Arsenal: Max Allegri can be our version of Antonio Conte

Antonio Conte worked magic for Chelsea not that long ago. Now it’s time for Max Allegri to do the same thing to Arsenal and return us to the top.

I’ve spent a lot of time romanticizing about someone like Antonio Conte (or just Antonio Conte) coming to Arsenal and righting the ship to take this clearly talented bunch to a Premier League title. Max Allegri was once that guy, not long ago, but the move didn’t materialize.

That has to change this time around. You won’t find a more sure-fire appointment than Allegri would be, and it stems from a host of obvious similarities between him and Conte.

For starters, they both played midfield and they both have fiery tempers. Before coming to Chelsea, Conte spent three years at Juventus. He won Serie A in each of those three years. Before coming to Arsenal, Max Allegri spent five years at Juventus. He Serie A in each of those five years.

However, that’s where we start to see Allegri getting the edge on his counterpart because he has seen more success across the board. He also boasts the best win percentage of any manager to have ever passed through Juve.

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Going further, Allegri even famously told the venerable Leonadro Bonucci to “f*** off” and added “d***head” for some added color. I dream of a manager who will tell our bloated superstars that. It would be my favorite thing ever. Can you imagine what Ozil or Aubameyang would do? I think I just wet myself thinking about it.

Allegri is a man manager, which is the one thing we have sorely lacked, and the one thing we so sorely need. We’ve had tactical minded guys, like Unai Emery, but poor man management when you’ve got a bunch of self-righteous superstars is a bad combination to make. That’s what first drew me to the idea of Antonio Conte, and that’s what has always drawn me to Allegri. These guys don’t stand for any bulls*** from the players. No matter who that player happens to be. They’re in charge. They have a vision and if you don’t like it, then you’re not invited to the club.

We need that. We need an actual leader with confidence and the ability to shut down egos. Arsene Wenger wasn’t even really like that, he just commanded so much respect that no one dared question him.

Allegri would be the fiery leader to light a spark under the arses of these guys. Either that or he could clear them out and bring in people who actually do care. I’m not picky.