Former Arsenal player Paul Merson has tipped Patrick Vieira to take over reigns from Mikel Arteta at the club. Merson feels the end is near for Arteta as another stint of disappointing results could see him get sacked. The player turned pundit further adds that Patrick Vieira is the man to take the Gunners forward. Vieira is currently in charge of Crystal Palace and has formerly managed Manchester City‘s reserve team, New York City FC, and OGC Nice. The 45-year-old has excelled in his first season at Palace and Merson feels he is ready to manage the Gunners.
Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal has had a turbulent Premier League season this term. The Gunners lost their opening three league games of the season only to turn around the tide. Since then Arteta has steered Arsenal to a fifth place in the table, and still fighting for a top-four finish. However, Arsenal were in the driving seat for a fourth-place finish, but recent results saw them drop to fifth. A defeat in the North London derby, followed by a loss against Newcastle has again raised doubts over Arteta’s leadership.
Paul Merson has spoken out and made it clear that Vieira is the way ahead for Arsenal. On the other hand, Arsenal recently handed Arteta a new contract, keeping him in charge till the summer of 2025. But Merson strongly believes that another start to the next season like this one should be it for Arteta at Arsenal.
Merson wants Vieira as the next Arsenal boss
Paul Merson seems to have not bought into Arteta’s ‘trust the process’ at Arsenal. The pundit has strongly backed Vieira for the Arsenal job after just a year of managing in the Premier League. But Vieira has not been messing around with the Eagles. His exploits have earned him the nomination for Premier League’s manager of the season award.
Merson wrote for Sportskeeda,
“Patrick Vieira has done an outstanding job this season and has changed the way Palace play. They’ve been unlucky with a couple of last-minute goals going against them, but he’s sort of overhauled an ageing squad and adopted an attractive brand of football. Could he be the next Arsenal manager?
It all depends on timing, for me. When Sir Alex Ferguson was about to retire in the early 2000s, a handful of names were reportedly in the running to replace him but none of those links came to fruition,” Merson added. He further fired a warning to Arteta, writing “Arsenal have given Mikel Arteta a new contract but if he starts the 2022-23 Premier League season with a series of underwhelming results and Vieira does so with a string of wins, he could well be the next Gunners boss!”
However, this is not the first time Merson has emphasized on Vieira taking on the Arsenal job. Back in 2017, the pundit had said,
“I wouldn’t be surprised if he (Arsene Wenger) stays a year and then Patrick Vieira comes in. He’s learning his trade over at New York City, he’s been at Man City, and he brings a winning mentality, he won’t take any rubbish.”
Nonetheless, Mikel Arteta seems to have the backing of Arsenal for next season. The Gunners are again ready to invest heavily in summer like they did last time. Arsenal will help Arteta with a string of signings to guarantee a top-four finish next season.
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