Mikel Arteta’s journey from head coach to manager is nothing new for England’s elite but Arne Slot seems likely to follow a different path…
IN THE SLOWEST of news weeks, something gripped me about Mikel Arteta’s new deal at Arsenal.
Among the jubilation and continued optimism from Arsenal supporters, there was the inevitable ‘Then and Now’ headlines written.
When looking back, it’s undeniably impressive what Arsenal and Arteta have achieved.
They were horribly balanced under the latter days of Unai Emery. Carrying too many passengers like Alexis Sanchez and Mesut Ozil. Lacking in quality and being regularly trounced by the top six away from home.
The body of work to make Arsenal what they are won’t have been easy.
There was also a reminder of Arteta’s journey from head coach to manager.
It’s often an arbitrary concept, but there remains cases like this when job titles, and indeed job descriptions, matter.
In many ways, Arteta suits the role of manager. His ‘walking LinkedIn profile’ vibe can be excruciating and irksome.
However, it’s harder to mock the fact he plays ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’ over a speaker system in training once progress starts to manifest.
It’s clear that a large proportion of hope and aspiration around Arsenal is centred on Arteta.
This is, in many ways, the legacy of every successful manager English football has encountered.
Whenever the concept of a dynasty is present, leadership and leader narrative is naturally explored.
Alex Ferguson remains the most influential figure in the game from the decade which proceeded 1995 for this reason.
In the modern day, Pep Guardiola and Jürgen Klopp have written their own manual of how to guide a club to the helm.
It might seem like the answer is to become all encompassing. To mark every aspect of your personality on a club to the point where your influence is everywhere.
Not everyone can do this, because not everyone can back it with success.
The other question is therefore: what do supporters want?
We (the Liverpool we) now have to endure the sycophantic Klopp impressions now being lapped up from Brighton to Shamrock Rovers.
It’s not that supporters offer an anticipating ‘ooooooooh’ when the manager approaches at full time.
It’s more the idea that there remains a yearning for these messianic figures who become lead protagonists to success.
Whether that can also be the same for someone with Arteta’s previous job title of head coach, someone like Arne Slot, remains to be seen.
England remains absent of a club which can embed a structure of success which doesn’t rely on winning the managerial lottery.
Brighton do this well from a sustainability perspective without ever competing for the big prizes.
Chelsea unintentionally had a go around 2007, but it looked messy and unorganised and nothing like a Real Madrid, Bayern Munich or Paris Saint Germain.
That possibly speaks to the quality of the Premier League and the gravitational pull required to reach its apex.
Liverpool are clearly attempting to do something like this with appointing Slot.
The Dutchman has been impressive by his sheer lack of emotion around figure-heading one of the top three clubs in world football.
Whenever asked a question which pertains to the sheer size of the club, Slot almost satirically relates it back to Feyenoord being able to offer an experience of equal measure.
Being head coach has allowed him to bat away questions around things like transfers and player contracts as not his remit.
Making him not Klopp has seemingly worked for everyone in this sense. It is also undoubtedly what Liverpool needed to ensure a new dawn would truly be felt. Not another tribute act.
There remains the question of how Slot reacts to Anfield truly influencing a scoreline as it can and will.
Or the first time he hopefully turns on to Liverpool’s waterfront on an open top bus and sees half a million people in a blaze of ecstasy and pyrotechnics.
There is also the quandary of what Liverpool and Slot do in the event of progression of success.
He doesn’t seem to want more responsibility than he has. He doesn’t give off the same sense of ego as someone like Arteta.
Liverpool has always required a manager in every sense of the word to be the most fulfilled version of itself, especially with Klopp.
Importantly, as The Anfield Wrap coined, Jurgen reminded us of who we’ve always been.
He took off the armbands. We know what we’re capable of and our duties to help the team.
This is something which had become blurred and forgotten under the likes of Brendan Rodgers. Which meant it was one of the reasons his personality didn’t always fit.
The club has strived to provide a wealth of competence around Slot and ease his workload. Fitting, considering the last fella cited burnout as a major reason for his departure.
Liverpool can break the mould of needing the manager to define success.
Arsenal and Arteta may go on to reiterate the notion that one person’s influence is everything.
Manager? Head coach? Who cares as long as The Reds are winning.
Buy Dan Morgan’s book ‘Jürgen Said To Me’ on Klopp, Liverpool and the remaking of a city…
