Arsenal legend Alan Smith is of the opinion that Mikel Arteta is the right man to become the Gunners manager.
Following the sacking of Unai Emery, Fredrik Ljungberg became the interim manager of the North London club but the results haven’t been very good under him. Arsenal have won just one out of five matches under the Swede so far.
Manchester City assistant manager Arteta has been linked to the Gunners’ managerial job with the Mirror claiming that he will lead them against Everton this weekend.
Smith who made more than 300 appearances for Arsenal, feels that the Spaniard is the ideal candidate to manage the club. In his column for Sky Sports, the Gunners legend wrote: “I think so, yes. From the outset I thought that he would be the most exciting, the boldest choice as a innovative young coach that can put on really good sessions and that transfers to the pitch. Obviously, he’s had a huge influence from Guardiola up at Manchester City. He takes a lot of the sessions and Raheem Sterling and Kevin De Bruyne have both credited him with improving their game.
“Yes, he’s never been a manager before so it’s a vastly different job, but I think he carries with him an authority. He’s quite ruthless if he wants to be, he’s very driven like Guardiola, and Arsenal need that at the moment. They need someone to give them an injection of life, new ideas, modern ideas on the way the game is going now and yes, it is a risk, but it’s a calculated gamble that I think will pay off.
“It’s not going to be a quick fix, but I would expect to see his fingerprints on his first few matches and some differences but the one worry for any Arsenal fan is the fact he probably hasn’t got too much money to spend over the next few transfer windows. They seem to have spent that in advance on the likes of Nicolas Pepe and David Luiz, but by the same token, that’s why they need a good coach to improve the players they’ve already got on board. I think he’s the one that can do that.”
Arteta may not have managed a club before but he has received some experience in the last three years as Manchester City’s assistant manager. Besides, he has also played for Arsenal before. At this moment, he might be the best possible option Arsenal have.
The Gunners are currently tenth in the table and will be wanting to secure all three points on Saturday when they face Everton at Goodison Park.
