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With all the news doing the rounds on social media and elsewhere, it seems that Arsenal's new manager is bound to be Mikel Arteta. BBC and Guardian have placed him as a strong favourite for the job. It has not received approval from fans, but it looks likely that he will end up at the helm. The problem with having Arteta as the manager is his inexperience. However, that doesn't seem to be as worrisome as understood by the fans.
Preparing for Wenger's Departure
Arsene Wenger was whole and soul of the club for more than 20 years and had the authority of a dictator.
Then last summer came the much-demanded change when Ivan Gazidis initiated the process to put an infrastructure in place for Wenger's eventual departure and appointed Sven Mislintat as head of recruitment, Hussein Fahmy as contract negotiator and Raul Sanllehi as head of football relations.
Considering the decline that Manchester United went through after Sir Alex Ferguson's retirement, it seems to be a clearly thought out step by the CEO to prepare for the future.
Stability - Adopting a Model
The incoming manager will only have to worry about one thing and that is on pitch performance. This is the very same model of a football club which brought Olympique Lyon tremendous success from 2002-2008 when they won Ligue 1 for seven consecutive seasons with four different managers.
It is still the best model that exists in the world of football and is very similar to Moneyball. It doesn't place the importance on the manager but on the footballing principles. The manager is only a temporary figure and not the centre of the universe around whom the club revolves. It ensures stability. This system doesn't let any player rotting on the bench when managerial changes happen.
Inheriting capable squad
The incoming manager will have a highly talented and experienced squad at his disposal with the likes of Ozil, Lacazette, Aubameyang, Mkhitaryan and Ramsey being a major part of it. Additionally, the latter four will not be featuring in FIFA World Cup in Russia and will be raring to go when the new season kicks-off in August which should help the new manager to settle in swiftly.
Playing in the Europa League this season also helped Wenger to develop academy prospects namely Maitland-Niles, Nelson, Willock and Nketiah who all look ready to make the jump to the first team which means new manager will not have to scratch his head or shell out cash for fulfilling the homegrown players' quota.
It provides more flexibility in terms of making the desired recruitment to suit the style of football which he wants to play.
Mikel Arteta was liked by all the players and fans during his playing days. He understands English football and was therefore roped in by Guardiola when he got the job at Manchester City. He is most likely to continue with Arsenal's philosophy of attacking football and stick with Wenger's approach of promoting youth.
He is most likely to implement the tiki-taka brand of football played by Guardiola's Manchester City. The fans demanded change and wanted fresh excitement. Arteta might just be the perfect fit for it.
