The beloved assistant Carlos Cuesta left coach Mikel Arteta and Arsenal could cause a bit of discomfort and inconvenience, but nothing more than that.
In an ideal world, changes like this happen as planned, unified before, with smooth transfers and emotional farewells – football rarely operate in that ideal way.
Will coach Arteta want to lose a reliable member in the training team only before the whole team prepared for the new season? Definitely no. However, this is not a shocking disaster at Arsenal.
Cuesta – who prepared to take over the coach seat at Parma – is a talented and loved factor in the coaching team, enough to receive an invitation to lead a team in Serie A when he was 30 years old. But the rule of football is always moving forward, fast, and embarking on work.
Over the past years, Arteta has always maintained a framework for training and mutual understanding – a loyal, unanimous team, with a blend of appropriate personality and quality to form a close circle. The appointment of Cuesta replacement may need to be done quickly, but most importantly, it is still the right person.
Cuesta – only 29 years old – with great ambition is not negative in the training room at a club like Arsenal. It is possible that Arteta needs now is to find a successor that has energy, creativity and potentially becoming a reliable partner – not only for himself but also for the players. However, if Arteta felt that it was not the time to “install a new gear into the machine”, he could completely wait and rely on the remaining members in the team.
In fact, Arteta is still working with the coach assistant trio, so the departure of Cuesta does not make him fall into a passive position. Albert Stuavenberg – Arteta's reliable right right arm with familiar image and AirPods – has been with him since the early days. Miguel Molina – like Cuesta, is a young coach (32 years old), close to the age of the players – still staying and bringing a different connection. That helps Arteta do not need to hurry to find a replacement of Cuesta.
Previously, Arsenal also was not too urgent when appointing a new technical director, after Edu suddenly left the chair in the middle of the previous season. It took a few months to officially appoint Andrea Berta.
If Arsenal decides to appoint new people (or internal promotion) to replace Cuesta, there will be two core elements that need to be guaranteed: high professional competence and absolute level of trust. In particular, the second factor is clearly difficult to achieve and need time to build.
Cuesta was the first member of the coaching staff “The close circle” to leave without following Arteta's wishes. Stuavenberg also has received an invitation to lead other teams as the head coach, but still refused to continue to stick to the role of the number one assistant for Arteta.
Arsenal will return to the end of this month. Players who do not have to participate in international obligations will go to Spain to combine the rest and enter the “money” period – with light training sessions to help them get acquainted again. Cuesta was once planned to be a member of this delegation.
Arsenal will definitely follow Cuesta's next journey with special attention. Because this step reflects somewhat the itinerary that Arteta has made when leaving Pep Guardiola and Man City to lead Arsenal in the middle of the 2019 season – dare to bet on himself to become the biggest decision in the dressing room.
It also reminiscent of the speeding process of Cesc Fabregas, who is leading Como – the first training job – in the Italian First Division.
Goodbye Carlos Cuesta. It was time for him and Arsenal to continue on his own paths.
