• The Arsenal

  • Official: Mikel Arteta is the new Arsenal manager.

Claudius I just look at the prices we pay for our players, the result of extension negotiations, and the prices we receive on our outgoings. Coupled with the historical and recent reports of his waning influence within the club, a reasonable conclusion to draw might be that he's not doing anything to blow anyone away. I've been suspicious of his overall ability to move well in the market since Sanllehi days, and it seems Arteta has gotten the better of him on that front over the years. His track record is pretty poor, to be fair. He's charismatic and likeable, but does he actually get what needs doing done?

There's a reason that "what do edu do?" was a thing. You say that it's all behind the scenes, but surely the evidence of that would be visible somewhere. You ask what Bergiristain has done, but he's got the proof in his pudding. Edu, not so much. He's good a spending Kroenke's money, I'll give him that.

      Coombs I am struggling to reconcile any of this with him being offered a promotion to a CeO role of a more complex structure and a 3x pay bump.

          Claudius some people interview well. Fake it til you make it (or get horrendously found out).

          On a side-note, easy to forget that Edu was something like 3rd/4th choice for the job here. Wonder if the way the role is structured meant that sporting director has little real influence at the club and that's why we couldn't attract higher profile candidates? Pure speculation on my part of course.

            Coombs I just look at the prices we pay for our players, the result of extension negotiations

            Coombs You ask what Bergiristain has done, but he's got the proof in his pudding.

            I'm struggling to see why this is a stick to beat Edu with. I think we've done well to hold, extend and tie down some of our key players in recent years. Whether that is down to Arteta's vision or Edu's management is up for debate, but Edu got the deals over the line and I don't think anyone considers we're being ripped off with the extensions we've signed.

            The salaries of the likes of Jesus and Havertz on the other hand, well that's perhaps a different story....

            And Begiristain point - without meaning to knock either him or Guardiola for the sake of it, they've both built careers and benefitted from a ridiculously talented pool of players coming through during their spell at Barcelona and then moving to the richest club in the richest league with almost unlimited resources and still a desire to circumvent the rules despite their massive competitive advantage. I've got an extremely sweet tooth but even that pudding is too much for me to stomach.

                  Tam I can’t see how our fans can beat down on a club servant like Edu and then pine for a guy like Txiki who has had nothing but good fortune his whole career. Beggars belief

                    Weird to see someone big up Edu and at the same time talk down Txiki.

                    Probably the same people who kept saying Arteta is a far better manager than Pep and Klopp etc and is an innovator of the game

                      Clrnc has ANYONE here ever said that?

                      I've been pro Arteta for longer than pretty much 99% of posters here and not even I would venture that opinion. Stop making things up.

                          RocktheCasbah That he's the best manager in the world would imply that he's better than Pep and Klopp - although not far better. Not saying you've said this.

                              Weird to see someone care about any potential criticism of one of the architects of 115 charges.

                              But to address your point, it's entirely possible to talk up Edu, talk down Begiristain, and also accept Begiristain is still the more competent in the role.

                                RocktheCasbah Previously someone said he's the best manager in the league because he has to work with far lesser resources and that he played a big part of Pep's success.

                                Basically crediting him with every little thing possible (Sterling's improvement in City, innovating their set piece, inventing the inverted LB etc)

                                • Tam replied to this.

                                    Clrnc Who said that? And how does it fit with your comment that it's the same people bigging up Edu and talking down Txiki?

                                        Tam Pretty sure I read an argument like this previously but the same people comment was more tongue in cheek and I didn't see your post above anyway

                                          QuincyAbeyie good. 😁

                                          I think even Arteta's biggest fans would concede trophies have to be put in the cabinet before the could be compared favourably with Jürgen Klopp, never mind Pep. To say otherwise would be mad.

                                          I'd love Clarence to point us to this post he's talking about.

                                            Tam it's entirely possible to talk up Edu, talk down Begiristain, and also accept Begiristain is still the more competent in the role.

                                            Entirely possible, but someone who thinks Edu was a good person for the job and doesn't see why Berigistain would be a good alternative probably doesn't think so.

                                              The discussion in this thread proves that none of us can really assess how Edu has done really. It's mostly a black box and there are so many variables to take into account. I just hope we don't hire another crook like Sannlehi.

                                              RowJimmy

                                              Beats me, apparently there's a lot of Board Room and internal knowledge that you and I missed the memo on.

                                                  daredevil yeah, you should look into that. Maybe something to be a bit more clued up on next time so you can contribute something meaningful to the discussion.

                                                    Claudius I don't understand the point, here. We lost our sporting director, we should get another sporting director, and some of us hope we get in someone better. Are you saying that there is nobody better, or that the position itself is meaningless?