Mikel Arteta’s assistant Steve Round has backed the Spaniard to be ‘one of the very, very best’ and says he’s enjoying his time at Arsenal.
Round, who coached Arteta when he was at Everton, jumped at the chance to move to the Emirates in December adding the Gunners to an impressive CV that also includes stints with England, Newcastle United, Manchester United, Derby, Aston Villa and Middlesbrough.
After a hectic first three months in charge, the 49-year-old, like the rest of the players and staff, is coming to terms with life under lockdown. With time to reflect, he’s pleased with the way things were going before the coronavirus pandemic brought football to a stand still.
“I’m really enjoying it,” he told the Hartlepool Mail.
“It’s a fantastic club with a top manager. Hopefully, we have turned the corner and we are starting to move forward.
“We’d got some momentum going, obviously it’s all been put on hold now and we’re just waiting to see what happens.
“It’s a brilliant club and I’m delighted to work for the manager who I think has got the potential to be one of the very, very best.”
It’s great to hear such positivity coming out of the camp during such difficult times. Last week, Arteta spoke in glowing terms about the way his team are handling the current hiatus and revealed they had been set fitness plans and tactical homework.
Whether they are expected to continue following both when another delay to the season is confirmed remains to be seen.
Emery drove us Round the bend.
Let’s hope Arteta is taking us Round the corner and back to the top again.
Yeah Emery was a square peg in a Round hole.
sounds like Round got more than he bargained for there.
Well I’m glad that Steve got Round to joining us in the end.
Yeh let’s hope he helps to turn our fortunes around..
In a Roundabout way
Its about time this season rounds up so we can start on a clean sheet
Some more positivity doing the rounds
I heard a lot of papers were fighting over this story. I figured some fat cat like the Hartlepool Mail would end up getting it.
Ah The Hartlepool Mail, a well Rounded publication.
Round is right about Arteta: he will become a great manager and coach. But probably not at Arsenal.
We have a fundamental problem and that is an owner who just doesn’t care enough about the club. Stan and his son are poison. My guess is that Arteta will do enough at Arsenal to get noticed by one of the really big continental clubs and then move on.
Meanwhile we’ll be stuck with a businessman who’s only interested in finishing fourth. And the club will continue to whither away.
Sad, isn’t it?
Yeah I also feel Arteta will leave us for Barcelona or Man City one day, just as almost any other manager would.
It just makes me appreciate Arsene Wenger’s loyalty even more. I can’t believe how he managed to turn down Real Madrid, Barcelona, Bayern Munich, and chose to stick with us. If he had gone to any of those clubs, we’d have become a mid-table team long before we actually became one, but he would have undoubtedly won that elusive European Cup with the resources he would have had there.
“If he had gone to any of those clubs, we’d have become a mid-table team long before we actually became one.”
That is debatable.
I think there is a possibility we would have achieved more a new manager on the saddle during that period.
His stubbornness actually robbed us of more trophies.
We got a new manager in the saddle when Wenger left. I don’t think I’ve seen any Arsenal trophies since then.
Wenger kept us out of mid-table obscurity for over a decade despite the best (worst?) efforts of the useless owners and self-aggrandising upper management we’ve had for the last 13 years.
While I agree with the sentiment, Madrid and Barcelona will always be in a different league to us. Even when Anelka broke through into our hugely exciting side as a talented youngster, his first wish was to forge a move to Madrid. He could’ve won a lot at Arsenal but the lure of those clubs is so tantalising for any player. Even Liverpool continue to fight off bids from the Classico two despite the fact they are arguably the best club in the world with the best manager in the world. And the same applies to Arteta. There will come… Read more »
I don’t think it as anything to do with Club status.
we are hardly Forest Green Rovers.
If a manager has the players, resources and freedom to build a team, then i’m sure he’d happily stay.
the other aspect is money. *simeone at athletico is on 4m a month!
wenger had freedom and players, he had more money than smaller teams but not much.
Arteta looks to have the freedom and players(more so than emery imho) but he also wont have financial backing unless kronke goes.
If it’s not club status then please explain the following transfers…
Overmars
Petit
Anelka
Henry
Hleb
Fabregas
Song
Were all these players just chasing the dollar?
Also Vermaelen and van Bronkhorst.
Interesting how many transfers from Arsenal to Barcelona there have been over the years.
And Sylvinho too but these moves weren’t so much to do with the player setting the world on fire. They were just stop gap signings for Barca and not a great loss to Arsenal. And Sylvinho couldn’t have stayed anyway.
Agree, but the underlying reason is nearly always money,directly or indirectly. Some in the list left because of Arsenals then policy on contract tenures/salary/money for over 30s, others due to disillusion with the club not bringing enough quality players to compete for the trophies(due to financial restrictions). Very rarely(but possible) does someone leave because they have a particular DNA(Cesc may be but he himself said that was not the only reason) or just like a particular club or town/country. Even then I will argue money can trump that. While I see Arteta and players moving on even if we ‘compete’… Read more »
I’m sorry but you’re just wrong. Paul Pogba is getting massive figures thrown at him from United, as is Mbappe at PSG. They both want to go to the Spanish giants though. Fabregas took a pay cut to join Barca as did Suarez. Obviously money is a factor. But for most players, playing at either Madrid or Barca is a bucket list thing. It signals that historically they are a leviathan of football. As good as Steven Gerrard, Frank Lampard and Frank Ribery are, they will never be in that elite group. Henry knew this and even though he was… Read more »
(I wont say you are wrong as I am not an expert on this but really no one is , unless you manage to poll all the players with a Brexit style yes/no question assuming they all answer honestly, all I will say is, this is the view which jibes with me) I can see your point of view, but that is exactly it and i.e. a persons point of view. In your view Gerrard, Lampard and Ribery are not in the elite group but for me they are very much part of the elite , ok may be not… Read more »
Forgot to mention the players you had mentioned. There are many and much greater avenues of income for a player at a bigger club and therefore many do take a pay cut as they know they can augment it by other streams. Think of it as, lesser base package + greater allowance +bonus etc. Unless you have looked at the overall accounts the truth is we dont know the total income and wont know ever in public in most cases. Pogba : one of the potential reason is above and the other is the lure of a great team built… Read more »
I think that Coronavirus could bankrupt him as all of his franchisings are currently with no revenues but surely with a lot of expenses. The question is who would be able to buy us from him.
The Wig crashing into a massive bankruptcy and having to sell his ranch would be fantastically enjoyable. A fitting end for a cynical parasitic scumbag.
As got a new owner? I’d take Dangote: he’s actually an Arsenal fan and would therefore demand success. Yeah, he’s a bit dodgy, but what rich man isn’t?
I’d rather we were owned by a peasant with morals than a dodgy rich man.