Ian Holloway questions Arsenal decision-makers, tells all about chat with Wenger and tips Gary Neville management return

In an exclusive interview with Ladbrokes: Fanzone, former Blackpool and QPR boss Ian Holloway talks about Arsenal, Jurgen Klopp and potential replacements for Gareth Southgate as England manager.

Click on the link for part one in which he discusses the troubles at Everton.

Arsenal should have moved Wenger upstairs and brought in Arteta sooner

Anything can happen in the second half of a season, but you can only admire the job Arsenal have done so far. I’ve got to give credit to the board, they’ve been patient and stuck with Mikel Arteta and look where’s it’s got them.

You could look back in hindsight and wonder why Arsenal didn’t take Arsene Wenger away from the job a little sooner, brought him upstairs and put someone like Mikel in charge, a bit like what Liverpool used to do. But everyone associated with that club has bought into what Mikel is doing here and now. Well done to the board, honestly.

Mikel’s a brilliant young man, very articulate, and he’s worked with the best manager in the world – he knows all the secrets from Pep Guardiola. They had a tough time, but he’s put a lot of trust in his youngsters; they’ve got through it and the fans are loving it right now. The harmony within that team right now is thanks to the board. Other clubs can look at that and learn a lot. Chelsea are an absolute nightmare, and Watford are probably the worst culprits for changing managers and blaming the one bloke in charge all the time.

Arsenal are absolutely flying and I love to see it. They’re playing incredible football and it’s not going to change any time soon because all of the players he’s bringing in are made for that style. Well done to everyone involved there, seriously.

I think it’s just between them and Man City now, to be honest. Will Man United sneak into a title race? Probably not – they needed to win at the weekend. They gave it a good go, but even that game in itself is a great example of how much those young lads at Arsenal are learning, constantly. They fell off at the back end of last season, but I really believe that’s helped them this year. It’s a joy to watch at the moment. They’re one of my favourite teams to watch, I’d love to be at the ground to soak up the atmosphere the fans have created there.

It’s a wonderful club with so much history, but they’ve had to be patient in recent times. Some of their young supporters haven’t seen success yet, so let’s hope Mikel brings it to them.

Wenger asked me something after pumping us 6-0, and I didn’t have an answer for him

Blackpool’s game against Arsenal in 2010 is one I’ll always remember. It was the second game of the season, away from home again off the back of a 4-0 win away at Wigan. We went and lost the game 6-0, but I remember Gary Taylor-Fletcher had a chance early on which would have put us 1-0 up, and it’s one which he normally would have put away.

I was so devastated by that result. I wanted Arsene Wenger to look at my team and see me as a manager who could come to his place and bring our game to them. Unfortunately things didn’t pan out that way and we ended up making a mistake early doors which saw Ian Evatt give away a penalty and get sent off, so from that moment it was pretty much game over. We played about 60 minutes at the Emirates with 10 men, 2-0 down. It was an absolute pasting in the end. We were lucky they didn’t get 10.

It wasn’t just possession with Arsene; he used to talk about possession and progression. Any time any of their players picked up the ball in a pocket of space, they’d look up and head towards our goal…all of their players. We couldn’t cope with it; their players were so quick. They were in a crossing position time after time before we could even blink. It really was quite alarming, but we learned a lot from it.

I talked to my boys about it afterwards. I thought the red card and penalty were harsh on Ian, so I let him off. I made them believe we were hard done by, and I showed them the positives from the game.

That season, we were able to go toe-to-toe with 13 different teams and take points from them, which was quite remarkable for a team that – if you listened to the newspapers at the time – were going to go down as the worst team in Premier League history – a laughing stock. We ended up with 39 points, and I really thought we proved to people that you could go away from home and have a go.

At the end of the day, we weren’t quite good enough that season. I wasn’t quite good enough. But it was a joy, and what you have to do in those moments is try to learn from the best. Mr Wenger asked me a very pointed question after the game that I couldn’t answer, while I was having a glass of wine with him.

“What do you do if you can’t dominate the ball?”

I’m scratching my chin, thinking about it, and I didn’t have an answer for him, other than:

“Probably lose 6-0!”

We laughed, but two years later I told him what I’d do. I’d study the opposition’s passing lanes, cut that off, win it back and counter attack. Unfortunately that wasn’t what my Blackpool team at the time had been trained to do, but it’s about constantly learning and soaking up that experience from the best in the game. The only downside is that I wasn’t able to surround myself with the Wengers of the world for long enough in my career.

I’d love to go for a pint with Jurgen Klopp

Over recent years, there’s only really been two stand-out managers I’d want to be playing for if I were a Premier League footballer: Jurgen Klopp and Pep Guardiola. I just think they’re both geniuses at what they do, and they do it in their own ways. The way Klopp can make his players feel, the way he’s there for them, the way he hugs them at the end of the game –  it’s all just so genuine with him.

And then obviously with Pep, I believe he’ll have won more trophies than any other manager we’ve ever seen by the time he’s done with it all.

But right now, I’d like to be in the Arsenal dressing room. They’re the up-and-coming thing. Man City have done it all before and I believe they’ll win it again this year, I really do. But Arsenal might get there, they might manage it. And that in itself must feel fantastic for everyone associated with the club.

If I could go for a pint with any manager in the Premier League, though, that would have to be Klopp. I’d imagine he’d be more up for a chat with me than Pep would be, because Pep’s so serious all the time, he’s there, he’s on it, he’s at it. Klopp, particularly how things are at the moment, with all of the injuries to his players and losing Sadio Mane, I’d be fascinated to speak to him and I’d have so much to talk to him about.

It’s just the man. I think he’s absolutely marvellous, without even knowing him! I’d love Kenny Dalglish to come along as well, because he’s an absolute hero of mine.

Next England manager? I want to see Gary Neville back in a dugout

Gareth Southgate has done such a great job as England manager. What he’s done over the last few years makes me very proud of my country. Jude Bellingham has got to be one of the best midfielders I’ve seen in a long time, and I wasn’t really that sure about him until Gareth believed in him and this World Cup came along.

As for life after Gareth, we’ll have to wait and see. If it was right now, Eddie Howe would have to be in there. I think Steve Cooper deserves a mention but he’s Welsh, so he should get the Welsh job. You can’t play an Italian up front for England, so why should you have one sat on the bench? International football should be all about what you have in your country, where you come from, and how good you are.

Graham Potter has got to be up there, but I’d also be looking at the likes of Frank [Lampard] and [Steven] Gerrard, getting them in and training them up. They’re fantastic people, treat them a bit like we saw with Gareth, and train them through things. Why not?

Really I’d love Gary Neville to have another go at management, I honestly would. Maybe not as England manager but I think he’d be incredible, with a group of English-speaking players. I think he’d be brilliant at it. He makes total sense to me sometimes, and I’d love him to give it another go because he talks like a coach.

I don’t want Frank, Stevie G or Gary Neville to be thrown under the bus because I think they’ve got so much to offer the game as coaches, rather than pundits. These guys need to be there in the dugout. Imagine what Rio Ferdinand could do with a team? They probably earn too much doing what they’re doing now, so I suppose you’d ask why they’d want to put themselves through the stresses of management. But I don’t understand the game sometimes. We need the brains of these young lads to help the next generation of players coming through.