A year ago this week Arsenal were on the hunt for a new manager, and one man they had in their sights was Wolves manager Nuno Espirito Santo.
The BBC reported that he was identified as a potential successor to Unai Emery, but in the end, the Gunners went out and got Mikel Arteta.
However, one year on and with hindsight, it would seem as though the London club made the wrong decision on their next manager.
Of course, getting Nuno out of Wolves wouldn’t be easy and going out and getting him wouldn’t have been a straightforward process, but there is evidence to show that the Portuguese gaffer is a better manager than Arteta.
For a start, Wolves finished above Arsenal last season, despite the fact that they were only one point above Arsenal when Emery was sacked, and once again Wolves find themselves above Arsenal this season.
This is all despite Arsenal having a much bigger budget that Wolves.
Gunners fans may not like to hear this about Arteta, but Nuno seems to be more tactically adept than the Spaniard as well.
We all know about Arteta’s supposed tactical acumen, and after three years of working with Pep Guardiola, we’re not surprised that he’s hailed as a potential top coach, but does he really have a clear tactical style?
Yes, he likes to play out from the back and prioritise a game based around passing, but he’s consistently chopped and changed the formation and he can’t seem to figure out how to best use his star players.
Just look at Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, who has been deployed ineffectively on the left in recent months. Despite almost being in this job for almost a year now, Arteta hasn’t figured out how to use his best players.
Meanwhile, Nuno has used the exact same clear tactical style at Wolves since day one, and it’s worked.
His 3-4-3 system is recognisable and effective, while you can’t really distinguish an Arteta side from any other team who likes to utilise a faux-tiki-taka style.
Nuno has also made the players who were already at the club better, with Matt Doherty going from a League One player to signing for Spurs, and Conor Coady going from a mid-table Championship player to a bona fide England international.
Can you really say the same about Arteta? Bukayo Saka aside, who has really kicked on since he became Gunners manager? There’s an argument to make that some players have even gone backwards under Arteta’s tutelage, with Paul Merson making this exact claim about Willian last week.
Who knows where Arsenal would have been if they’d landed Nuno this time last year, but there is reason to believe they’d be in a stronger position than they’re in now.
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