Arsenal: Yes, Mauricio Pochettino better than Unai Emery

On Tuesday night, Spurs have shockingly sacked Mauricio Pochettino. As Arsenal continue to struggle with Unai Emery, potentially searching for a new manager, Pochettino would be a terrific hire who should be considered.

For those even vaguely interested in Premier League football, Tuesday night was blockbuster. Following another serenely dull international break, Tottenham Hotspur chose to do what some have shockingly suggested is possible over several weeks: they sacked Mauricio Pochettino.

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The decision is a terrible one. While Pochettino is not blameless for a Spurs side that have not played their best for nearly a year and slipped to 14th in the Premier League table, he is hardly the primary issue at the club.

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Over the course of five-and-a-half years, the former Southampton manager handed Spurs the pedigree and calibre that made them believe they could make a decision like this. He had a net spend of £109 million during that time, less than Sheffield United. He mastered four successive top-four finishes — you have to go back to 1987 to find their last four top-four finishes. He led them to a Champions League final, a game that they ultimately deserved to win, all the while playing a progressive, entertaining brand of football that has helped develop some of the brightest talents in the game.

Crucially, Pochettino has not brought trophies to White Hart Lane, something that he has intensely and unfairly been criticised for. Football is ultimately about winning and, given their selection for his successor, it is this that is perhaps Spurs’ primary motivation for moving on from their greatest manager of the Premier League era. But despite this, he is still an excellent manager, one that will attract the best clubs from around the world.

Meanwhile, the actual north London manager that should have been fired, Unai Emery, continues to frustrate. Emery has led his team to only three more points than Pochettino has done this season. They actually have a worse goal difference, which is often a better indicator of how proficient team is. And Emery does not have the credit in the bank that Pochettino apparently did.

As the pressure has intensified on a manager that has delivered only 24 points in his last 19 league games, a run of form that is only marginally better than relegation form, fans have begun to dream about the names that could take to the Emirates dugout following Emery’s much-hoped-for sacking. And now it is time to throw Pochettino’s name into that ring.

Questions may have to be asked about his willingness to cross the north London divide, but if he is willing to take on the Spurs faithful, he would be a substantially superior manager to the man that Arsenal currently have pervading their touchline. And more than just Emery, Pochettino is a more capable manager than many of the targets that the Gunners have been or will be linked with should they commit to a search for a new manager.

Pochettino has worked wonders with scraps. He inherited a team that he improved. He has developed young stars, introduced well-coached combinations, in and out of possession, and brought respectability to a previously derided club. He would be a perfect Arsenal manager and far and away more proficient than the man he would replace.