Posted by On November 29, Basque coach Unai Emery was fired from North London giants Arsenal, with the Gunners sitting 8th in the table and on their worst run of form since 1992. Emery’s firing was a long time coming for Gunners fans, who had witnessed his inability to fix the team’s ailing defense, develop a coherent style of play, and get key players like Mesut Ozil to perform.
Although Arsenal’s disastrous start to the campaign has jeopardized their season goal of a top-4 finish, there is still the possibility of getting an all-important spot in next year’s Champions League via the Europa League. Beyond satisfying their season targets, it is important that Arsenal’s next coach is capable of reversing the stagnation the club has suffered in the last decade. With that in mind, here is a look at potential candidates to take over for Emery at the Emirates:
Marcelino García Toral
Out of a job after his dramatic departure from Valencia this past September, Marcelino turned heads in his spell with the Spanish club and has been spotted in London in recent days. The Asturian became Los Che’s 13th manager in 5 years when he took over in May 2017, but was able to bring a sense of stability and forward progress that had been lacking at Mestalla for much of the last decade. Valencia won their first title in 11 years last season when they lifted the Copa del Rey. Marcelino also achieved back-to-back top-4 finishes in his two full seasons.
Valencia’s success was based around Marcelino’s extremely demanding, high-pressing style. Stories abound of players starving themselves or starting the day in the sauna to avoid arriving even slightly overweight for the battery of daily tests that Marcelino and his staff ran. These intense methods united Valencia’s dressing room around their coach. Before taking over at Valencia, Marcelino managed Villarreal to three consecutive top-6 finishes, suggesting that the success of his approach at Mestalla was not a one-off.
Although Marcelino would be capable of drawing every ounce of commitment out of Arsenal’s players and making them more than the sum of their parts, there are also issues with his candidacy. Like Emery, Marcelino is Spanish, and Arsenal’s board may be reluctant to hire another coach from the Iberian country so soon after Emery’s failure. Additionally, the former midfielder suffered acrimonious departures at both Villarreal and Valencia, as a result of disagreements with club management over transfer policy, and even had verbal altercations with former club captain Matteo Musacchio while at the Yellow Submarine. Arsenal’s decision makers are likely to be concerned about a possible mid-tenure falling-out with Marcelino, and may therefore choose to look in another direction.
Paulo Sousa
A left-field candidate, Sousa’s name recently joined the Arsenal rumor mill when his entourage confirmed to French newspaper L’Equipe that they have received interest from the Gunners. The former Portuguese international midfielder signed a 3½ year deal with Bordeaux in March, which reportedly contains a 2-3 million euro buyout clause.
Sousa has had a peripatetic career so far, coaching sides in England, Hungary, Israel, Switzerland, Italy and China before taking over at Bordeaux. His most high-profile appointment was at Fiorentina, where he led La Viola to 5th and 8th placed finishes in his two seasons in Serie A. While his familiarity with English football is a plus, he wasn’t a huge hit on British shores. A 7th placed finish with Swansea the season after Roberto Martinez’s departure was sandwiched between brief stints at QPR and Leicester.
Sousa’s tactical outlook is likely the main reason why he has drawn the interest of Arsenal. He favors an unorthodox 3-4-2-1 formation based around high-tempo attacks and pressing when in defense. While this style of football would undoubtedly please Arsenal fans, his employment of three center-backs would be difficult to accommodate at Arsenal in the short to medium term given the poor quality of their current center-back crop. Furthermore, Arsenal would represent by far the biggest coaching job of Sousa’s career, leaving uncertainty as to whether he could handle the pressure. Ultimately, Sousa would be an inexpensive option for Arsenal and would be willing to come in mid-season, but he has not yet proved that he is of the requisite quality.
Freddie Ljungberg
The 42 year-old Swede and former Invincible is currently the interim manager at Arsenal. Ljungberg has been told to work on a “game-by-game” basis by Technical Director Edu, with reports suggesting that he may have the chance to see out the end of the season depending on the availability of managers who end up on Arsenal’s shortlist. Ljungberg is an Arsenal legend, and his close connection to the club works in his favor. He also has a close relationship with many of Arsenal’s younger players following his stint as the club’s U-23 coach.
However, Ljungberg has never managed a senior side, and this inexperience could play against him. Although the 3-1 win at West Ham broke an embarrassing run of 9 matches without a win, Ljungberg has 2 draws and a loss from his other three matches in charge of the Gunners. Some of his tactical decisions in those matches have raised concerns, particularly the continued selection of Granit Xhaka in midfield and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s deployment as a right-winger against Norwich and Brighton.
Ultimately, Ljungberg’s lack of experience likely means that Arsenal would need to finish in the top-4 or win the Europa League for him to stick around next season. While a prolonged winning streak similar to what Ole Gunnar Solskjaer engineered at Manchester United last season could tempt ownership into giving him the full-time job, the Norwegian’s struggles at the back end of last season and the beginning of this campaign suggest that Ljungberg should not be entrusted with the permanent position until he satisfies Arsenal’s season targets.
Massimiliano Allegri
A proven winner with Italian giants Milan and Juventus, Allegri is currently out of a job after leaving La Vecchia Signora at the end of last season. However, Allegri has said that he is not rushing back into coaching, and would not take another job until this summer. This could prove problematic for his chances of coaching Arsenal, as the Londoners may hire their new long-term manager before the end of the season depending on how well Freddie Ljungberg’s interim spell goes. A further strike against Allegri is the fact that he has never coached outside of Italy, making his adaptability to the Premier League uncertain.
Although Allegri would be a great hire for Arsenal if one looks strictly at the trophies he has lifted, an examination of his tactical outlook suggests an incompatibility with the North London club. Allegri encourages tactical fluidity in his teams, giving them the ability to play multiple formations over the course of a match. Moreover, he prioritizes defensive solidity, as evidenced by his tendency to switch to a 3-5-2 in order to guarantee a result when his teams are ahead in the final 20 minutes of closely fought matches.
This tactical approach is at odds with Arsenal for two reasons. First, Emery is also thought of as a tactical chameleon, which was an integral part of his downfall in North London as he never settled on an effective way of playing. The fear exists that a similar fate would befall the more distinguished Allegri. Second, Arsenal are a club famed for playing attractive, attacking football after the years of success under Arsene Wenger. Allegri’s defensive bent is diametrically opposed to the very ethos of Arsenal.
Mauricio Pochettino
A man who needs no introduction to Arsenal fans, Pochettino was recently let go by North London rivals Tottenham after spending five seasons at Spurs. When he took over, Pochettino was Tottenham’s 10th coach in 12 seasons. However, the Argentine transformed Spurs during his time there, helping them to the Champions League final in 2018/19 and their highest league finish since 1962-63 when they placed 2nd in the 2016/17 Premier League.
Pochettino’s success at Spurs was based on nurturing young talent and favoring a very-high pressing, attacking style of football. Both of these ideas make him an extremely attractive candidate for the Arsenal job. The Gunners possess an exciting base of young players including Gabriel Martinelli, Bukayo Saka and Reiss Nelson. Too many Arsenal youngsters have failed to reach their potential down the years, and Pochettino would surely get the best out of the current crop. Furthermore, Pochettino’s tactical clarity would be welcomed following the muddled thinking that doomed the Unai Emery regime.
Although Pochettino is reportedly viewed as a legitimate candidate for the Arsenal job, his close links to Tottenham could ultimately scupper any chance of a move across North London. The Argentine said in 2018 that he would never manage Arsenal because of his strong identification with Spurs. While he didn’t explicitly rule out the possibility of the Arsenal job when questioned on the matter during a vacation in Argentina last week, it is unclear whether the acrimonious nature of his departure from Spurs could open the door for the Gunners.
Nuno Espírito Santo
The Portugese tactician has made an excellent impression at Wolverhampton Wanderers since he took over in May 2017. He led the West Midlands side to the Championship title in 2017/18 before guiding Wolves to 7th place in the Premier League in 2018/19. Wolves have performed even better this campaign, and currently sit in 6th place while also juggling Europa League commitments.
Nuno’s star is undoubtedly on the rise, and he is still young enough at 45 to eventually command the attention of a European giant. However, his record at his previous clubs is mixed. He guided Valencia to 4th place in La Liga in 2014/15 amidst tension between fans and ownership, but didn’t lift any trophies with Portuguese giants Porto in his one season there in 2016/17. While Valencia and Porto are both important European clubs, Arsenal is a different matter entirely, and it’s unclear whether or not Nuno has the capacity to right their ship. Furthermore, Nuno is under contract at Wolves and it is unlikely he could be freed from his contract mid-season. Arsenal could well hire their new manager before the summer, and would be more likely to bring on someone with the experience of Allegri if they were to wait until the end of the season rather than the relatively untested Nuno.
Patrick Viera
One of the best midfielders of his generation and an Arsenal legend, Vieira would hope to bring to the Gunner’s touchline the same success he brought on the field in the late 90’s-early 2000’s. London rivals Chelsea chose to hire a former playing great this summer in Frank Lampard, and have enjoyed a spectacular start to the season. Although Vieira’s presence at Arsenal would harken back to the club’s glory days, his sketchy coaching CV does not inspire confidence that he could turn things around in North London.
Vieira began his coaching career with Manchester City’s Elite Development Squad before taking over as head coach at MLS Club NYCFC. Vieira impressed in the Big Apple, leading New York to Eastern Conference Semifinals in his two seasons there. He then got the opportunity to manage his first top-flight European side when Cote D’Azur club Nice hired him in June of 2018. Although Nice finished 7th in Vieira’s first full season at the helm, they are languishing in 13th this season in Ligue 1, and have not registered back-to-back wins since the first two match days.
Although Vieira is clearly interested in the Arsenal job, stating in a recent interview that “you can never ignore a club where you’ve spent nine years,” his lack of top-level coaching experience is a hindrance to his eventual appointment. Furthermore, his inability to get a talented Nice side to maximize their attacking potential (Nice scored only 30 league goals in 2018/19) suggests that he doesn’t have the requisite tactical acumen to bring Arsenal back to the top of the Premier League.
Mikel Arteta
Another former Arsenal captain, Arteta made 149 appearances for the Gunners from 2011-2016. Since his retirement, Arteta has served as Pep Guardiola’s right-hand man at Manchester City, helping the Sky Blues to back-to-back Premier League titles in 2017/18 and 2018/19.
Arteta was reportedly a strong candidate to replace Arsene Wenger after the 2017/18 season. However, former Arsenal Chief Executive Ivan Gazidis ended up hiring Unai Emery. With the Basque tactician ousted at the Emirates, Arteta is again one of the favorites for the Arsenal job.
Although Arteta is one of the preferred candidates to take over for Emery, the changing situation at Man City could hamper Arsenal’s hopes of signing him. Whereas Guardiola seemed entrenched in Manchester following the 2017/18 title run, the Citizens have stumbled in the first few months of this campaign, and are well off the pace of league leaders Liverpool. Furthermore, Guardiola has never spent more than four seasons at any one club, suggesting that this downturn in form could presage his departure from City this summer. If that is the case, Arteta could choose to turn down the Arsenal job in favor of waiting to see if Guardiola’s position opens up.
It would be a shame for Arsenal if Arteta chose to stay put in Manchester this time after he was turned down by the club so late in the last managerial selection process. Even though his coaching experience is limited to the assistant job at City, there is no better coach to work under than Guardiola. Arteta would surely promote the attacking, free-flowing football that Arsene Wenger made so famous, and, with his playing experience in North London, his adjustment period would be less severe than it would be for an “outsider”. Arteta has the potential to be one of the very best managers in the world. Unfortunately, Arsenal may miss out on him after the club, and Gazidis, let him slip through their fingers in 2018.
Carlo Ancelotti
The current bookies favorite after his surprise sacking by Napoli on Tuesday, Ancelotti would instantly command the respect of the Arsenal dressing room. One of the best coaches in history, Ancelotti is one of only three managers to have won the Champions League three times, and has lifted league trophies in Germany, England, France and his native Italy. A flexible coach, Ancelotti looks to devise a tactical system that gives his players the freedom to express themselves. Following Emery’s increasingly paranoiac focus on the strengths of Arsenal’s opponents, Ancelotti’s more inward-looking ethos would benefit their litany of attacking talents.
While Ancelotti is undoubtedly the biggest name in the running for the Arsenal job, he isn’t perfectly suited to the role. In fact, Ancelotti’s experience in Naples should send alarm bells ringing amongst the Arsenal hierarchy.
Ancelotti has mostly worked with star-studded squads throughout his career, becoming renowned for his skilled man-management and capacity to handle players with big egos. He has been able to lead to titles teams that already had a lot of talent.
Although Arsenal have talented players, they are more like Napoli, with the 5th-biggest payroll in Serie A, Napoli are more similar in profile to Arsenal than former Ancelotti sides such as Real Madrid and Bayern Munich. Ancelotti could not inspire Napoli to the Serie A title over Juventus in 2018/19, and was let go with the Neopolitan club sitting in a disappointing 7th place in Serie A after 15 matches. Ancelotti was not able to make Napoli more than the sum of their parts, suggesting that he would struggle to bring Arsenal back into the top-4.
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