The ex-Arsenal captain William Gallas was very upset that Arsenal lost to Bournemouth last week to give us our first setback this season, and after tipping Mikel Arteta to finally beat Man City to the Premier League title, Gallas is worried that the Arsenal Boss is going to be overtaken by the new Liverpool coach.
“City are consistent. Liverpool are consistent, even with the new manager Arne Slot coming in. Someone will need to explain to me how Liverpool are doing so well under a new boss. He’s made following in the footsteps of Klopp look easy, and we’ve seen clubs attempt to replace legendary managers and find things far from easy.” Gallas told Prime Casino.
“He should have the most difficult managers job in the league. It usually takes time for managers to have this type of impact, and usually managers ask for time. Slot has come in, bang! Top of the league,”
“For me, that’s why if Arsenal doesn’t win the league this season, it’s a big drama. It’s a big drama, because you have to think about Arteta being in charge of that club for how long? Five years.
“Five years and they haven’t won the Premier League yet. If Liverpool win the Premier League in Slot’s first season, what does that say about Arteta and Arsenal? It would create a huge amount of drama,”
Obviously there is still a long way to go this season, and in fact Arsenal still hasn’t lost to a Big Six side for well over a season, so it is really too early to start even thinking who may win this year’s title, no matter what the result today.
Of course it will set alarms going amongst Arsenal fans if we somehow lost today’s fixture (which we won’t!), but it will certainly add an extra bit of frisson to the game ,thinking that Arteta could be deposed by the EPL’s latest new kid on the block….
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Gallas never ceases to amaze me given the drivel he spouts for someone who played the game at a high level for years.I would have thought that anyone with a semblance of knowledge of the game would recognise the fine legacy which Slot inherited from his predecessor which meant that he has not had to carry out a rebuild in terms of personelle or indeed ,tactics.
Do big clubs give their managers 5 years to win the league? I don’t know of many, if any. 5 years is the absolute max a team with ambition should give. If the goal isn’t achieved in that time, then I don’t see what reasons there are to think they will. Even if (and I don’t believe they will) Liverpool finish above Arsenal this season, then big big questions need answering. Are we ambitious? Or in it for the ride?
They don’t have phases.
You would have thought after Klopp left, Liverpool would have needed even bigger bricks for rebuilding and longer phases.
Yet they quickly found a manager who is threatening to dethrone City. Where did they get him from since team Arteta tends to tell us no managers or players are available?
Saka and Timber fit.
Havertz.
Martinelli. Trossard. Saka.
Merino. Rice.
Timber. Gabriel. White. Partey.
Raya.
If the comments attributed to Gallas are true he is not really being honest. Arne Slot inherited an excellent squad with a recent history of great success. The Liverpool squad is good enough to win the PL and is of similar strength to Arsenal’s so they should be challengers.
Slot is a great manager in his own right but he has not managed at this level so it has been difficult to rate him. Undoubtedly, if he wins the PL he would be considered one of the world’s top managers. In such a scenario Slot would be considered to be ahead of Arteta.
However, if managers are to be compared the circumstances of the club at the time need to be considered. It is unreasonable to simply talk about “5 years” without considering the various internal and external factors that affect a team’s development and progress.
I disagree David, 5 years is an extraordinary long time in football. And I think we should not be looking for any excuses to excuse the length of time he has been given. He has to produce this season.
We’ll have to agree to disagree. “5 years” is meaningless without context.
WHAT!!!!!!
The fact is that Arteta has had since 2019. Yes, he’s had to rebuild the squad of course (which is a big factor) but nevertheless, in the absence of the title (or CL, a lot less likely if we’re honest) I’d be surprised if the owners persevered with him until the expiry of his new contract in 2027. It may not be fair but, unfortunately, professional football at the top level rarely is. It’s results driven in the end.
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