WHAT are Arsenal? It’s a question that was pondered more than a few times last season as the North London club sought to move on from years of Wengerism, but with it being Unai Emery’s first season in charge, and Arsenal’s first season in nearly two decades without Arsene Wenger at the helm, there was patience in waiting for an answer.
That patience is now wearing thin. Emery is now well into his second season as Arsenal boss and we’re still no closer to having a grasp on what they stand for. Many of the issues that dogged the Gunners under Wenger remain, while results are getting worse, not better. A run of just one win in eight games has dropped Arsenal closer to the foot of the Premier League table than the top.
Emery now finds himself in the sort of spiral few coaches manage to escape. Potential replacements have been put forward – Mikel Arteta, Max Allegri and Patrick Vieira to name just a few – but one name stands out over the others. The thought of Jose Mourinho as Arsenal manager might be absurd, but it’s a thought now being mulled.
Please. For the love of Arsene Wenger and everything he built. Do not hire Jose Mourinho, Arsenal. Please.
— A West (@oeste) October 30, 2019
Recent reports claim Mourinho had dinner with Arsenal's head of football Raul Sanlleh just last week, sparking speculation that the former Chelsea and Manchester United boss could pitch up at the Emirates Stadium should Emery be sacked. Mourinho has also been pictured watching Arsenal more than once this season.
Objectively, Mourinho would be far from the worst appointment the Gunners could make. The Portuguese always gets a reaction, a new manager bounce, at every club he enters. Even at Man Utd, where Mourinho failed to meet the targets set for him, he lifted two trophies and qualified for the Champions League in his first season in charge.
If Arsenal are looking for someone to turn around their season and salvage their chances of finishing in the top four, Mourinho’s candidacy would be strong. And yet the hiring of a man who once revelled in his trolling of Wenger and the Gunners would require a fundamental examination of the club’s values and principles.
The hiring of Mourinho would go against the grain of everything Arsenal stand for. While the Gunners pride themselves on being able to see things through a wider scope, Mourinho is a man who knows how to make small-time thinking work on the big stage. Both have enjoyed their successes, both have their arguments to make, but they are, at least on the face of things, diametrically opposed to each other.
Jose Mourinho is open to replacing Unai Emery at Arsenal, according to ESPN FC sources. pic.twitter.com/SKnIhyghxc
— ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) October 30, 2019
Once upon a time, though, the Gunners would have been the perfect fit for Mourinho; back in the days of ‘1-0 to the Arsenal.’ The values Arsenal now see as their own were Wenger’s and with Wenger now gone they must consider just how dearly they hold those values. The prospect of Mourinho taking over presents them with that crossroads.
Football clubs very rarely exit with inherent principles. There are some exceptions. Ajax and Barcelona, perhaps, but even they had their sporting identities bestowed on them by Johan Cruyff. It’s just that the principles instilled by the great man at both clubs has outlived him, becoming the ultimate mark of his legacy.
By and large, though, football clubs are reflections of the men who lead them and so over time they are moulded in accordance with the ideals and beliefs of those people. Mourinho would almost certainly change Arsenal, but wouldn’t this simply represent an inevitable evolution that will come with the passage of time?
Who’s to say that Arsenal’s owners’ values are even in line with what is widely seen to be that of the club? If the Gunners are big picture thinkers, they have failed to show this at boardroom level for the best part of a decade. With this in mind, Mourinho might be the manager Arsenal deserve even if he’s not the one they want.
