The eyebrow that sees an Arsenal future?
Carlo Ancelotti has been taking time off from the sport. But he makes no bones about a return to coaching in England, now his preferred destination. Arsenal is amongst the clubs he has set his sights on. The other two are Liverpool and Spurs.
” Wenger has had a shaky spell at Arsenal in the last few months, and for the national team Capello will be replaced by an Englishman, which will free up a place at a club.”
The last is a dig at his old nemesis and there are rumblings that Harry Redknapp might be in line as national coach if Capello fails to deliver. It’s hard to see Kenny Dalglish being replaced at Liverpool.
The Arsenal connection is intriguing. All the soundbites state Wenger is under no threat and the Frenchman has been overbearingly stubborn in his own defense. But he’s now indicated that the club cannot realistically contend for a title and faces a struggle to be in the race for a CL spot. Of absolute concern is Arsenal’s perplexing defensive brittleness which shows no sign of abating. Ancelotti has an established reputation for enhancing the defensive aspects of the game and his previous tenures at Chelsea and AC Milan showed his predilection for experience.
On the face of it this might not fly with the current Arsenal philosophy. But the Italian has shown to be one of the most intelligent and astute observers of the modern game. He’s also without ego and therefore adaptable. If players stop responding to Wenger and the sort of dispiriting results that have become commonplace continue then the Arsenal board will be forced to act. It’s possible to meet with Ancelotti halfway without abandoning Wenger’s game changing vision and go about rectifying its obvious blindspots that have prevented it coming to fruition.