On Monday afternoon, Arsenal confirmed the double departure of u23 and u18 head coaches Kevin Betsy and Dan Micciche, leaving a couple of gaps to fill in the academy.
As rumours of u23 boss Betsy’s move to Crawley Town grew, the expectation was that Micciche would step up into the u23 position.
The former MK Dons manager had done a strong job with the younger Arsenal academy groups, and his u18 team ended the season on a real high. He would undoubtedly have made a strong choice of replacement, and he would have been stepping up alongside a lot of the players he coached this season, giving them some continuity.
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Yet Monday’s announcement revealed that Arsenal need to look elsewhere, with Micciche following Betsy out the door.
Who else could replace Betsy?
The most likely internal candidate is Mehmet Ali, who joined the club as an u23 assistant coach in January. Ali had previously worked as the manager of the Reading u23s, so he has experience in a top academy position.
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Having said that, Ali didn’t spend a huge amount of time in that role with Reading, so it’s hard to judge his credentials.
Arsenal have already let go a couple of good options for the u23 job in recent seasons, with Freddie Ljungberg leaving following his stint as the first-team’s interim head coach and Ryan Garry moving on to coach the England u18s.
It seems unlikely the Gunners will have much luck luring either of them back. Ljungberg seems to have set his sights on senior football, and Garry was already passed over for the Arsenal u23 job whilst working as the interim u23 boss, with the club choosing to hire Betsy instead.
All the same, Ljungberg is currently still out of the coaching game and is one of the best u23 bosses Arsenal have had in recent years. It may be worth a shot.
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Then there’s Jack Wilshere, seemingly a popular choice among the fans. The former Arsenal midfielder worked with the academy this season before earning a short-term deal to keep playing in Denmark.
Wilshere has since told the media he’d be open to calling time on his playing career if the right coaching opportunity came along. But it’s not yet clear whether he would view the Arsenal u23 job as an opportunity worth giving up on playing for. After all, he’s still just 30 years old.
What will Arsenal be looking for?
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Arsenal’s most successful youth coaches in recent years have been able to marry strong work on individual player development with a clear style of play.
Many youth coaches will tell you that the academy system should be entirely focused on developing individuals, and that nothing else matters. But the reality is that it’s hard to separate individual development from team performances.
A team that struggle to keep the ball and fight relegation all season aren’t going to provide a strong environment for a young striker to reach their potential, for example. That young striker is also unlikely to get any good loan offers after a season of occasional goalscoring opportunities.
Even if you just aim for internal promotions, Mikel Arteta isn’t going to call up a forward who has spent the season chasing down long balls. They won’t be suited to his team.
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So whilst it’s true that results ultimately don’t matter in u23 football, they do still provide an indicator of whether or not the coach is getting the most out of their group of players.
The Premier League 2 title-winning Arsenal team of 2017/18 was led by Reiss Nelson, Eddie Nketiah, and Emile Smith Rowe. Ljungberg’s 2nd-place side in 2018/19 pushed Bukayo Saka and Joe Willock into senior football. Unsurprisingly, Arsenal’s u23 relegation-battling side of 2020/21 have not had the same success with first-team promotions.
Arsenal therefore need to ensure they appoint someone capable of both nurturing individuals and staying true to a playing philosophy that reflects the senior side. The best way to find someone like that is often to look for coaches already working in youth football.
Academy manager Per Mertesacker is probably facing his biggest test yet, replacing both Betsy and Micciche. It will be very interesting to see how things pan out.
Topics: Arsenal, Mikel Arteta
Dan Critchlow