We told you yesterday that Arsenal and Mikel Arteta had reached an agreement over his appointment as head coach.
The Spaniard received assurances over the job he has to undertake, support from the board in terms of his staff and backing in the transfer market, and agreed a three and a half year deal.
The only thing left was for Arsenal to negotiate his release from Man City, and it’s being widely reported this evening that the two clubs have reached a settlement which should see the 37 year old be announced in the next 24 hours.
Arteta will become the second youngest manager in the club’s history, and with a big job to do.
As is often the way in football, the fixture list has thrown up a tantalising first game – a return to another former club when the Gunners face Everton at Goodison Park on Saturday.
The preparations for the match are being carried out by interim head coach Freddie Ljungberg, and Arteta’s arrival will probably come too late for him to have a significant impact on the plans for this game.
The busy festive period means he’ll be straight into the thick of things though – the next three fixtures are Bournemouth away, followed by two home games against Chelsea and Man Utd respectively.
A nice easy for start for the new man 😉
I’m excited. The slow build has definitely helped. I initially wanted an experienced manager but have come to terms with this. The upside could be huge if this goes well and he does turn out to be as talented as people predict.
I’ll fight the Arteta appointment until it’s official because based on the facts I think it’s the wrong move for our club. But when it’s announced I’ll back him for the good of arsenal.
Lol how do you propose to fight it
Stamp his feet and blow a raspberry
Like this;
Will top players want to move to arsenal for Arteta during this rebuild? Ancelotti has contact with players from those teams he’s managed (all top clubs), and I’m sure many would want to join him again. Ancelotti has managed many players that I’d love to have at arsenal as part of our rebuild
Koulibaly, insigne to start with, napoli basically giving players away now, and I’d love a few of those bayern munchen players too.
Who is in Arteta’s black book?
I’m confused. I thought he was signing a manager rather than an agent?!?!
So good luck negotiating with the owner of that club in Naples.
You sound like those signings are a given just because of Ancelotti and not because of the club’s financial strength.
By your logic, we could be welcoming Sterling and Sane who have spoken in glowing terms. Let’s get a grip.
Yes, I think top players and their agents will have recognized the effect Arteta has had on players like Sterling and Jesus, which has been widely reported by those players. They will understand he is a players’ manager, and a lot of players want to play for a guy like that rather than an older, more authoritarian figure.
Unless your name is Kroenke your opinion, whilst interesting enough, is entirely irrelevant to the decision making process.
Though Kroenke’s opinion isn’t worth a f**k either.
It’s a fan forum
If Everton sign Insigne I will print your comment out and eat it.
In my opinion Ancelotti is good at buddying up to players which is exactly the opposite of what Arsenal need at the moment.
Considering Ancelloti has left Napoli under a cloud I very much doubt the owner would be in a rush to sell to a club managed by Ancelloti. By your logic all the players Arteta has worked with would want to sign for arsenal..not really how it works. By all accounts Ancelloti is a very laid back manager when it comes to coaching, that is not what our players need. I don’t expect miracles this season considering how dire we have been but I for one am excited about the Arteta appointment and think fans such as yourself should get behind… Read more »
Top players don’t want to come here regardless. We have to be realistic and humble ourselves. We’re not in a position think top top players still want to come here at this very moment. Laca and auba came a year and a half plus ago when there was still some light. Humble ourselves and rebuild this team is where we’re at. Young hungry promising players is what we should be looking at. Tech ability, athletes, and high character players is what we should be looking for. The koulibaly’s of the world aren’t looking at us right now. There’s a lot… Read more »
Have you watched Napoli this season? I do not think Ancelotti and Koulibaly are in the same book, let alone the same page
Ancelotti might do fine but we need a change in culture at this club. We need a change in mentality. No more mr nice guy.
Oxford putting up more fight against Citeh than we did even if they are losing.
I thought Raul sanellehi was the black book.
Unfortunately we are not a top club anymore, we are a mid table club.
Rob, you say “Ancelotti has contact with players from those teams he’s managed”
Don’t worry mate, we have Raul ‘Contacts Book’ Sanllehi………
Who’s in Arteta’s black book? I get your point, but I’ll settle for De Bryune for a start. Wouldn’t also mind Bernado Silva. And Leroy Sane isn’t getting too many games at the moment. A man can only dream….
Get dragged kicking & biting away from Silent Stan’s office after dumping a 10-score deposit of poo on his desk.
Be excited!!
Rob no one cares whether you think it is right or wrong especially as you keep banging on about it.
Yeah, you fight it Rob…..anything that keeps you occupied elsewhere.
I’m not excited. I’ve tried, but I can’t find it in me. This is not a simple job. Maybe because of my low opinion of the squad, I don’t think it’s wise or feasible to put such massive weight on a novice. Arteta’s first ever managerial experience shouldn’t be on a squad that lacks some much of the basic its unbelievable. Emery maybe was not compatible with the club, but I refuse to believe he didn’t know his football, still he struggled. Then was sacked him (rightly), and Freddie came in and couldn’t stir this sinking ship. Football is not… Read more »
No one is expecting a drastic change though. The appointment of Arteta shows that this is obviously a long term project. Bringing him in now gives him about half a season to see who he can rely on and who he needs to ship off. Gives him a chance to play every team in the league once just about and sort shit out. This season is a wash barring any miracles in the EL. Our form has been piss poor in both competitions so I don’t see anything drastic happening to where we could beat the likes of inter Ajax… Read more »
Yeah 3 and 1/2 years is longer than emery initially signed for.
Hope Arteta can negotiate as well with players as he has with execs.
I agree. I’m very nervous that this is the wrong appointment. But as always, I’ll hope for the best. #COYG.
All hail LEGO Hair!
Everything is awesome….
Let’s hope so
I am going to be the Party-Pooper and express my reservations on his appointment. If I were on the board, I would have argued for giving Freddie the job till June. At the end of the season there will be tons of options and if Arteta is still the best, then we could go for him in the summer. This managing group looks like a group of amateurs learning on the job and adding an inexperienced manager like Arteta seems like the wrong thing to do. This could come back to bite me in the backside, but I am not… Read more »
I think we all have reservations but how many were the same when Wenger signed?
Thank God you are not. With the performances Freddie has been putting out, they’d be riots before end of January.. This is relegation form and Freddie is not what is required, we all have realised that.
He’s been in charge for 3 games – one he won, one he had 2 days to prepare for, the other was against the reigning champions. Steady on.
Lets try and be positive people 😀 if he can at least make it look like the players care a tad it’ll be an improvement. A couple wins would also be appreciated ! Lets goooooo
Will Freddie be his second? Or will he bring in Xabi Alonso as was rumored he wanted to do two years ago?
Freddie has more experience than Arteta as a head coach.
So what? Arteta had more experience working for management of top tier teams. Ljungberg, as much as I love him, seems tactically inept. Setting up to attack vs the likes of city with that bunch we call ‘midfield’ was a recipe for failure. Someone had to take over, we don’t know if arteta is the right man, but I reckon Wenger/pep would know better than us.
The only chance we had against City was to attack, we could hardly sit back and rely on our lol ‘defense’. But yes it’s too much to expect Freddie to turn round this clusterfuck of a team.
I hope Pep and Wenger’s high regard for Arteta is well placed and fans give him time.
Defence means being organised and not just sitting back in your own half. Duncan Ferguson has done a better job of organising and inspiring the Everton side than Freddie has at Arsenal.
I don’t like calling Freddie inept at anything. Invincibles are beyond criticism in any form. If Pires crashes his car into your house, you still can’t criticise his driving. If Gilberto makes a salmon mousse and everyone gets food poisoning, he’s still not a bad chef.
Freddie had no choice. And why shouldn’t we attack City at home? You think 10 men parking the bus would stop De Bruyne and Sterling from scoring? We would have had the same result with AW or Unai managing.
But other than that one word, I agree 100% with you ?
Invicibles beyond critism?
What, Arsenal Football Club is now a cult of freaks?
Get real. Seriously, enough with the adolescent stuff.
Same result is Wenger managing? What on earth goes through peoples minds … its truly baffling.
Easy on man. He was talking a bit to tongue-in-cheek there. These are dire times, but let’s at least try and retain our sense of humor.
I appreciate the fact that Freddie gave it a go. Nothing would have been more disappointing for me than to have him line us up like emery and play boringball and still go down 3-0. At least we had a couple periods of play where we threatened them and played a little football. It wasn’t much, but it was never going to be for that match given the state of affairs.
100%.
Playing an open game vs City was pathetic. Utterly incompetent management.
Not even Liverpool would try to match them in possession.
Especially when there are many precedents of counter attacking teams hurting city.
The problem is counter attacking teams rely on a solid, structured defense with all 11 players contributing in a large aspect to that defensive stability. Arsenal does not have a solid defensive base to build on and try and hit the likes of City on the counter. I think Freddie was just trying to put smiles back on the faces of the players and the fans with that setup.. heck if we had scored that early chance who knows how the game may of ended.
Iiiff. Yyyouu hhhaavvee etttooo. Eexxxpplllaain. Ittt toooo. Hhiiimmm,,,,,tthhe n. It’s. Nnoot. Woorthh. Tthhhe. Eeffffofoorrrtt.. wsssaaveee. Yyooourrr. Bfrreetathh. Ffforr. As. Mkkooorrrwe. Ddddeeessseerrviibbbbggg. Iiiddiiiiooottt.
Why not put Big Sam incharge, surely he has the most experience out of all the names we have been linked with.
Or Per(haps)?
COYG. Time to support the team wholeheartedly
I line Freddie better. But welcome Mikel I suppose. Underwhelmed despite best efforts from blog to hype it up. COYG no matter what.
I’m excited and hope Freddie stays
Who was the youngest manager?
And how did he fair
No judgement from me, just bare facts:
1x FA Cup, 2x FA Cup runner up, 1x European Cup Winners Cup runner up
League: Not better than 3rd
Would take 3rd!
Terry Neill
Hope he can make it work.
very excited! a risk worth taking In my opinion just hope fans and squad are open to his ideas and give him time
Guess is happening then, not uber excited about this, but gotta back Arteta now. Just hope Freddie can stay in his coaching staff, he has done well given the circumstances (and our only win in ages came with him at the helm, and maybe not that much but there were some improvements).
Just hope he exceed the expectations and does well
3,5 year – looks like the plan is quite long term
Clever from Arteta and his agent. Mena sthe club will have to fork out a lot of $$ to get rid of him if its not working, fair compensation for moving from ManCity to Arsenal imho.
A warm hearted Welcome Back to Mikel.
Here’s to hoping this is the start of a bountiful future!
“backing in the transfer market”
This one made me laugh
Yeah, I’ll believe it when I see it. But maybe, just maybe, if they think Arteta’s the long view man they will continue with some of the investing they did for Emery. They actually spent a bit the last couple windows.
If so, let’s hope it’s better spent on a more balanced squad.
Let’s get another top forward… that will do the trick
Another sad and dumb move by Arsenal. In 18 months all the people who think Arteta is good enough to fix our mess will want him sacked. This is a sad day…….From emery to a guy with no experience…what next? we will hire a Rugby coach after this ???
Pretty sure any one of the last few All Blacks coaches could get more out Arsenal than Emery did!
A man who is leaving man city(where he is in contention to be to be head coach when pep inevitably leaves) for this arsenal squad in shambles sepals volumes. He looks like a man with a plan, Motivated, knows the problems ingrained in arsenal management through the years, developed sane and sterling(imagine what he could do with saka martinelli and pepe!). He is the one.
Who ever said that he was next inline to replace Pep ??? I dont think that has actually come from anyone at Manchester city.
And reference to Sterling , Sane ect I dont suppose working under Pep and he’s other coaching staff had any effect on them what so ever, it was all down to Arteta !!!
Please come on and be serious!!
Pep said he felt like he could. But Pep doesn’t call those shots.
I’ve got a bit of deja vu here?
I’m sure plenty of Barca fans said the same when Pep took over. Truth is none of us know who the best appointment is. So, let’s just get behind the man. We all want to do well, isn’t that the one thing we all have in common?
I know this is a site for people to express their views but I find some of this negative stuff hard to swallow. I see not point in it. The negative people are not better informed or qualified than AFC. Get behind the team.
I’m happy with this appointment. With great risk comes great rewards. He’s a former player who knows the significance of the badge and the values of the club because of his years under Wenger. He’s young and hungry to prove himself. He’s intelligent and is lauded by arguably the best manager in the world.
A long rebuilding job is definitely what’s needed right now, in fact it was needed 18 months ago and I’m going to support Arteta throughout his hopefully long and fruitful reign.
Up the Arsenal. Here’s to brighter days ahead.
He really wasn’t at Arsenal that long and didn’t really play that many games for us, he’s best years were at Everton, he wasn’t exactly a great captain and I’m sure if he was honest he’d say he’s heart is with Everton they are the team that nurtured him , gave him he’s break in England from a no body in Spain, he hasn’t even played for Spain in any capacity.
Lets not get to carried away with him its not like he’s an Arsenal Legend or anything.
What makes you say he wasn’t a good captain? By accounts he was well respected.
Well said Otto. Fans that dont back him should go and support spuds next door we need positivity and hope and fans to stop booing managers and players its destroying AFC so if you love this team get behind it.
Ok, so the new era begins. I remain to be convinced but he gets my full support in the meantime. Let’s hope for the best!
No matter who Arsenal hire as the new head coach, its all a gamble, experienced or inexperienced, there’s no quick fix, it will take any new coach time and resources.. All we can do is give our full support towhoever that is.
will be interesting to see what he is like. i have high hopes based on reports that have been doing the rounds. tough ask for first job though. if nothing else, this show the higher-ups are thinking of a fresh start and a proper rebuild under a new upcoming coach. we should have done this years ago. let’s hope fans get behind this now and are patient as i imagine this will be a bumpy ride over next year or two…
Will top players want to move to arsenal for Arteta during this rebuild? Ancelotti has contact with players from those teams he’s managed (all top clubs), and I’m sure many would want to join him again. Ancelotti has managed many players that I’d love to have at arsenal as part of our rebuild
Koulibaly, insigne to start with, napoli basically giving players away now, and I’d love a few of those bayern munchen players too.
Who is in Arteta’s black book?
Rob… I’m not sure I want top players. First I think they are out of reach. Second, I want hungry players… not established stars who view London Colney as a green pasture. I want grimey unheard of brawlers.
If Edu has anything to do with it, we may see more with those characteristics. Plenty of good South American players that are looking for that big break like Gabby.
Very true the top players are the poison in out team storing trouble for the manager. The youngsters are hungry and have more fight in them. Ozil Auba Louis even Laca all have massive egos we dont need this kind of players. We should sell them and get another top CB and DM to start with and another right back and left back good enough to challenge bellerin and Tierny. Competition raises ones game.
Let’s be honest. We’re not in the game for big players. But at the club, if you’re Martinelli, Saka, Nelson, Eddie, ESR, Medley etc you must be looking at the testimony of Sterling et al and be thinking how much Arteta and team will accelerate your development. If you are an up and coming talent from a lower European league, that development would have a big pull with regard to recruitment. And that’s probably the market we have to be in for phase 1 of this project.
Someone said Xavi may come and help Arteta? Wouldn’t that be motivation for a young midfielder to have his day to day guidance? If any of his skills rubbed off on our young midfielders it would be great. Even Mesut might get excited!!
Xavi AND Xabi?
Not too Xabby!
I will support whomever is the boss and I hope Arteta can improve the team. I am however very doubtful. Had he been appointed at a time when the squad is settled and the supporters relatively satisfied, I think he would do well. But he is coming into a situation which even those with much experience (like Emery and even Arsene) struggled with. Someone like Ancelotti or Benitez would have at least had the immediate respect and fear of the players. Arteta however is too raw. If he does, however, prove me wrong and pull it off by at least… Read more »
Ancelotti’s famous for being the opposite of ‘players fearing’ him
Honestly I can’t argue with ancelotti but I have never understood the reason why alot of people want benitez. Although he’s alot better at it he does still have alot of the same flaws we saw in emery
Because he’s a lot better at it?
Benitez is a fantastic coach. Proven at the highest levels and would have been a smart move here. He doesn’t put up with shit though and would never touch arsenal unless he had rock solid commitment from the board on transfers he wants, rather than some useless fucktard director of football’s agent cast offs.
I’ll back Arteta but I hope he will be his own man rather than Raul’s bitch. That’s big part of why emery failed.
Good luck to him, now the board need to back him in the window properly!
Now sell Aubameyang while we can still get a top price, shift Ozil at the smallest loss possible, and clear out the “joggers,” as Philip Auclaire calls them.
Write off this season. Struggling along with a poor, imbalanced squad in order to reach the reward of the Europa League next season is madness. 10th better than 5th.
Buy some promising defenders and midfielders. Bed in the youth who are willing to learn Arteta’s style and WORK on the pitch.
Check results in 2022.
No. 5th is better than 10th.
Please explain why it would be a good idea to sell Aubameyang.
Because of his constant interaction with the media there are secrets at AFC and that’s a sign of Weakness. Auba has not played as well as he can but hes still a top player in his highlight years and the money would help Arteta strengthen the defence and midfield where we are awful.
Welcome back Mikel. Wouldn’t mind Xabi Alonso joining him as is rumoured. Someone the players can look at and instantly respect. COYG
Arsene said yesterday, they need to surround him with experienced staff. A good defensive coach is a must. Also notice that it was Vinai & Fahmy who went to his house in the wee small hours. Then reports said he met Josh later. No mention of Sanhelli or Edu. Which after Sanhelli’s previous business is a good thing.
We should get Lee Dixon and Keown to help with the defence.
Let us all hope that this is going to be successful. We need to clean out a raft of players, and management. Pull it by the roots.
Ozil must earn his £350K per week at Galatasaray (after he himself closed the door on a move to Chinese league)
Feeling excited, and nervous
I guess the nice thing is that although no one knows how good he will be as a manager, we know Arteta. He loved his time at The Arsenal and we loved him. He’s not an absolute nobody, this feels like an appointment WE want, not one hoisted on us by the non-Arsenal suits and Kroenkes
Great! I felt as if we missed a trick by choosing Emery over Arteta and have been waiting for us to go back in ever since. I just hope we don’t have too many numbskulls calling for his p45 after 3 games. This is a long term project and Arteta is a man with long term goals. I’m excited to see us play proper football again! COYG!
Yes!
Well Freddie is the natural choice to build the LEGO chair for his replacement.
Careful mixing up Danes and Swedes!
Jesus, give the guy a chance. People are writing him off immediately…. Some of our supporters really don’t help the team.
I’m excited personally… It could be a brilliant appointment – only time will tell.
I hope he’s given a fair crack of the whip.
Arteta!
I’m not overwhelmed by this Arteta speculation but at the same time, the lifelong gooner in me is excited about the future with him in charge. I also was when Emery took over and that was near enough the lowest point of my life. Time will tell.
Finally!
I honestly have no clue any more. This could be utterly brilliant, totally cack, or somewhere in the middle. My powers of prediction regarding our performances, have drained my Betfair wallet to an empty husk.
I’ve found that splitting the bet on draw / loss works well
Wish him well, definitely give him the benefit of the doubt. I just think it’s the wrong move. I don’t understand this day and age that a club as big as arsenal is going to pay someone to learn on the job?!?!? If that’s the case why not just back Freddie? Not that I want go in that direction either. Look at Lampard before he went to Chelsea and even Gerrard learning to manage. I don’t think the comparisons to Pep or ZZ are correct. At least they had some experience with the Respective B clubs. Arteta is coming from… Read more »
ljungberg has just as much experience as guardiola had when he got the barca job. one season with the B team. barcelona knew guardiola had the goods and that he understood the club. this is the best move we could have made i think. let’s see what he’s made of, get behind the team and be happy to play the plucky underdog for a couple of years while the rebuild happens.
maybe we will see a reduction in ticket prices to “plucky underdog” levels? i’m not betting on that though…
Barca B team actually plays against other Sr teams not just other B squads iirc I don’t understand what you are saying? I would have been all for Freddie getting the permanent position for the rest of the season. Unless we go in a tailspin there would be no harm imo. Then at the end of the season we would have more options to move on from Freddie if that’s the case. This admiration for arteta is strange from KSE, Raul and some fans. We are paying him to learn how to be a manager at one of the biggest… Read more »
BBC say there’s not even been any contact, the fuck is going on I can’t handle another 11th hour Emery
I know, this club excels at doing things in the most difficult way possible
Apparently we’ve pissed off city big time by the amateur hour contact with Arteta without letting them know. Speaks volumes of our current management.
I’ll always support anyone who took a £10k a week pay cut to move to Arsenal as a player. Can any Arseblog remind me of any other Arsenal player that’s done that?
I think Fabregas and Chamberlain took pay cuts to leave, it’s not the same thing but….
These are the must win games for the Arsenal competing with Bayern Munich and the rest… alá Gazidis
This just feels such an insubstantial appointment. The board is having a fucking laugh, or just taking the piss out of us if they think someone who’s never managed a top-flight team in his life is a better appointment than an experienced manager with a big character and proven track record. This smacks of a budget cop-out, sticking plaster move. It’s going to end in more tears, a club still in crisis as a sporting concern and with us fans disliking a pretty decent bloke and great ex-player. WTF is going on with my Arsenal?
Who ever said that he was next inline to replace Pep ??? I dont think that has actually come from anyone at Manchester city.
And reference to Sterling , Sane ect I dont suppose working under Pep and he’s other coaching staff had any effect on them what so ever, it was all down to Arteta !!!
Please come on and be serious!!
Pep was quoted as saying he could, although Pep doesn’t make that decision.
If he is half as good a manager as he was a player we will do great I hope he finds a place for Freddie as god knows he deserves it after situation he took over from Emery.
This is all you need to know re: Arteta. He cried on his last appearance for Arsenal. He reads the game, is a great coach and a man who realised that to be a Professional footballer at Arsenal is a priveledge. I don’t think he will tolerate anyone who gives less than 100 per cent:-
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=B5ZrQ58MacY
No one player is bigger than the team. Win, lose ir draw I just want players who give 100 per cent every day and who are devastated when ghey lose.
I also read this and he is Arsenal through and through like George Graham was. If he puts his sould into it what else can we wish for give the man a chance to show his worth. He deserves his chance I believe he will need 3 transfer windows to build his team so let’s be patient and get behind him.
Welcome back, Mikel!
Their is nothing to show that Arteta will do well at the Arsenal; only blind optimism. I want an experienced coach; they bring with them the ‘fear factor’ and the immediate respect of the senior players. Bellerin, Ozil, Auba even Chambers won’t be enthusiastic about Arteta signing. They’ll only pretend to respect him as they pretended to respect Lungberg. These players won’t play for Arteta. They’ll think, here is another rookie using us to horn his trade.
Welcome Mikel. I am positive once you have put your philosophy and system in place the team can move forward.Other than a couple of performances here and there the games under Emery were dreadful.Excited about the ball being passed forward not constantly backwards by our fullbacks and central defenders.
It’s time to be an old fashioned fan and show our support to Arteta! Stick with him, give him time.
The king is dead. Long live the king!
Now, we can worry about the golden cup. Gunners have to deal with Liverpool. Nothing else but this. YEAH!
Get in there Mikel!!! Not quite sure why, but I’m kind of pumped up about this.
We’ll take Arteta with a clear understanding that he’s not a magician and he’s here to build, we’re confident he won’t set up to defend like the so called football mad Emery and we’ll experience good football again. He’ll struggle with top stars but we’re Arsenal fans before we’re fans of any player. COYG