Who Will Arsenal Turn To...?

Overseeing seven matches without tasting victory and matching Arsenal's worst run of form for almost thirty years, the Emirates boardroom finally put Unai Emery out of his misery on Friday. The writing had been on the wall for Emery for some time, and long before the midweek collapse against Eintracht Frankfurt. Booed off after scraping a wholly undeserved draw against Southampton was surely the final straw for a beleaguered manager who had already seen his club captain jeered by his own supporters and respond in a manner that any manager with any authority would have hammered him for. But, just like the dithering Arsenal boardroom, so Emery too indulged the embarrassing tantrum of the extraordinarily average Granit Xhaka and in doing so laid bare his lack of control over the club. Former Gunner Freddie Ljungberg has been promoted to interim Head Coach, but whether Arsenal will follow the current trend of Man Utd and Chelsea by trusting an unproven club legend remains to be seen.After the twenty-two year reign of Arsene Wenger, Arsenal would not have expected to be recruiting a second successor to the Frenchman a mere eighteen months later. Their next appointment needs to be carefully considered. It needs to be the right man. And crucially, the club have to structure a cohesive and efficient support network around their chosen one. There can be little doubt that the departure of Wenger and his entire backroom staff caused an earthquake in north-London. Boardroom rifts and the eventual full takeover by Stan Kroenke caused further instability. The transfer policy has been at best inconsistent and at worst shambolic, with no apparent direction and certainly no focus on Arsenal's key weaknesses. Allowing club captain Aaron Ramsay to depart for free was scandalous. Rewarding Mesut Ozil with a multi-million pound panic deal beggared belief. And whoever decided that the woeful David Luiz would suddenly transform into a competent central defender should be removed as far away from a top level football club as humanly possible.As is common practice in the UK media, Arsenal have been linked with every top-name manager in Europe. And of course, all those managers are crawling over broken glass to beg for an opportunity at the Emirates. But the reality is very different. Arsenal have never been considered a premier European club and their steady decline from being regular Champions League participants to Europa League stalwarts merely reinforces that. They do not possess huge financial resources - or if they do they have been consistently reluctant to utilise them barring the occasional splurge - at a time when the first team requires massive investment. And their fans are among the most fickle and delusional in Europe!Arsenal can forget former Juventus coach Massimo Allegri, who will be holding out for a top-tier job. They might just have a chance of tempting Luis Enrique, although the former Barcelona coach has been heavily linked with a return to the Camp Nou. Carlo Ancelotti may be willing to leave the chaos of Napoli behind, but while the likeable Italian boasts a rich European pedigree and Premier League experience, would he swap Champions League football for Europa League scraps? Ralf Rangnick recently rejected the fluttering eyelashes of Bavarian behemoth FC Bayern; not even the blind hope and delusion of the more vocal Gunners could sell the idea that Arsenal are a more appealing prospect. Julian Nagelsmann is another stellar name linked with the Emirates, but yet again Arsenal would be asking one of the most sought-after young coaches in Europe to sacrifice Champions League competition for their financially stifled project. More likely is that Arsenal will have to take something of a leap with their next appointment. Could the legendary Gunners Patrick Vieira or Thierry Henry invigorate themselves and the squad on familiar territory again? Mikel Arteta was pursued by Arsenal prior to their appointment of Emery; could Pep Guardiola's assistant now be tempted with a crack in the hot seat? Given the lack of any real substance to their careers thus far, any of those choices would represent an almighty gamble. It is a reflection of Arsenal's current plight that there is no chance they could prise Brendan Rodgers away from Leicester City, but Bournemouth's highly-rated Eddie Howe must be a contender alongside the impressive Nuno Espirito Santo, who may feel he has taken Wolves as far as he can.But with the return of Arsene Wenger - an option with a sensible logic to it - and a move for former Spurs boss Mauricio Pochettino unlikely, I wonder whether Arsenal may look to an astute tactician, a highly-regarded coach and a manager with a record of getting the very best out of the players at his disposal? A manager boasting a wealth of Premier League and European experience? And a manager who may feel he has a point to prove once again in England? Rafa Benitez could be the perfect appointment for Arsenal....