Mikel Arteta should snub Arsenal offer and stay with Man City - Gunners are in a real mess - 7M sport

Mikel Arteta should snub Arsenal offer and stay with Man City - Gunners are in a real mess



Posted Tuesday, December 17, 2019 by Express.co.uk

Is Mikel Arteta the right man for the Arsenal job? That was the question which Josh Kroenke was busy answering in his own mind in the final rubber-stamping 24 hours after an early-hours of interview process that lasted two-and-a-half hours.

But the bigger question - given the ease of City's 3-0 win on Sunday and the chaos that has followed the removal of Unai Emery from office - will have been running through the mind of the quiet 37-year-old Spaniard sat on the other side of the room.

Why would a man, clearly set for an auspicious managerial career, cut his teeth sorting out the mess that Arsenal has become?

Luckily for the Gunners, he appears to have come up with a reason – if only blind loyalty to the club he served for five years as a player.

Indications are that Arteta is ready to answer Freddie Ljungberg's virtual plea to relieve him of his duties after a disastrous caretaker period.

Mikel Arteta should snub Arsenal offer and stay with Man City - Gunners are in a real mess
Mikel Arteta should snub Arsenal offer and stay with Man City - Gunners are in a real mess (Image: GETTY)

Within hours of Ljungberg telling the board "a decision has to be made", the man in charge of the process Vinai Venkatesham was jetting to Manchester to meet with the preferred candidate.

The fact he took contract lawyer Huss Fahmy with him suggested this was no mere interview. Provided they could persuade Arteta to dip his toe into a head coach's role.

In the Emirates reception area after the game, City's star player Kevin De Bruyne had told reporters that Arteta was becoming too big to be a No 2 for long.

"He came here three years ago, and had to find his way a little bit, because to transition from player to coach is a little bit different," De Bruyne said.

"He is finding his role really, really good right now. He's helping the team in the way he thinks he can help, and is doing a good job.

"But if he gets a good opportunity to be a head coach, I think as a club you need to let somebody go.

"You want to grow as a head coach, I guess, and if you want to grow you need to take opportunities when they come."

But Arteta had sat glum faced watching the ludicrously-overpaid Mesut Ozil petulantly drop-kick his gloves down the touchline after being substituted after another lacklustre performance.

Earlier in the day, comments from Ozil on social media seemed to end any hopes of unloading his poisonous presence to China, the one country that can afford him, before his contract runs out in 2021.

Furthermore, Arteta had seen the Arsenal midfield over-run and the back four ripped to shreds. A disjointed, dispirited performance from players who are simply not good enough.

A team crashing to its worst home run in a quarter of a century - six games without a win.

There are no leaders on the pitch to turn things around. The previous captain Granit Xhaka has been hounded out to the periphery amid angry gestures made to his own fans.

The most notable of late moment for current armband-wearer Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang was him turning on a 20-year-old team-mate, Joe Willock, making his eighth Premier League start, and unloading both barrels.

It is a daunting task for a more experienced manager, but Arsenal are heading off the cliff so rapidly that the club board can no longer be choosers.

Arteta may regret not being more choosy. Even the brightest managerial reputation can be swallowed up in an instant.



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