The financial structures of modern football mean steady progression is unworkable and few former players taking the reins of an elite club are likely to have had adequate preparationEverybody wants their own Pep Guardiola. That is the dream. You take a club legend just beginning his coaching career, stick him in charge of the reserves for a season, give him the top job, then watch as he revolutionises football with a squad based around academy products and wins three league titles and two Champions Leagues. It’s not just winning, but winning your way.That’s why so many major clubs have turned to former players with limited or no first-hand managerial experience: Juventus with Andrea Pirlo, Chelsea with Frank Lampard, Arsenal with...
An unlikely FA Cup triumph cannot mask 12 months of average league form under a manager yet to convinceAs a brisk December breeze swirled through Goodison Park’s stands, a fresh wind was sweeping in at Arsenal. Mikel Arteta looked on from the front row of the directors’ box, flanked by the chief executive, Vinai Venkatesham, and the then head of football, Raul Sanllehi, the day before he officially took charge. He was hardly alone in furrowing his brow during a tedious stalemate between his new side and Everton, who were about to begin their own renewal, but inside his heart was soaring. “I remember sitting in the stands and thinking: ‘I can’t wait to start working with the players and...
Arsenal’s 44 attempts against Tottenham allowed the modern assumption that crosses are aimless punts, not a skill worth savouring, to take over once moreCross 1, from Héctor Bellerín on the right, loops harmlessly towards the penalty spot. Cross 5 from Kieran Tierney is pinged low and tapped away by Eric Dier at the near post. Cross 7 forces Harry Kane into a scrambling clearance. Crosses 12-15, delivered in quick succession between 43 and 44 minutes, are all headed away. Cross 19 hits Steven Bergwijn and goes out for a throw.Like all the best performance art, Arsenal’s attacking display against Tottenham revealed itself only in stages: slowly building us a universe, generating its own mesmerising, percussive logic. Cross 30 from Willian...
The young manager has done plenty of good things in almost a year in charge but he has not addressed the lack of central creativity in Arsenal’s squadIt is perfectly normal for a manager to protect his players after a high-profile defeat and Mikel Arteta was happy enough to leave himself open after Arsenal were held off comfortably by Spurs. “In terms of performance they did everything I asked them to do, absolutely everything,” he said. “We played in a way that I believe we had to play this game.”Arteta knows perfectly well that half of the players who passed, passed, crossed, rinsed and repeated for long periods of the north London derby have no place in a functioning, progressive...
The Arsenal manager’s troubles run deeper than a chronic shortage of goals but the derby could offer some respiteAn evening in the life of Mikel Arteta usually involves a stress-relieving walk with his dog, Arnie. Arteta revealed as much this past week and it was a relatively rare insight into the extracurricular pursuits of a manager who, during his first year in the job, has proved adept at answering questions with a smile while giving little away.If only the same could be said for his team. Arsenal have been both hangdog and porous in recent Premier League outings, losing their past three home games and somehow surviving a pounding at Leeds. Related: Arteta angry at Pépé over 'unacceptable' red card...