Ricky1985 wrote:
I'm not sure Brian Kidd is that important, more a link to the previous era, unless I've missed something.
And I don't see anyone saying Arteta was the real brains of the operation: it's Guardiola's show obviously. But it has been pointed out by Ornstein, Amy Lawrence, and a few others with similar credentials, that Arteta was given more and more responsibility as time went on, and was taking many of the training sessions by the time he left; this last part he said himself in one of his Arsenal press conferences.
Torrent leaving to coach in the MLS perhaps made Arteta more important by default, but it's clear from what the players and Guardiola have said, and Arteta talking about how much he respected Guardiola for entrusting him with so much responsibility, and even the way Arteta was the one Guardiola was almost always in frantic conversation with during matches, that Arteta was more than just one of the assistants. He clearly had a very importnat role there.
Yes, I don't doubt that Pep liked and rated Arteta. He probably saw a lot of himself in him considering their shared, specific background. I just think there are certain stories that take off in the press because they make a better narrative. Like when Pep complimented Arteta for his work with Sterling for instance. It's one moment during a press conference where he's being asked about a specific player, and Pep, decently, uses it to big up his staff a little bit. Then it takes off on Twitter and you've got hack journalists writing pieces for years afterwards about how Arteta 'transformed' Sterling when he was mostly just doing what he's been told to do.
From what I've gathered Kidd is very highly thought of, and not just in a Pat Rice kinda way because he has stuck around forever. Usually when you saw training pics from City it was Pep and Kidd and then that Borrell guy leading the sessions while Arteta took part in the actual exercises, which I think is in line with Speedy's suggestion that he helped with implementation. That's not bad or irrelevant, but I do think there's a difference between being a respected staff member and being Guardiola's right hand man, or adept, or protége, and whatever else the press has written since the summer of 2018 when it became clear he was a serious option for us. I checked Blue Moon a bit when Arteta was rumoured to be close to signing for us back in early December. There wasn't much talk about him being earmarked as Pep's successor at that time. A lot of them were talking about the possibility of Patrick Vieira coming back and taking over after Pep instead (which made me kinda mad for irrational reasons).
It's just some perspective, it's hard to say for certain what the exact coaching dynamics are in any given squad without actually experiencing them first, but it's not the first time I've seen someone point out that Arteta wasn't the main staffer at City. As for Arteta the man, he impressed me as a player whenever he spoke and he impresses me now as a coach too; a little less so on the actual pitch so far, especially in the attacking end, but I can live with that in the short term.
