Southampton are closing in on the appointment of former Leeds United head coach Jesse Marsch to take over at St Mary’s having sacked Nathan Jones. Arsenal have one more fixture against the Saints this season and will face Marsch’s new side on April 22 with six games after that before the season ends.
Arsenal have already faced a number of teams under new management this campaign with mixed results. Losing to Sean Dyche’s Everton, beating Julen Lopetegui’s Wolves (although he wasn’t in the dugout for the match), both winning and losing to Erik ten Hag’s Manchester United and defeating Graham Potter’s Chelsea.
With yet another new appointment set to be made football.london takes a look at the three things that can certainly be expected to affect the Gunners amid the managerial move. From tough tests to missing out yet again on periods of weakness, there is a mixed bag for Mikel Arteta’s side in this instance.
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Another tricky test
When in charge of Leeds United Marsch’s side arguably deserved more than they got as Arsenal ran out 1-0 winners at Elland Road. Patrick Bamford missed a penalty and a number of big chances as Leeds fell to a sole Bukayo Saka goal.
Marsch in his post-match analysis of the game though said his Leeds side were better than what he described as the league’s best, furthering his point by saying Leeds could have scored a bucket-load of goals.
“It was a really good performance from us,” he said. “Discipline, concentration over the entire match even with the late start, which was strange on the day.
“A performance that showed that when we play the way we want to play, we can be very good. That’s the best team in the league right now and today we were better.
“We’re making it hard on ourselves and not capitalising on moments when we’re on top in games. We could have scored four or five goals and we’d walk out of here feeling like it was the perfect match.”
Southampton have already faced the Gunners at St Mary’s in which then manager Ralph Hasenhuttl’s side secured a 1-1 draw. The last time Marsch visited the Emirates Stadium Arsenal made the most of a ten-man Leeds side and hung on for a 2-1 victory thanks to two goals from Eddie Nketiah.
Transfer questions
Arsenal had been linked with a move for Weston McKennie in the transfer window with some sources suggesting the Gunners had even submitted an offer for the American international. Marsch’s side however won out and acquired the Juventus midfielder prior to his dismissal.
Marsch oversaw a number of signings from two of his former clubs RB Leipzig and Red Bull Salzburg. Brenden Aaronson, Rasmus Kristensen, Maximillian Wober and Tyler Adams were all brought in from the two clubs alongside other players which took spending under Marsch to well over £100million.
Having tried and failed to integrate players from his former clubs into the Premier League once, will Marsch try it again and will his strategy come into competition with Arsenal? With the Gunners top of the table and looking at players outside of what the Saints are aiming for in re-establishing themselves away from relegation the likely assumption is not.
Ainsley Maitland-Niles
Arsenal will see their loan player Ainsley Maitland-Niles now work with Marsch. Under Nathan Jones Maitland-Niles started just twice in the league during his time at the club.
He made more under Hasenhuttl but Jones clearly did not favour the England international. Arsenal will hope that Maitland-Niles can establish himself under Marsch and raise his potential value with a permanent exit the most likely outcome in the summer.
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