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Unai Emery has been let go after a tumultuous time at Arsenal. His sack comes as no surprise following a shocking run of 8 games without a win in the league, with only one win in the last 9 games in an unconvincing display against Vitoria SC.
Nuno Espirito Santo, former Porto goalkeeper and current Wolves boss is the favourite to replace Emery. The Daily Express UK have boldly claimed that the Arsenal board have opened talks with the Portuguese manager.
The interest is said to be mutual. That's not surprising, given how well his Wolverhampton Wanderers side have performed over three years. However, in this article, we analyse why he isn't the right man for the job.
#3 His style of play
Nuno Espirito Santo's sides generally show great tactical nous but cherish a counter-attacking system. He usually favours a three-man defence for his Wolves lineups, and one could argue that this is perhaps a necessity at his current club.
However, this is not the case. Even in the Championship, with Wolves technically far superior to other teams, Santo preferred 3-5-2 or 3-4-3. Now a formation is not bad in itself and may well use Arsenal's surplus strikers but does it fit Arsenal's core-values as a club?
The fans have forgotten the days of 'boring-boring Arsenal' in the 90s under George Graham. Wenger's 21 years was about transforming the club completely. Emery was a pragmatist and he lost the fans with his tactics as much as results. Santo's football might well secure results but how long can he keep the fans happy?
Moreover, there is no guarantee that he will adapt. Essentially, even with a quick transitioning style, Santo is first a pragmatist. His 'Plan B' as it was seen at Porto and Valencia is to move to sort of conservative 4-4-2 with a more direct style, once more establishing his pragmatic principles. Santo's tactics may have gotten better, but the former goalkeeper has never played an out and out attacking system. This could work in the very short-term but is very incompatible with the squad Arsenal have. His first season at Valencia was thought to be attacking but it was largely built on counter-attacking with quick transitions as opposed to an out and out attacking style preferred by Arsenal fans.
Though having spent much money on defensive reinforcements, the Arsenal squad remains attack-heavy. Will the likes of Pierre-Emerick Aubemeyang and Alexandre Lacazette continue to want a pragmatic approach to their talents?
#2 Patchy Record at Bigger Clubs and Crises
Carrying on with his pragmatism, Santo has a very patchy record in addressing problems. Arsenal is a club in crisis and needs to desperately address their balance of play on the pitch. In his first club at Rio Ave in Portugal, Santo was seen to be over-achieving.
The pressure mounted when he moved to Valencia. His first season was a success and he finished fourth with Valencia making the Champions League. His second season was more torrid as he simply failed to provide answers as Valencia's organisation as a unit faltered and the attack failed.
In his 13 games in the 2015/16 season, Santo's side won 5 times but failed to convince fans. His side was inconsistent and did not live up to the promise from the previous season's success. His relationship with the fans was soon fractured. Struggling to keep up, he resigned from his position after a 1-0 loss to Sevilla on 29 November 2015.
Moving to FC Porto, he could not win any silverware. FC Porto was eliminated early in the cup competitions by lower opposition. He experimented with his tactics at Porto but reverted to a more direct style after being dissatisfied with his side's style. He left at the end of his first season at Porto by mutual consent but in the meantime suffered a morale busting defeat on the last day of the season.
The 45-year-old's current role with Wolves was his next job. As discussed earlier Wolves have possessed a side of superior quality in the Championship and he has dealt with increased expectations well. But is also worth pointing out that Wolves have consistently failed to beat sides below them in the Premier League, a problem which Arsenal seem to have as well. For example, last season Wolves lost to Cardiff City, Crystal Palace, Burnley, Brighton and Huddersfield Town (twice to the miserable Terriers).
This season Arsenal has dropped points against Crystal Palace, Sheffield Utd and Watford. So, can Santo bring something so different? His record with youth is hard to judge though he has played the likes of Morgan White-Gibbs quite frequently. His squad at Valencia was fairly young but he failed to instil belief in the players for continued success.
#1 Better Options
For all the talk of Santo's Wolves record, he has won one Championship title, bankrolled and influenced by a super-agent Jorge Mendes-driven consortium. This is not to say anyone could have won the title by the margin he did but that he has had great investment and infrastructure to back him.
He has overachieved at Wolves but not too massively. Santo has done better with unfancied sides, Rio Ave being an example. Then there are all those Jorge Mendes links. A close friend, Santo has often been backed by Mendes in recruitment. Sometimes it works as it has for Wolves so far but as at Valencia it can all go wrong. Arsenal has invested heavily and also have an exciting academy and perhaps unavoidable exciting young Portuguese players as it happens with Nuno may well hamper the spirit at the Academy.
In the market currently, Massimiliano Allegri is available. The Italian has been there and done it with Juventus and AC Milan. If they want to go down the path of a younger manager - perhaps in the mould of an Eddie Howe - or even a Julian Nagelsmann at the end of the season might well be options. In the first case, Howe is young, English and favours an attacking style which suits Arsenal.
There is also Erik ten Hag who has been rumoured to be heading to the Premier League. There is Freddie Ljungberg, who could prove to be the answer as Lampard and Solskjaer are seen at their clubs. According to some reports in papers including The Guardian, Ljungberg may well get the season after spending time in the Arsenal academy if he does well in the next few games.
If Arsenal is interested in big names, they have the pulling power to get them as well as long as they are a little flexible.
