The next Arsenal manager

When the inevitable happens and Arsenal and Arteta part ways, we will be looking for our 4th permanent manager in less than 3 years. I think it’s pretty important that the next appointment we make is the right one.

Based on Arteta’s recent comments and our diabolical form, I reckon there is a 76% chance that we will be looking for a new manager no later than January 3rd.

Here is the likely shortlist:

Allegri - Bookies favorite, has been interested before. Probably an appointment that should have been made 4-5 years ago. Not sure if he is the right fit for this Arsenal though, nor am I sure he’d even be interested.

Pochettino - The obvious pick for me. Still living in London, got Southampton out of relegation trouble, transformed a failed project at Spurs into genuine title contenders and CL finalists. Is used to working with modest budgets. And has shown that he can root out the toxic elements of the dressing room and replace them with ambitious committed footballers. Probably not likely to happen due to his Spurs links but in football you never know.

Rodgers - Oddly 2nd favorite with the bookies. I can’t see any reason why he would leave Leicester for Arsenal. He’s shown to have no loyalty whatsoever so there is that, but Leicester are just much better than us at the moment. His transformation of Leicester from a lower mid table club to European contenders on a limited budget would surely make him a person of interest for the Arsenal board though.

Hassenhuttl - Oddly not even listed with the bookies but surely should be in contention. The work he has done at Southampton can’t be ignored. A club struggling for goals and consistency for years, are now challenging for European places and are quite entertaining to watch. Again, luring him away from Southampton could be quite difficult (and expensive) but even though we are a complete mess, I think it could be a job he’d find difficult to turn down.

Ten Hag - Another manager who is not listed as a potential replacement but one that certainly has to be on our radar. He has done an incredible job at Ajax, winning their first Eredvisie title in 5 years and making them the dominant force in Holland again. Has a great record with bringing through and developing talented youngsters and took said youngsters to a CL semi final playing extremely attractive football. With Ajax now out of the CL, he could possibly be lured to the Emirates. Ajax don’t seem the type of club that would stand in his way.

Howe - For a long time he was touted as a potential replacement to Wenger but unfortunately for him, his stock has taken a nosedive over the last year. His style of football does fit in with the Arsenal ethos, as does his experience of working under tight financial restrictions. He is available so don’t be surprised if the Arsenal board take the ‘cheap’ route here.

Benitez - I’ve never rated the Spanish waiter as a top manager but there is no doubt in my mind he would improve us certainly in the short term if he was to come in. Despite taking horrid abuse at Chelsea, he was able to take them to top 4 and win the Europa League in only a few months in charge. He knows how to deal with big egos and his work never seems to be effected by rocky relationships with his employers (pretty much everywhere he’s been). I wouldn’t be surprised if he was given the job until the end of the season. He would definitely take it imo.

Vieira or Henry - One is available and the other would certainly make himself available. Both are club legends and both are former Arsenal captains. Both are also relative novices as managers (although the former has much more experience than Arteta). I would not put it past our board to make the same mistake again and take either on. If they did, you would hope at least that they would command enough respect to straighten out our toxic dressing room, and give us some sort of new manager bounce.

Unlikely outsiders - Tuchel (summer appointment maybe but won’t leave PSG midseason), Simeone (his name is always thrown in the hat but I can’t see it happening), Marco Rose (likely destination is Dortmund), Rui Faria (was linked with us when Wenger left but surely not), Martinez (another one that couldn’t possibly happen until the Summer), Nagelsmann (our transfer targets are picking Leipzig over Arsenal so can’t see why this manager would pick otherwise).

Other managers currently out of work - Jardim, Marco Silva, Sarri, Favre

Who would you like and who do you expect the next man in charge to be?