Mikel Arteta is reportedly Arsenal’s preference for a new manager

We all want the Wenger era to end, I think. I’m tired of endlessly circling the block and being told we’re making progress. You’re tired of hearing the same things said in slightly different ways for several seasons in a row. Overall, we all just need a fresh perspective on things at Arsenal, and while in the short term that may mean a step back before taking a few leaps forward, honestly, who can argue that that would be a bad thing given what we’ve seen in the last few seasons?

There have been a lot of changes at the club in the last few months, not least of which is the appointment of Sven Mislintat as “Director of Recruitment” and Raul Sanllehi as “Head of Football Relations”. Those two hires seem to be pointing to an imminent end to the era in which Arsene is the alpha and the omega when it comes to the footballing side of Arsenal, and again, I don’t think anyone can argue that’s a bad thing.

Whoever the new manager is, whenever the new manager appears, he will have a fairly blank palette to work with - he’ll have an infrastructure in place to help him succeed, and he’ll have a wide degree of latitude to staff his roster as he wishes - particularly when you consider that the roster, as currently constructed, is a) aging and b) in no small percentage heading towards being out of contract.

Whoever takes over, then, will have a unique opportunity to take over one of the most desirable coaching jobs in England, and to unleash the full potential of a team that has, in recent years, probably underperformed relative to its resources and definitely has underperformed relative to its potential.

If reports are to be believed, Mikel Arteta is the guy Arsenal want to take over after Arsene is gone. (story is, sadly, behind a paywall) He’s currently plying his trade at Manchester City, of course, but he’s been doing his coaching badges, is highly regarded as a talented, promising young manager, and oh yeah he’s Mikel Arteta so please let’s make this happen. Managers are a crapshoot in a lot of cases, and while Arteta’s unproven as a head coach, he’s gaining a ton of experience at City and I would love to see him use that experience to push Arsenal forward the way we all want to see it pushed.

something something arsenal dna something something come home mikel we still love you