According to the Times, Jose Mourinho had major reservations about potentially replacing Unai Emery at the Emirates Stadium. The report claims the structure at the club ‘did not appeal’ to the former Chelsea and Manchester United boss.
Earlier in the month, it emerged that Arsenal had set their sights on the Portuguese boss as a possible candidate if the club were to pull the trigger on the Spaniard.
However, the Gunners are determined to give the former Paris Saint-Germain boss some more time to get things right and since their public backing of the 49-year-old, their local rivals Spurs have hired Mourinho for themselves.
TIF Tactics – A disconnect between the Head Coach and his superiors
The structure at Arsenal has changed recently and many would have hoped it would lead to more success on the pitch. However, we suspect there is, in fact, a disconnect between Emery and his superiors particularly when it comes to transfers. Since Emery’s arrival the club splashed out on Lucas Torreira, a player the Head Coach wasn’t keen on and spent a huge amount of money on Nicolas Pepe without addressing their more pressing issues at centre-back.
Mourinho is not the type to keep quiet and accept working conditions he believes to be counter-productive and given what we know, you can guess the transfer strategy was one of the things that ‘did not appeal’ to the 56-year-old. It remains to be seen whether Spurs’ appointment of Mourinho will be a masterstroke or whether Arsenal have actually dodged a bullet.