal to Wenger, £8.5 million per annum plus bonuses.
Without any baggage, the new manager will get unanimous support in the stadium. At Sevilla, he played counter attacking football, whereas at PSG, possession was the name of the game. He can adapt his team’s approach depending on what he has at his disposal and who they are up against. He will have looked at Arsenal’s semi-final matches against Atletico and realize that he has to start working on the defensive shape and solidity of the team. He is an extremely diligent coach who won’t indulge players. His team will enter the pitch properly coached and fully clued up. He reputedly makes his players sit in front of videos of their opponents for hours.
It’s all change at Arsenal Football Club, change that needed to happen and change that has been avoided for far too long. Arteta might have proved a masterstroke, but never having managed before there were understandable concerns. Emery is a safer bet, and one that will make it easier to convince transfer targets to join the club. We wait to see who will arrive and who departs, but there is a feeling of genuine anticipation ahead of next season for the first time in longer than I care to remember.
14 months ago, Ivan Gazidis stated the collapse in the middle of the 2016-17 season would be a catalyst for change. Arsène Wenger and his hangers on have exited London Colney for the last time, at a cost of £12m. We’ve wasted a year thanks to Stan Kroenke’s foolish indulgence of the previous manager, but now, the CEO has delivered. Exciting times as we usher in a new era.
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