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The vacant managerial position at Arsenal has every media outlet on alert, as different sources have been providing updates on various managers in line for grabbing the hot seat. The sacking of Carlo Ancelotti has had the same impact.
Napoli have decided to move on from the Italian. The 60-year-old would be on the radar of a number of clubs given his success through the years, and he is certainly one of the best in the business. It goes without saying that Arsenal will give his profile a look as well.
However, appointing Ancelotti as Unai Emery's successor might not be the wisest of decisions. The Arsenal hierarchy cannot afford to make another failed appointment; they have to get their new manager right. And I strongly believe Ancelotti should not be the one, for a few reasons:
3. Lack of foundation at Arsenal
Out of the hundred things Arsenal need to become a top team, a proper foundation is probably the most important. Arsene Wenger did not leave Arsenal in the best condition; Arsenal fans went from being proud of a team that had never played Europa League football, to watching Thursday night games for two years in a row in Wenger's final years.
Ancelotti was a success at Real Madrid, but his signings did not have as big an impact as the players who were already there. The likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, Karim Benzema and Sergio Ramos were playing for the Los Blancos even before Ancelotti arrived; the Italian had a world-class squad with a proper foundation to take forward, something he would not be provided with at Arsenal.
From managing the likes of Nesta, Ramos, Koulibaly, Gattuso and John Terry to come down to Sokratis, Mustafi and Luiz, Ancelotti would be faced with a very difficult task. And Arsenal's board would be reluctant in letting him splash millions every transfer window, which takes us to the next point.
2. Unavailability of world-class players
Ancelotti's career is filled with managing legendary players, and he is rightly considered one of the best managers in the history of the sport. He has coached the best players across Europe, but to end his decorated career at Arsenal, where he would not get the same backing from the board that he received at other clubs, would be a huge let-down.
Arsene Wenger, for all his brilliance, saw out his Arsenal career in the worst possible way, courtesy of the hierarchy he worked for. Lack of funds and average players killed Arsenal, and Wenger took all the blame.
David Ornstein recently posted an article about how Unai Emery wanted to sign Harry Maguire, Thomas Partey and Wilfried Zaha, but ended up with David Luiz at his disposal.
As I stated earlier, Ancelotti will have to step some levels down in order to coach Arsenal. As Gary Neville said, "Some of Arsenal's defenders are uncoachable." And considering how poor the Gunners have been at the back, his words do make sense.
1. Arsenal need an innovative and young manager
It is no secret that Emery's tenure at Arsenal was a disappointing one, especially in the way it ended. The Spaniard was sacked after the club's worst run of games in history, and Freddie Ljungberg is the interim manager at present.
Although Emery was fairly young as compared to other managers, he failed to find solutions for the problems, and the pressure was too much for the 46-year-old. His stubbornness to not switch his defensive approach to suit every game eventually got him the sack. And that is also why, with all due respect, Carlo Ancelotti might not be the right fit either.
Ancelotti is an old-school manager and would stop the ship from sinking, but his old-school philosophies would not benefit Arsenal in the long run. The Gunners need a manager who can gel this squad together and achieve stability. But more than that, they need someone who can try more than one thing to accomplish the objectives, and who doesn't stress on a single way of playing.
Julian Nagelsmann, Jesse Marsch or Brendan Rodgers are prime examples of managers who are innovative, and who have proved that they can achieve commendable feats with not-so-world-class squads. To be honest, Nagelsmann would be every Arsenal fan's dream manager. He has everything needed to succeed at Arsenal, right from man-management skills to playing an exciting brand of football.
