Arsenal Owe It To Arsene Wenger Not To Pursue Pep Guardiola

Arsenal and Arsene Wenger are destined to part ways at some point. But that does not mean that Pep Guardiola is the man for the job. 

The Independent is reporting that Pep Guardiola is set to make his move to the Premier League. Manchester United, Manchester City and Arsenal all popped up on the list immediately. While the two Manchester club’s being linked to the current Bayern Munich boss makes sense, Arsenal’s linkage does not.

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Guardiola is a very successful manager. He built Barcelona’s current model. The prolonged possession, the domination and the beautiful team play, that was all him. And it was there that he found so much success. But, and not to downplay that success, it was Barcelona, one of the two great clubs in Spanish history. Barcelona and Real Madrid have an eternal struggle in La Liga, with rare flashes from other teams. But in the end, it is always going to be dominant Barcelona.

The Catalan side does not require a genius to build success. They require a competent baby-sitter. Not everyone at Barcelona was thrilled with the way Pep Guardiola managed. He is known for striking down the superstar mentality and building a team. In the process though, he can often hinder a player’s personality. We saw that with Zlatan Ibrahimovic.

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After Barcelona, Guardiola moved to a Bayern Munich team that was already on the last rung of the ladder to climb to the top of the world. He finished the climb for them. Now, just two years into his tenure, he wants to go to England.

Again, I am not downplaying what Guardiola has done. But the Premier League is a completely different ordeal and I do not think Arsenal should be so keen to go in after him. Nor do I think they will be.

First of all, think about Jurgen Klopp. No one fit Arsenal better than Klopp would have. But the timing was off. Arsene Wenger was not ready to leave. It sounds like Guardiola is ready to come to England next summer, when his contract runs out. Arsene Wenger will not have moved on by then. That should be enough of a reason to doubt Guardiola’s supposed Arsenal entrance.

Not only that, but Arsene Wenger is in charge of finding his successor. He has built this Arsenal club in his image and he wants to see that image continued. Hiring a high-profile coach to come and take the reigns is not exactly a way to do that. New managers do not hold the same faith and loyalty as someone along Wenger’s ilk. Guys like Jack Wilshere, Aaron Ramsey and Theo Walcott, who have proven dedication yet injury problems, might not have the same backing that they once did. Arsene Wenger will not like that. Nor should Arsenal.

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What Arsenal should be looking for is something along the lines of what Manchester United is doing with Ryan Giggs. And that very well may be the plan with Thierry Henry. Guardiola himself got the call to the Barcelona senior side after coaching Barcelona B for a handful of years.

Thierry Henry is getting rave reviews from his coaching of the Arsenal youth side. If that experience goes well enough for long enough, he would be the ideal successor. Again, internal solutions will always outweigh the possibility of an external solution. This is Arsenal after all.