The Story Back Then- Former Arsenal and England defender Martin Keown has stated the the ‘problems at Arsenal are obvious’. He also claimed that there are “easy” fixes to be found as long as the club appoints a “winner” with “long-term vision” as their next manager. Arsenal parted ways with Unai Emery this season after the Gunners’ 2-1 loss against Eintracht Frankfurt in the Europa League.
Brendan Rodgers, Mauricio Pochettino and Mikel Arteta were all considered to be in the shortlist, with the general consensus being that Arsenal needs to find a manager who can lift up the spirit of everyone attached with the club.
Keown stated that he hoped that the Gunners’ board acknowledge as much, with there plenty of pieces already in place at Emirates Stadium if someone can be found to help put them together.
The former defender had told BBC Sport back then, “There has been lots of speculation about who Arsenal want as their next permanent manager but I am not really bothered specifically who that person is, more about the set of values and qualities that they will bring.”
“I want someone with charisma. A good communicator and a motivator, who can bring the right balance to their style of play. Above all, though, Arsenal needs a winner. Someone with a long-term vision for the club, and the ability to see that vision through.
“So it is a bit concerning that there does not appear to be a clear plan in the type of manager that the board wants – you only have to look at the very different profiles of all the names being mentioned to see that. That kind of fits in with the recent issues there have been in the boardroom, and the different directions people in different positions at the club seem to want to go in.
“I am not sure who will decide who the next manager is, but hopefully part of the interview process will be to ask any candidates what sort of changes they would make to the team. That should make it an easy interview for most managers, because it is quite obvious – strengthen the centre of defence and midfield and Arsenal can be a real force in the Premier League.”
Initially, when former Arsenal attacker Freddie Ljungberg was given interim charge of the Gunners. The Swede oversaw a 2-2 draw with Norwich in his first game. Keown admitted that everyone at the Emirates will need to pull together and drag Arsenal through the most testing period of the club’s recent history.
Keown added: “If it is going to happen, it is not just down to him – there is going to have to be a shift in mentality from the Arsenal players. By that – and I am obviously speaking as an ex-defender here – I mean a realisation by the players of what is required when they are not in possession, and also a willingness to actually go and do it too.”
“There is no magic wand, and there is a reason a lot of what we have seen from Arsenal so far this season, we saw again on Sunday.”
However, despite all the positive words and messages and the hopes of the fans, things did not work out for Freddie. Eventually, Mikel Arteta took over and replaced him as the new full-time boss.
