Atletico Madrid manager Diego Simeone boasts the personality and tactical chops to transform Arsenal if he was to take over from Mikel Arteta at the Premier League giants, former Crystal Palace owner Simon Jordan told talkSPORT (19 October, 12.50pm).
If a 3-1 battering of North London rivals Tottenham Hotspur was supposed to ignite Arsenal’s season, we are still waiting for the subsequent explosion, like one of those old joke shop pistols that merely fires out a flag with the word ‘bang’ written on it.
The Gunners were lucky to get out of Brighton with a point to their name (Graham Potter’s side rediscovered the bad old habits of last season, failing to score despite 21 attempts on goal) before relying on Alexandre Lacazette to rescue a point against Patrick Vieira’s impressive Crystal Palace side on Monday.
It is almost two years since Arteta was handed the reins.
With Arsenal 12th in the table and the Champions League a distant dream, even Malcom Tucker would struggle to spin the Arteta appointment into a positive story.
So, if Simeone was to suddenly decide that enough is enough and walk away from Atletico Madrid after a decade at the helm, two La Liga titles, two Champions League finals and a Europa League triumph, Arsenal would be forgiven for ejecting Arteta from his Emirates hotseat in an instant.
This is all hypothetical of course.
Simeone is going nowhere and – much to the frustration of some Arsenal fans – neither is Arteta.
Would Diego Simeone turn Arsenal back into an elite football club?
“I think a club like Arsenal could do with someone like (Simeone) managing them. It would change the whole culture and fabric of the football club and that’s what Arsenal need,” said Jordan, before discussing why the former Argentina international has never managed – or played – on English soil before.
“Maybe because the right opportunity hasn’t presented itself. I don’t think it’s because his style of play. He’s been at this club for some time, the opportunities that have come might not have come at the right time.
“I think he’s a very, focused, disciplined manager and I think any club that had him as their manager would probably get a lot of benefit from it – certainly some of our Premier League clubs would be in that category.
“(His style) it’s not Bielsa. He’s not Klopp. It’s not quite as effervescent but I still think it’s very engaging, very thought-provoking and very difficult to overcome.”
Simeone guided Atletico to their first La Liga crown since 2014 last season, despite losing star midfielder Thomas Partey to Arsenal just seven months prior.
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