Arsenal: Forget Jose Mourinho, go and get Antonio Conte

Arsenal need a new manager, and rather than the bad ideas you see floating around out there, let’s instead focus on a good one—Antonio Conte.

Unai Emery is not the man to move Arsenal forward. All the reasons that we though he was the man were clearly unfounded. We thought he was a fiery leader. He is not, he just yells sometimes. We thought he was a man manager. He is not, he asks his players what they should do.

We thought he was a master tactician. He is not, he has no idea what to tell his players to do and leaves it largely up to them. All these things combined have led to the desperate pleas to bring Jose Mourinho in as a replacement, but this is ridiculous. A new manager is needed, yes, but get one that does what needs doing. Get Antonio Conte.

Conte managed Chelsea for two years, winning the Premier League and then the FA Cup before being ousted. Though at the time of his ousting, there was speculation that the Chelsea player pool was the problem. The same problem that lead to Mourinho’s failure.

Conte is the exact manager we need to have to correct the problems that Unai Emery hasn’t been able to solve because Conte is all the things we expected Emery to be. He actually is a fiery leader, beyond just shouting.

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He is a tactical genius, who would be more guilty of over-planning a tactical schematic than under-planning. And I think best of all is that he understands what a manager is expected to do.

Take, for instance, this quote from him when he joined Chelsea. He was speaking of his coaching philosophy.

"“The word ‘coach’ has to encompass everything. You can’t only be good at tactics, just as you can’t only be good at motivation, just as you can’t only be good from a psychological point of view, just as you can’t only be good in how you manage the club and the media. You have got to be good at everything. You have got to try and excel at everything. To do this you have got to study and since I became a coach, for me, it has been continuous study.”"

Unai Emery could not say these things and even if he did, he could not back them up. Conte has backed them up, time and time again. And while he is a bit of a traveller, like Mourinho is, that doesn’t mean that the right project wouldn’t prompt a lengthier stay.

If you want a manager with a track record like Mourinho, then just get Conte. He’s the better fit for this job, hands down. And if nothing else, I would never question whether or not Conte is in charge of the situation. Because Conte is always in charge.