Morning reports have suggested that Arsenal may look to appoint Brendan Rodgers as their new manager, if the Gunners decided to call time on legendary boss Arsene Wenger’s tenure at the club.

Arsenal collapsed in the League Cup final against Manchester City this past Sunday and are struggling in the race to finish in the Premier League’s top four. The North London side are still in the Europa League and that could be their main hope for this term.

If they don’t win the Europa League or finish in the top four, then it could be almost impossible for Wenger to hang on at the Emirates.

Brendan Rodgers has done a tremendous job at Celtic, he guided the Hoops to a Scottish treble last season and they went unbeaten in all of their domestic games last season too. This season has seen them reach the round of thirty two in the Europa League after the qualified for the Champions League group stages and finished their group in third place. The Scottish champs also still have a chance at completing a sensational successive domestic treble!

At Celtic, Brendan has introduced exciting attacking football and he’s instilled confidence within his squad.

So why am I unsure about his potential appointment at the Emirates? 

Well he offers the same traits as the current Arsenal gaffer without offering enough evidence that he could change things in the areas that need changing the most.

Like Wenger, Rodgers can be very stubborn with his tactics and philosophy. Against superior opposition in Europe, Celtic have been destroyed because they haven’t changed from their possession style. They’ve at times went toe to toe with the likes of Barcelona and PSG and came away battered and bruised. Arsenal need a different type of boss, one who will get wins no matter what in the bigger games.

One of the Gunners major problems has been their defensive record and it’s been that way for a while now. No other top seven team in England’s top flight has conceded more than Arsenal’s thirty-six goals this season.

That will probably mean that the defence needs to be looked at and improved upon. Even the goalkeeping position will probably be reassessed in preseason. These are positions that Rodgers himself has struggled with in his previous roles.

At both Liverpool and Celtic, Rodgers has had issues with recruiting keepers and having a solid dependable number one.

The central defence at Celtic is also a talking point up here as it’s seen as the Hoops weakest position. It has been obvious for a while and nothing seems to have improved during Brendan’s time at the Glasgow giants. Liverpool have had an iffy defence for a while, that’s why they spent big on Virgil van Djik in the last transfer window.

Another issue could be Brendan Rodgers’ lack of trophies in England. He came close to the Premier League title with Liverpool in 2o14 before they seemed to bottle it against Chelsea. Has Rodgers trophy laden time in Glasgow been enough to get the boards at the big English clubs to forget that period?

I think Brendan is a terrific gaffer, he has been described as a “fantastic man manager” by former Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard.

I’m just not sure he is what Arsenal would need if they chose to replace Arsene Wenger, I get the feeling he would be much of a muchness and too similar in style to the Frenchman. I’d imagine the Gunners may go for a continental boss with Germany a likely market.

 

Posted on February 27th, 2018 by scott
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