OT: Arsenal Set to Hire Arteta; Gigi Buffon Announces Juventus Departure

Submitted by Occam's Razor on

An interesting day in the world of club soccer. 

1. Gianluigi Buffon, quite possibly the greatest goalkeeper of all time, is set to leave Juventus after this weekend. Former Arsenal GK, Wojciech Szczesny is set to replace him for the Old Lady. It'll be super weird watching Juve and Italy play without Buffon in the net for sure. I wouldn't be surprised to see him on a 1 year deal on a big club since he's still got some gas left in the tank. Or maybe the MLS can pay him to come retire in the USA lol. 

2. Speaking of Arsenal, Stan Kroenke seems to be set on gambling the future of the storied club on an unproven Mikel Arteta, assistant coach under Pep at Man City, who reportedly met with club officlals on Thursday to come to an agreement to replace Arsene Wenger as manager. For the non-soccer fans out there, this is the equivalent of Michigan hiring Chad Henne after retiring from the NFL and being a QB coach under Bill Belichik for 2 years. I say Chad Henne instead of Jim Harbaugh b/c Arteta isn't even one of Arsenal's "legendary" players in the vein of Thiery Henry or Patrick Vieira. Btw both of those two would be better hires than Arteta since Vieira actually has coaching experience and Henry would be better received by fans since he has a statue outside the Emirates. 

 

Yep. 

Salinger

May 17th, 2018 at 4:14 PM ^

I'd like to say this is a bizarre move from Arsenal, but they made a similarly mystifying hire some 20+ odd years ago bring Wenger to Highbury Park from the bizarro world of Japan (having previously managed in France).

I don't think lightening generally strikes twice like that, so I have my sincere doubts about the selection, but as a Manchester United fan I can honestly say I don't mind seeing Arsenal languishing a bit longer.

 

Occam's Razor

May 17th, 2018 at 4:29 PM ^

This is much worse than Wenger's hire. I believe Wenger won Ligue 1 when he was at Monaco FC and competed with Marseille for trophies. He was also ahead of the curve when it came to analytics and nutrition in the sport, so it was a Chip Kelly-like hire at the time. 

This one on the other hand is just baffling considering you have more seasoned and just as youthful options in Nagelsmann at Hoffenheim or Jardim at Monaco. 

the fume

May 17th, 2018 at 4:44 PM ^

They'd be following a legend, inheriting a team not full of young talent, and they'd be outspent by MU, MC, Liv, and Chelsea. Plus who knows how much control they'd have in signings.

It seems like it's set up as a failure for a manager that'd be expected to win now and he'd be gone in 2 seasons tops.

JBE

May 17th, 2018 at 4:17 PM ^

Arteta is underwhelming, but I wonder if he plans on bringing a Spanish style to the club, which would be interesting, given Pep, Jose, etc.

Buffon is as interesting an interview as any athlete out there too, and obviously a great goalkeeper. Hope he plays in the MLS for a year or two.

Night_King

May 17th, 2018 at 4:18 PM ^

It’s just disappointing we won’t see Buffon in Russia. Sad way for club and international career to seemingly end. Even if he joins a new club, it won’t be the same.

drjaws

May 17th, 2018 at 4:26 PM ^

basically in a 3-4 year rebuild.  They are aging club and are not very good to boot.  Even if Arsene stayed, they'll likely finish outside the top 6 next year.  I'd love to see them pick up Brendan Rodgers but it might be hard to convinvce him to leave Celtic where he's basically a God.

Arsenal desperately need to get younger and better.  In 3 years or so, after missing Europa and UEFA for 3 straight years,  they'll bring in a shiny new big name manager after completely retooling the roster.

the fume

May 17th, 2018 at 4:37 PM ^

in soccer. I think they're going to solidify the backline and maybe pick up a solid midfielder and hope that, along with Auba and Laz, gets them close to the top 4. It might, but probably not.

I do hope they spend on some young talent with an eye on getting back to the top 4 for 2019-2020. Depending on who they sell, they should have enough money to spend on that.

mgob-rad

May 17th, 2018 at 8:14 PM ^

Outside the top 6? To who, Burnley? The only squad in the Premier League with more points in home games was City, by a whopping 3 points. This Arsenal team is not in a position to compete for a title, but they’re in position to compete for a top 4 if they tighten up the defense and away performances.

FauxMo

May 17th, 2018 at 4:28 PM ^

AWESOME!!!

Now, all I need is for someone to explain the following words/names for me:

Arsenal

Arteta

Gigi

Buffon

Juventus

socalwolverine1

May 17th, 2018 at 4:47 PM ^

Gunners who? 

Spurs are now the Kings of London, and with the new stadium and its associated uptick in revenues, the quality of transfers and play on the pitch will continue to improve. If Spurs can hold on to Kane, Ericson, and a few other key players for the next several years, their perennial place in the Top Four is all but assured. 

Occam's Razor

May 17th, 2018 at 5:06 PM ^

Spurs aren't going to hold on to those players especially if the new stadium costs about a billion dollars to build. 

Get ready for a massive sell-off especially with Pochettino wanting 150 million in transfer budget over the summer window. I doubt he sticks around through the building of the new venue. 

It's almost impossible to be consistent competitors unless you have shady oil daddies funding your club or are RM/Barca/MU. 

I would put Liverpool/Bayern/Juventus in the next tier since they seem to finance themselves quite well while having a knack for talent. Arsenal should be in this tier if not higher. Instead they've been like the Dortmund of EPL without the results Dortmund have over the past decade.  

Charles_Howard_Brady

May 17th, 2018 at 5:21 PM ^

Funds for the new stadium are not going to interfere with new signings or resiging current players.  This has been a 17 year project at Spurs, it's not just going to fizzle out now.  I suppose you believe the rumors Pochettino to Chelsea is happening as well......don't drink the kool aid, Spurs will be North London's best team for the foreseeable future! 

the fume

May 17th, 2018 at 4:31 PM ^

I think this potential Arsenal hire fits the philosophy of the owner, in that he doesn't want to pump hundreds of millions of dollars into the team to sign the players a good manager knows he would need to compete in the EPL for that 2-3 year window that is the lifespan for most managers nowadays.

Kroenke wants a guy where Arsenal is the destination job, and where he's willing to take in some less costly players and develop that into a suitable squad, even if it means being paitent for several years. Similar to what Liverpool and Tottenham have done recently, although with differing budgets.

Occam's Razor

May 17th, 2018 at 4:34 PM ^

I think the biggest factor influencing Kroenke's decision making is the fact that he hired Sean McVay who's only 30 years old for the Rams and it worked out great last year in the NFL. 

He sees parallels with Arsenal and Arteta. Idk how lucky one can get doing that twice in 2 sports. 

the fume

May 17th, 2018 at 4:39 PM ^

I was sad when he left for Man City but working under Pep was obviously a great thing for him, better than working under Wenger for those 2 years.

I viewed him as a future Arsenal manager. Ideally, you'd like him to get a season or two running a lesser club. But I said the same thing about Harbaugh back in 2007(?).

In reply to by Tom Snow

BeatOSU52

May 17th, 2018 at 5:13 PM ^

Thanks.  I guess I am way behind on this WC news  even though I've been following UEFA and EPL somewhat closely in recent months.

ken725

May 17th, 2018 at 4:48 PM ^

My friends and I used to call Arteta the Spanish Prince because he looks like one of those guys that they would cast in those movies/TV shows.

jdizzle

May 17th, 2018 at 5:15 PM ^

While Arteta may seem underwhelming, he fits the style Gazidis wants in the post-Wenger era — a coach rather than a “manager”. Having already signed a transfer director in Mislintat and a head of football ops in Sanllehi, Arteta will have much less responsibility.



Plus, as others have mentioned, the transfer budget isn’t going to be extensive this summer (after spending €100m on laca and auba) and Arteta can grow with the younger players.



Overall, as a gunner, I am cautiously optimistic about the appointment and am interested in who he brings with him as a staff...Alonso has been rumored as has buvac.

superstringer

May 17th, 2018 at 6:14 PM ^

Add to interesting developments today:

"3. Antoine Griezmann proclaimed himself today one of the 'top 3' players in the world."

WHOA, really, Griez? Top three? You'd have consider, at least:

CR7

Messi

Neymar ?

Suarez ?

Mo Salah ?

de Bruyne ?

Higuain ?

Lewendowski ?

Robben ?

de Gea ?

THE ZLATAN ? (in his own head, at least) (you're still welcome, L.A.)

You could even argue he's not the most valuable player on his own team -- Oblak might be.

What you say?

 

Blue Cannon

May 17th, 2018 at 6:56 PM ^

I really like the hire. A former cup winning captain who took a pay cut to join the gunners, at one of the club’s lowest points recently.



He came up at La Masia. He played for some good Everton, and Arsenal teams. He got a coaching internship under Wenger and Guardiola. I’m really excited about this move. I think it will work out.



But comparing Arteta to Henne? Please. He was a good captain and leader. He would have started for any country’s national team, except for the stacked Spanish midfield of his generation. He was a great Premier League player.

gmoney41

May 17th, 2018 at 7:46 PM ^

I'm a huge man city fan and to a man, every player and Pep himself have nothing but the highest praise for Arteta. Fernandinho, who is 33 says that Arteta has helped him improved incredibly over the last 2 years. Plus he knows pep's style in and out. I think this is a great move by Arsenal.
Great news for my boys is that Pep just signed an extension, keeping him at City until 2021. He loves it there, and we are so happy he is here. World Cup will be a blast with City having players on all the contenders teams, then next season can't get here soon enough.
Amazon did a man city all or nothing show that should be out in August. Really looking forward to that.

Nobody Likes a…

May 18th, 2018 at 7:27 AM ^

Walmart fc in north london can hire whomever they'd like, they're the third team in london. The last time anyone in an arsenal shirt did anything of note in london they'd been recruited by isis

bacon1431

May 18th, 2018 at 8:09 AM ^

I don’t think the hire is as bad as some are saying. It’s definitely risky, but managers are hired with little experience all the time. Maybe not at such high profile jobs, but it happens. I think it’s a better hire than Rodgers or some other retread

BTB grad

May 18th, 2018 at 8:23 AM ^

Jeez, it must be rough to be both an Arsenal and Michigan football fan...

 

Both teams are historic all-time great powerhouses that haven't won their conference/league title since 2004 and can't seem to find a way to win the big games during that drought even though they have come painfully close at times.