Mikel Arteta has been backed to be the ‘next Arsene Wenger’ by former Emirates Stadium man Gael Clichy.
Arteta is under mountains of pressure at this moment in time with calls for his head growing louder and louder after Arsenal’s eighth Premier League defeat of the season against Everton.
Speaking to Stadium Astro, the Frenchman claimed that the Spaniard has inherited a mess after taking over in December 2019.
Clichy said: “Arsene was who he was, but he had the vision. He had young players, turned them into superstars and sold them for big profit for the club. Mikel Arteta has got that in him, he could be the next Arsene Wenger. But Arsene had all the power.
“Anything going through Arsenal was going through him. Mikel is not like that. He has players that maybe he didn’t want. He inherited players that he didn’t want for the future and his team doesn’t have the money to get the players he wants.” (via Stadium Astro)
Should Arsenal sack Arteta?
Yes
No
There’s no doubt Arteta has all the tools needs to become a top manager one day. However, at this moment in time, his managerial ability is under big scrutiny given how badly he has got the side playing. His tactics are one of the main reasons the Gunners find themselves a mere four points off 18th-placed Fulham.
Claiming he can be the next Arsene Wenger is a huge remark from Clichy. The Frenchman was a ‘one of a kind’ manager, labelled ‘magical’ by Gary Neville, during a successful period in the club’s history. He could turn water into wine when it came to making decent players brilliant as seen by his long list of successes.
Arteta seems to struggle to handle the big egos in the current Arsenal dressing room, something you wouldn’t say about Wenger, who did perfectly well to handle the likes of Dennis Bergkamp, Thierry Henry and Patrick Vieira.
Then there comes the handling of the media. Arsene very rarely let his emotions get the better of him during times of struggles, however, it seems the pressure is getting to the Spaniard, who went on a bizarre rant ahead of the clash with Manchester City tonight.
Arteta is a great young manager, but, to say he could be the next Arsene Wenger is a stretch. The former Manchester City coach has a long way to go if he wants to build up a reputation similar to the Gunners legend.
