Arteta’s vision finally taking shape – can he buck trend of players failing at old clubs?
Recently, it has been a bad time for successful players seeking to become established managers at the clubs where they made their name.
When Frank Lampard returned to Chelsea, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer took over at Manchester United and Andrea Pirlo assumed the management position at Juventus, their boards hoped they would follow the template of Pep Guardiola at Barcelona.
Guardiola’s success started a trend with more clubs believing the answer to their problems lay in their legends suite. Unfortunately for them, the bar that was set at the Nou Camp was so high, it has been virtually impossible to match Guardiola. Only Zinedine Zidane, who never gets enough credit for transforming an underperforming Real Madrid side into three-time Champions League winners, has been successful at that elite level.
Elsewhere, there is an expectation Steven Gerrard will eventually return to Liverpool, and if Patrick Vieira succeeds at Crystal Palace and beyond, you can imagine the clamour of Arsenal fans to see a romantic homecoming.
Xavi Hernandez, one of my favourite footballers of the past 30 years, has just returned to the Nou Camp in the belief that he will revive the club. I hope he does, but it is wrong that he will be expected to succeed immediately.
A lot of this is rooted in sentiment more than logic.
There is no reason why a playing legend is more qualified to become a coach at their former club than anyone else. Fans and owners can be influenced by happy memories, clinging to a glorious past in a broadly irrational belief that the presence of a club hero will lead to an equally successful future.
Whenever such reunions are announced, we hear a lot of PR about the ex-player “knowing the club”, as if that will make them more qualified to manage a squad of 22 vastly different skill sets and personalities.
Knowing the club obviously helps a bit. Every new coach needs to understand the style of football demanded by the fans, and have a sense of the history and culture of the area they are working in, but that should not require much homework. Some of the greatest, most successful managers – whether Bill Shankly at Liverpool, Sir Alex Ferguson at Manchester United, or Arsene Wenger at Arsenal – had no prior connection to the clubs they transformed.
So the benefits of being an ex-player going back to manage your old club are generally overplayed and nostalgia will not get you far if results and performances are not up to scratch.
Mikel Arteta knows that as much as any current Premier League coach. There will be those who will argue Arteta should be included in the group alongside Lampard, Pirlo and Solskjaer as a notable former player struggling to prove he is an elite coach at the club he played for. There have been occasions when he has seemed under intense pressure and a couple of games from losing the faith, if not of his board, certainly the Arsenal fans.
But I have never seen Arteta in quite the same way as those others. Yes, he is a former Arsenal player, but with respect, not a legend in the same way the other three were to Chelsea, United and Juve.
To me, when Arteta was offered the Arsenal job his connection to the club was secondary to him being mentored by Guardiola at Manchester City. First and foremost, he is seen as a modern coach who understands how the game is evolving rather than someone steeped in the Arsenal tradition. That is more important than any emotional attachment to a former player because Arteta is being judged solely on the quality of his work as opposed to Solskjaer, who has arguably been given more time than others would have been given results and performances as he is loved so much by the fans.
That puts Arteta in a more credible and secure position as results have improved, Arsenal winning eight of their past 10 games in all competitions. He actually won more of
his first 100 fixtures (54) than Wenger (51). Those wins include an FA Cup triumph and victories against Chelsea, Manchester City and Liverpool, and he inherited a much weaker squad than his predecessors.
More encouraging is the side’s development with Arteta’s vision starting to be realised. A year ago, Arsenal had just 13 points from 11 games, sitting 15th. Victory at Anfield today would take them above Liverpool and make them genuine top-four contenders. Facing Liverpool is a good
Guardiola set the bar so high at Barcelona that it has been virtually impossible to match him
barometer of where Arsenal are at, especially compared to earlier in the season when they lost heavily to Chelsea and City. Only three players in Arsenal’s line-up for their other defeat – the first game of the season at Brentford – were in the starting XI for their last game. Having no European football has enabled Arteta to spend more time on the training pitch. Whatever the result today, it already looks like a different Arsenal to a year ago, young players such as Emile Smith Rowe coming to the fore. During the middle of last season it felt it still had to get worse before it got better for Arteta as he tried to shift poor signings on big contracts. Now, the worst might be over and they may be emerging towards the light at the end of the tunnel. If the improvement continues, Arteta may become the newest flagbearer for former players succeeding at their old clubs. Executives should be wary, though. The quality of the coaching matters, not whether the man in charge previously wore the badge.