Arteta to Anfield? I’m not taking the Mikel
GUNNERS BOSS AN OPTION
ONE candidate appears to tick all the right boxes when it comes to replacing Jurgen Klopp at Liverpool.
That Spanish bloke who used to be a cultured midfielder at the highest level of English and European football.
The fella who went into management – and breathed new life into a club bored of seeing their rivals win all the trophies.
Someone with huge ambitions and desire to become the next elite manager off the rank.
Step forward Mikel Arteta. Liverpool might have spent the last few weeks swooning over Xabi Alonso – and for obvious reasons.
Alonso has led Bayer Leverkusen on an unbeaten campaign so far, and the German side find themselves 10 points clear at the top of a Bundesliga which Bayern Munich have won for the past 11 seasons.
Alonso also just happens to be a Liverpool legend, having helped them win four trophies during his time at Anfield, including their famous 2005 Champions League triumph in Istanbul.
He knows the culture of the club, and appears to be ready to make that step up to the next managerial level. But while Arteta is cut from the same cloth he remains ignored, despite being right under Liverpool’s noses.
The prospect of Arteta – who celebrates his 42nd birthday today – leaving Arsenal for Liverpool in the summer will appear fanciful to most people.
Downright disrespectful to Arsenal themselves, even.
Not least because come May, Arteta might have won Arsenal’s first league title in two decades.
Heck, he might also win the club’s first Champions League title of all time. Should Arsenal win at Manchester City on Sunday, they will wake up the following morning staring at a table which has them four points clear of the defending champions, and best team on the planet.
It will be April Fool’s Day, granted, but supporters will come to realise it isn’t a joke.
Should all of the above actually happen, then Arteta will be going nowhere.
And should Arsenal end the season with nothing, the chances are Arteta will still be staying put.
But one thing is for certain. The question needs asking at least.
When it comes to history, tradition, expectation and success, Liverpool are twice the size of Arsenal.
Liverpool have won 19 league titles compared to Arsenal’s 13, not to mention six European Cups (more than any British team), compared to Arsenal’s none.
Nottingham Forest and Aston Villa have won the biggest club trophy of the lot more than Arsenal have.
Klopp won’t be impossible to replace, but his shoes will be humungous ones to fill because everything his Liverpool side achieves comes from him.
His energy and enthusiasm is incomparable, like a 12th man on the pitch.
But Arteta displays the same levels of passion Klopp does. He goes too far sometimes, like Klopp does, but he also kicks and heads every ball on the sidelines like the German does.
He looks like the perfect fit. And where would Liverpool turn if Alonso decides to take the Bayern job this summer, instead of returning to Merseyside?
Michael Edwards has gone back to Liverpool as CEO, with some people hailing him a “genius”. Someone who has had as big an impact at Anfield as Klopp.
Do me a favour.
He’s not even close, but if Edwards could somehow prise Arteta away and install him at Liverpool, then it would be a good place to start.