Good morning and welcome to the second last Friday of the season. It’s almost over, hurrah! I kid. Sort of. But I think you know what I mean.
This weekend we have a game against Man City which we’ll cover in more detail over the coming days. We shall prepare ourselves for the monumental battle faced by two managers who have to motivate players who look like they’d rather be anywhere else over a third placed finish. That’s why these guys get paid the big bucks.
Speaking of Man City, a bit of stuff going around about how Mikel Arteta might be off to join Pep Guardiola’s coaching staff there next season. To me that makes plenty of sense, for him. I believe that if there were an opening at Arsenal then he’d be inclined to take that up, but for the most part Arsene Wenger doesn’t really have former players around.
I know Steve Bould is his assistant, but that came about after years of working his way up the ladder, while Thierry Henry’s involvement has undoubtedly got something to do with his close relationship with the manager for many years. As it is, the whispers are that he’ll be Kwame Ampadu’s assistant for the U18s next season, so we’re still seeing a bit of a coaching apprenticeship here.
Arteta is clearly a very intelligent guy who is hugely respected within the Arsenal dressing room. His influence on the team itself has waned over the last couple of seasons, and I definitely will write that piece about him and Mertesacker in the near future, but overall I think he’s somebody whose influence on the club since his arrival has been really positive. I’m just sorry that we didn’t bring him in sooner and get more years out of him than we did, because I always felt he and Cesc would work really well together.
Arteta and Guardiola go back a bit too, from when Mikel was a young player at Barcelona, and the chance to learn and be part of Pep’s coaching staff is surely a brilliant one for him as he goes down the path to becoming a manager himself. We saw them together after Bayern visited this season, and it wouldn’t be any surprise to me if that’s where he went this summer.
It’s always very difficult to predict which former players will make the best coaches, but I’d certainly keep an eye on Arteta. He’s smart, studious, and a stronger character than people think. Doing some time alongside Guardiola will be a fantastic experience and education, and maybe he’ll be the man take over from Arsene Wenger in 2022.
Elsewhere, the transfer madness is beginning in earnest. We know Arsenal need a striker so expect us to be linked to pretty much anyone that has scored more than three goals in the last 12 months. This morning the name doing the rounds is Vincent Janssen, a 21 year old who has got 28 goals for AZ Alkmaar and Holland this season.
It’s the kind of name that makes some sense, because even with our financial firepower, the biggest striking names are likely to be beyond our reach. I mean, we could see the manager go back in for someone like Gonzalo Higuain this summer – fresh off the back of a 30 goal season in Serie A – but I reckon we’ll be looking for somebody who has the potential to develop into that world class forward everybody wants to badly. I suspect that a 21 year old with just one Eredivisie season under his belt is rather too much of a gamble though.
Right then, time for this week’s Arsecast and I’m joined by Amy Lawrence to discuss Leicester winning the league, how and why it happened, protests in the stadium during the Norwich game and what it might mean for Arsene Wenger. As well as that there’s a competition to win some Robert Pires t-shirts, a look back at how Sp*rs lost the league in violent style, the Francis Coquelin parallel dimension theory, Arsene Wenger Hawkins, and lots of the usual waffle.
The Arsecast Extra this week is sponsored by Cornerstone. Visit cornerstone.co.uk/arseblog to discover how you can shave better and more cost effectively, and get discounts with a 100% money back guarantee. It all helps support the podcast, so thanks in advance).
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The manager will have his press conference this morning. Don’t expect much in the way of excitement regarding team news, the only issue from Saturday’s game with Norwich is a hamstring for Per Mertesacker which, with two games to go, puts paid to his season.
All the other bits and pieces we’ll bring you over on Arseblog News throughout the day. For some bonus reading, Tim Stillman’s column this week is a fine read, and the Gent will be here later on.
More from me tomorrow, enjoy the podcast.
