There’s a surprising amount of love for Daniel Levy after his departure from Tottenham.
That leads nicely into a few mails about managers but mostly Mikel Arteta. Is he unfairly criticised?
Send your mails to theeditor@football365.com
Daniel Levy has gone…what is his legacy?
I woke up today to the news of Levy’s departure through an Aussie lens – “Tottenham boss who sacked Ange quits”. And so twenty-five years later, one of the last true fan-owners in the league has left the building.
As someone who has been running football clubs myself for the last decade, albeit on an infinitely smaller scale in New Zealand and Western Sydney – regardless of your title, whether you own shares and even if you have affinity or connection to the club; you are a custodian first and foremost. The job, as I see it, is to ensure that the club is left to the next custodian in a better state than when you inherited it.
Tottenham Hotspur in 2025 is unrecognisable from the club Levy inherited from Alan Sugar in 2001 both in terms of the squad, but mainly our infrastructure.
Levy’s strength – and his legacy – is what he has left behind off the pitch. First-class training facilities in Enfield, a modern stadium at the historic home of the club in N17 and a self sustaining business model with multiple revenue streams beyond broadcast money/player sales/gate receipts. It’s fair to say (and would be negligent to not mention) that the club has not been anywhere near as successful as he or the fans would have wished, but that was only ever part of his job.
The main bit, leaving the club in a better state than when he inherited it, means that history will be kind to Daniel Levy. He will never be seen in the same light as Bill Nicholson or Danny Blanchflower (who arguably created the identity of the club, even if we have failed to reach the same heights ever since) but in terms of impact on the club’s fortunes nobody has done more.
Whoever comes next has big shoes to fill and I hope that once the dust settles Daniel can enjoy our future success on the pitch as a fan, safe in the knowledge that he laid the foundations for it at the beginning of the 21st Century.
Owen, Sydney
…You’ll probably get a lot of these, but here’s my hat in the Daniel Levy ring..
…He gets a lot of flak but IMO he’s done us well – we were shocking throughout the nineties – on the pitch and off it, points deductions, fines, cup expulsions, two very very close relegation scares (I know 17th last year isn’t great on paper but there was no danger of relegation in reality), so hopefully with hindsight his tenure will be looked upon more kindly – this will be our 7th Champions League campaign (8th if Harry hadn’t let the 10pt lead to the arse slip in 2012) and we’ve had the same again in Europa League campaigns (numbers are reliant on my memory, apologies if i’m out on these), and two trophies might probably have been three if Poch had the nerve to bench Kane in Madrid.
We’ve gone from bobbing between mid table and relegation playing some utter dross under the likes of Graham and Gross to some phenomenally fun to watch sides made possible by great signings – the Jol team of Berba/Keane up top scoring for fun, Harry’s team of Bale, Modric, VdV et al that tore up that champions league campaign, the Bale solo show under AVB, Poch’s team that put together more points across 2015/16-2016/17 than any other and then that 2019 CL final run.
I’d say the starting elevens Levy has brought have always been great, he’s just never quite brought the right squad players, but it could also be said that is a harder ask. Some of the appointments haven’t always worked out and some of the sackings were harsh but we’ve made Europe in two thirds/three quarters of his tenure, and half of that in the CL, which, growing up watching in the nineties I’d have never thought possible, we’ve brought in players who were a joy to watch; too many to name here, but you know them, and made us financially stable without oil money, which only three other clubs have managed, so he’s leaving us in a great place, so for that, I’m thankful; cheers Daniel.
Jerome, Bristol Spur
…D’you know what? Daniel Levy did a remarkable job at Spurs. Never mind all the facility improvements and trophies won in aeons and how he always negotiated excellent deals, he got everyone to recognise Tottenham as THE top 4 club in England.
Look, it was always us as number 1, then United came and we became the big 2. Arsenal under Arsene big 3. And then Spurs… for all their Spursiness were first recognised as the fourth powerhouse in modern English football.
That takes a lot.
Hell I still don’t know how they cracked a Super League invite.
Hats off to Levy. He’s earned his yacht.
Wik, Pretoria (Kudus = Africa’s best at the moment), LFC
Not reading the room
Daniel Levy has gone!!!!
We might behave like a big club again!!!!!
COME ON YOU SPURS!
Dave, (time to PARTY!) Winchester Spurs
Mikel Arteta has spent absolutely nothing
Please…stop
I’m getting sick of this now. Yet more nonsense peddled by Mick T on Thursday morning about Arteta spending £1bn.
Arteta hasn’t spent a penny. It’s not his money, it’s the Kroenkes’ and the model that Arsenal use involves a sporting director and whilst Arteta will have input, he won’t have the final say on how much to bid to get the deal done.
If the club decides to spend that money, it’s the club and the owners decision, not Arteta’s.
It’s a tedious and weird trope that no one else seems to be judged on. Chelsea have spent significant sums of money but it’s not Maresca spending it. If anything, there is sympathy for Maresca having to deal with all these players
If you don’t like the fact Arteta doesn’t like to lose big games or he’s worked out a way of scoring goals that has been around in football for over a hundred years, that’s fine. Shout at the clouds about it. But don’t sit there and just make up stuff to get angry about. There’s enough of that going elsewhere in the world.
Stew
Arteta IN
Damola, couple of things: Technically, you already did listen to me, but I get your point.
I want Ickle Mikel to stay, if he goes it would ruin my annual game of ‘which match will be the first which Arteta DOESN’T claim they dominated’.
Like I said, I think he’s a very good manager, just not an elite one. That may change, but I doubt it. You do realise comments from Slot, Slobberchops, and Pep are pats on the head because they are completely relaxed about Ickle Mikel and his lightbulbs, right? Why you are giving credence to comments made by Daniel Farke is puzzling, but okay.
I’ll not address the bits about Arteta being one of the most in demand managers, and that Edu suddenly isn’t very good now he doesn’t work for Arsenal, mainly because I imagine you’re sore from the paddling BTL have already given you here.
Oh, and the that KSA will strike back mail, if they were arsed, Isak would still be there, along with a bunch of other stellar signings because a) good luck in a legal battle with PIF over FFP, and b) they would have already have sold a shit load of their own stuff to themselves a la Chelsea/Villa.
As I’ve said before on these hallowed pages, The Mags are just one wing of their sports washing project, and boxing is currently a lot easier to leverage, given it is governed and run by crooks like the governing body who gave Pacman a licence in 2025, and promoted by greedy nepo baby glorified barrow boys like Hearn.
RHT/TS x
Arteta IN for different reasons
I’ve been satisfied with Arteta. As a beginner he’s done well. Of course He’s made mistakes like all managers do. Starting Martenelli v Liverpool may look wrong but not when one studies Martenelli’s record v Liverpool is understandable.
Now, people saying Arsenal were negative and killed the game must ask themselves why Liverpool couldn’t capitalise on that in open play? It took a brilliant freekick to divide two ‘equal’ teams (considering Arsenal were missing important players).
I find it strange to be reading article after artcle about teams’ net expenditure There’s more to buying and selling than what is published and revealed.
Going back to my initial comment about Arteta, I really hope he gets his paws on elite trophies so people can step down from criticising him (that’s both Arsenal fans and non Arsenal fans). He has a full squad now so it’s time to succeed!
A number of Arsenal fans are calling for him be replaced. If so, I say, give him a couple of more seasons. Ironically, I wouldn’t have minded Frank as a replacement. Another good manager to consider is Glasner!
Oh well, three games in and Liverpool have already won the league and Arsenal are a bunch of miserable losers.
Chris, Croydon
…I’m an Arsenal fan with an obvious bias in favor of Mikel Arteta, but even with that in mind, I remain serially flabbergasted by the frequency and intensity of the hatred for the man that seems to exist with the English football media AND among fans, including many that write into the mailbox.
If I had a dollar for each time I’ve read or heard criticisms of the man based on casually stated mistruths, then I’d have been able to retire and pay someone to read the mailbox at least 3 seasons ago. If this trend had started in response to his and the club’s behavior surrounding the “formerly unnamed defensive midfielder” that played far too long for Arsenal, then I’d understand the tone of the criticism.
It’s almost as if people love projecting their preexisting biases onto people they don’t know and barely pay attention to… and that’s fine by me. I’d just like to suggest that it’s enough to dislike Arteta because he’s made a club that used to be a bit of a laughing stock competitive again. It’s enough to dislike him because he’s associated with Arsenal. Using Arteta as an example of “bad sportsmanship” as part of yet another boring “this means more” rant is just silly.
Seriously. You don’t need any additional reasons and you certainly don’t need to make shit up, take quotes out of context, or take your talking points from Arteta’s former peers that seem to harbor some jealousy over the fact that he got his first head coaching job without “paying dues” or whatever upset them back in 2019.
That was a relatively comforting piss directly into the wind, but small comfort is still comfort.
Deen (AFC, USA)
Arteta would not be employed by elite European clubs
I think a lot of the criticism of Arteta, mostly from outside the club, from non-Arsenal supporters or from, you know, that guy in the mailbox is misplaced. Winning the Premier League is really really hard, you can see incremental progress year on year, and coming 2nd three years in a row is not a failure. But for Damola, AFC Berlin to say
If Arteta left Arsenal today, he would be the most sought after manager in Europe. No arguments
is just unhinged. Because Real Madrid, Barcelona, Bayern, PSG etc don’t want incremental progress year on year. They want glory and prestige right now this minute, and a manager who does not win at least one of the national league title or European Cup every season is going to get sacked at the end of that season. Arteta isn’t that guy. He simply doesn’t have the CV they would be looking for. And Damola knows this BECAUSE HE PUT HIS CV IN HIS EMAIL!
Arsenal are easily the most high-profile club in world football that Arteta could realistically be considered as their manager, and that might simply be because he’s the incumbent. Turn that statement around, Damola: is Arteta the most high-profile manager that a club like Arsenal, the sixth or seventh richest in the world, in a sought-after location and a history of success, could realistically expect to attract? In a world where Everton have appointed Carlo Ancelotti?
Dara O’Reilly, London
Manager chat that eventually lands on Amorim
Like many of us, I work in an office and have worked with a lot of people in various organisations. There have been some good people and my god a lot of useless ones who just about know or do enough to get by. Sometimes they’re unsuited to the team, and sometimes they’re just useless.
Picking managers is among the most important decisions organisations make. It is they that set the tone, manage the people below them, keep morale high and ideally make the right requests to those above them. Yet the same challenges remain, and success often depends on those doing the recruiting.
It strikes me that any expectations that club managers (and indeed players) are somehow different is fairly silly.
The basic facts must be that only a small percentage of managers are actually any good or good at more than one specific thing (like spending money well, developing good harmony amongst the squad, keeping teams focused on success through change, fighting relegation, coaching the best out of players, developing innovative tactics or approaches, getting promoted etc). Some will be good at multiple things, others just one or two.
Big Sam had a very specific skill set but you wouldn’t put him in charge of a club with ambition. On the flip, Pep is brilliant at the top end of the game but I wouldn’t necessarily want him in a relegation dog fight. The key is to have those skills aligned with the goals and capabilities of the club.
So, what do you do if your club is somewhere between relegation and ambition?
You could go all in on getting someone who ticks aspiration boxes and support them with players, like with Nuno. But if it goes wrong, you’re screwed. Or you recognise where you are, and prefer to dig in and guarantee security even if it clips some of your wings of aspiration, like Moyes at Everton.
So we return to Old Trafford. The exact nature of Amorim is as yet unknown, but we can safely agree that he’s not someone good for a battle at the wrong end of the table. He is inflexible, requires specific kinds of players for his tactic to work, and even then it’s unknown if it will work in this league. Time will tell (although the signs aren’t great).
He bought a lot of players at Sporting over 4 years for a return of 2 leagues and 2 cups, which sounds great, but it’s interesting to note that he had the second highest spend, and the highest net spend (by a fair way) of the big 4 there, in the league during that time. United certainly can’t match that right now.
And what of United? Is the squad as bad as last year suggested? Seems unlikely considering the previous years. Maybe it’s just a bad fit. If there is a positive to take from the appointment, it’s that it’s at least a punt towards the stars (appointing Southgate would have been an acceptance of being a “nearly” team at best).
The only question is whether he’s an Arteta (consistent “nearly” man), a Klopp (occasional success), a Pep (consistent success) or one of those many others who no one remembers.
He’s definitely not a Sir Alex.
Badwolf
(No, you sit down)
A broader manager question
Overheard on one of what I perceive to be amongst the more credible football podcasts around, supposedly Erik ten Hag chastised his players in the dressing room after losing their most recent match which (presumably as final straw) cost him his job. During the bald manager’s hairdryer at his players, apparently he’d said something along the lines of them playing like children when they’d needed to play like men.
Among the no-doubt many factors for ETH’s dismissal, this specific comment was flagged by the podcast as being noted by the club, with implication the comment was “provocative” and, might be (or also might not be, it’s not entirely clear) a factor taken in consideration of his sacking. Also unclear was whether it was the club that found the comment provocative, the podcast did, or both.
Conducting my own survey here (possibly to crickets), but can anyone explain to me the nature of the provocation. I reckon ETH is a truly awful manager, I really do. I don’t know him, so I couldn’t fairly opine here if I thought he was a modern dinosaur or just brusque and dry, but I could totally believe he’d lose a dressing room faster than the average guy. Still, I just want to know where the provocation in that comment is.
I want to know not because I’m disingenuously anti-woke or trying to create any other kind of provocation; I genuinely want to know, as one man’s survey on the world, whether saying that specific thing to a room full of footballers is, a) flat out unacceptable, b) borderline, depending on a bunch of stuff, or c) actually not so bad in the light of day. Or… d) I misunderstand or I’m over the top, and let’s not parse the definition of provocative. 🤷♂️