Mikel Arteta is a world-class coach and can get more out of this ‘average’ Arsenal team, says Tony Cascarino
Tony Cascarino has hailed Mikel Arteta as a world-class coach and believes the newly-appointed Arsenal manager can get more out of their ‘average’ squad than Unai Emery was able to.
The talkSPORT pundit is a huge fan of the Spaniard and believes he can bring a Barcelona-style mentality to the Emirates Stadium after earning his stripes under Pep Guardiola.
Former Gunners captain Arteta’s return to the London club was finally confirmed on Friday, although he will be sitting in the stands on Saturday as interim boss Freddie Ljungberg sits in the dugout for the last time for their Premier League clash at Everton.
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Arteta has quite the job ahead of him, but the club are confident he is the right man to get the Gunners firing again after his years of coaching at Manchester City.
His partnership with Guardiola was one born in Barcelona, with both men coming through the ranks at the Catalan club as players.
And Cascarino believes the management and playing style Arteta will try to breed at Arsenal will reflect his football upbringing.
Speaking on Saturday’s Weekend Sports Breakfast, the former Chelsea striker said: “I’m very pro-Arteta. I’m a big fan.”
“He will know the type of player he wants that will improve Arsenal, they’ve got to be good technically, with great energy, despite and a great approach mentally to football.
“That was the big stand-out feature at Barcelona. We talk about Barcelona over the last two decades, the mentality of their great sides was being proud of the club, all on the same hymn sheet, all working in the same direction for everyone to pull together.”
Cascarino also branded the current Arsenal team the ‘most average’ he can remember, with the club currently tenth in the Premier League table going in the Everton clash.
But he believes things will soon pick up with Arteta now in charge, saying he could have the same impact on their young squad as Guardiola has had with the likes of Raheem Sterling and Gabriel Jesus at the Etihad.
“In all my time as a player, I can’t remember Arsenal having a very average team,” he added.
“You could argue Bruce Rioch’s team didn’t do that well, but that wasn’t an average team, they had a lot of good players.
“But this is a very average team, and I think Arteta will get a lot more from them.
“His reputation in the game is second to none as a coach and these arsenal players need a coach.
“It’s evident Matteo Guendouzi is a good player, Lucas Torreira is a good player, Nicolas Pepe is a good player, Ainsley Maitland-Niles had huge potential, but they all need coaching.
Mikel Arteta is a world-class coach and can get more out of this ‘average’ Arsenal team, says Tony Cascarino
“The same way Leroy Sane needed coaching, Raheem Sterling needed coaching and Gabriel Jesus, and Arteta was part of that at Manchester City.
“I think they’ve made a big decision to give him his first job, but there are no guarantees with any manager and the way he talks is exactly what Arsenal need.
“He needs to get rid of this soft image and set them up right – that’s not what we’ve seen over the last few years.
“Arteta has got a lot of challenges, whether it’s David Luiz, Mesut Ozil, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Shkodran Mustafi, he’s got a number of issues around the park.
“But he’s also got some very talented young players. Gabriel Martinelli is a talent, Joe Willock, will he become a talent? Arsenal have got five or six youngsters who need to be coached, and Arteta can do that.”
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