Morning, still not a lot happening but there are a couple of bits and pieces we can look at before Mikel Arteta’s press conference this morning.
First up is that Carlos Cuesta, one of his coaching staff, has been linked with the Norwich City job in the summer. He’s an interesting character, this profile from Training Ground Guru back in 2021 outlines some of his background and skills, and it’s very rare to see someone of just 28 with all of that experience under their belt.
We saw him during the Amazon documentary, doing one on one sessions with players – or at least the very broad strokes of those because I’m pretty sure Arsenal didn’t allow anything overly sensitive hit the screens – and he has become a bit more central to the coaching staff since the departure of Steve Round last summer.
So, it seems fairly normal that someone who started his coaching career at 18 with Atletico Madrid, might well have been working towards becoming a manager in his own right. Obviously you need to do a lot of work, garner experience, learn so much about the job, dressing room dynamics, and so on, but you also need to have some measure of authority to be a head coach or a manager. It would still be something of a challenge for someone under 30 who has never played the game professionally, but maybe now he’s at an age where those kind of challenges start to become available.
I’d also say that being part of Mikel Arteta’s coaching staff piques the interest of potential candidates. Everyone can see what Arsenal used to be, and what Arsenal are now, so whatever role you play in that progression has to look good on your CV. It is one for the summer, for very obvious reasons, but it will be interesting to see what happens. It’s worth pointing out that while Arteta did bring in experience in the shape of Round and Albert Stuivenberg, the appointments of Cuesta and Miguel Molina (both in their 20s) were pretty brave. A young manager giving young coaches a chance, so if Cuesta decides to take up the Norwich job, or any other that might come his way, we’ll see if he repeats that with whoever comes in as a replacement.
Beyond that, Marquinhos has joined Fluminense on loan. There’s talk this one has an option to make it permanent, but I’m not sure. It’s difficult to see him return. He feels like a modern day Amaury Bischoff (PI), a relatively cheap punt that didn’t work out and he’ll exist in our Arsenal consciousness forever because that’s what happens. Hey, he had a lovely moment when he scored in the Europa League, and who knows? He might surprise us. I don’t think it matters too much if he doesn’t though.
Right, I’m going to leave it there for this morning. We’ll bring you all the press conference stuff over on Arseblog News, and there’s a brand new Arsecast with Charles Watts below. Happy listening.
