Arsenal: One clear difference between Mikel Arteta and Thierry Henry

Thierry Henry is reportedly ready to rival Mikel Arteta for the Arsenal’s manager’s role. However, there is one clear difference between the two: Pep Guardiola.

Arsenal are entering the closing stages of their search for a new manager. It has been a long and drawn-out process, one that has now extended to more than a month after Arsene Wenger’s public announcement that he was leaving at the end of the year. And it seems as if they are narrowing down the targets.

Catch the latest episode of the Pain in the Arsenal podcast right here

The overwhelming favourite is Mikel Arteta. As interviews are still being conducted, it is difficult to know for sure, but the large portion of reports are claiming that the myriad of other candidates have slowly been whittled down to just two or three names.

More from Pain in the Arsenal

• 3 observations from Arsenal’s victory at Goodison Park
• 3 standout players from 1-0 victory over Everton
• 3 positives & negatives from Goodison Park victory
• Arsenal vs PSV preview: Prediction, team news & lineups
• 3 talking points from Arsenal’s victory at Goodison Park

Arteta is the leading light of those names. Massimiliano Allegri is another, though the limited transfer budget and lack of Champions League football may mean that he chooses to stay at Juventus. The final option that has surfaced in the last day or so is Thierry Henry, who, it has been reported, was initially approached to join the backroom staff but would rather challenge Arteta for the senior manager’s role and will put his ideas to the board imminently.

Henry has expressed a clear and irrefutable public interest in being Wenger’s successor in the past, so it wouldn’t be too much of a stretch to believe that he has the desire to rival Arteta for the role. The problem for the great striker, though, is that even if he did want the job, I am not sure that he is a better candidate than Arteta. And there is one clear reason: Pep Guardiola.

Both Arteta and Henry are currently working as assistants or first-team coaches. But while Arteta is enjoying day-to-day input alongside arguably the greatest footballing mind in the history of the sport at Manchester City, Henry is working in a sparse and inconsistent international capacity with a manager who is not quite so renowned for his tactical brilliance.

Now, that does not mean that Henry lacks the acumen to be able to translate what he has learned under Roberto Martinez with Belgium into success as Arsenal manager. He has obviously completed his coaching badges. He is a very intelligent and competitive individual. And he loves the club dearly.

But the opportunity to coach under and learn from Guardiola is a special one. Moreover, not only has Arteta been coaching under Guardiola since his retirement over the past two years, but he is highly thought of by the City manager and has even been given the chance to manage the senior team in Premier League games.

Next: Arsenal: 5 reasons to be optimistic about Mikel Arteta appointment

I have great respect for Henry. He is one of my favourite ever players. He is one of the key reasons why I became an Arsenal fan all those years ago. But I do not think that he would be a successful manager. He may think otherwise, and I would support him fully if he was appointed, but to turn up the chance to hire a former captain who has a Guardiola influence seems a little foolish to me.