Paul Merson has claimed that Crystal Palace boss Patrick Vieira could well replace Mikel Arteta at Arsenal early into the 2022-23 season should they enjoy different starts to the new campaign.
The Frenchman has been a surprise success story since taking over the helm at Selhurst Park, taking what looked to a weak squad and making them extremely difficult to beat, proving to be a thorn in the side of many top 10 sides this term.
While his experience of the division clearly cannot be discredited, his previous experience as a coach gave minimal reason to believe he would be such a hit when taking over from Roy Hodgson last summer, but he done an incredible job, with many having them tipped for the drop after losing a number of key players for nothing last summer, and with one of their stars in Eberechi Eze ruled out for much of the opening months of the campaign also.
Paul Merson is so impressed by his work this term that he can even see him potentially taking over at Arsenal in the near future, claiming that he could well get the chance early into the new campaign depending on the two clubs results.
“Could he be the next Arsenal manager? Merson discussed with SportsKeeda. “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.”
“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!”
As much as Arsenal did start the current season in dreadful fashion, that can largely be blamed on some painful player absences which were sprung on us last minute, and there is no reason to believe that such a scenario would repeat going into the new campaign.
While nobody can predict the future, it isn’t incomprehensible to believe that Vieira would be on our radar should we consider a change however, although I am not expecting us to be considering a change in management any time soon.
Ha Vieira already shown enough to be considered for a role as head coach at the Emirates?
Patrick
Learn more about Arsenal’s proud history – Decade by Decade CLICK HERE to visit our new Arsenal History section
Video – Mikel Arteta talks ahead of our last game of the season
More must-reads: