Being honest I think that in a neutral scenario, saying neither Ole nor Arteta had managed United or Arsenal I think being assistant to Pep would had a bigger weight than Ole’s career.
Hypothetically who would you pick, if neither had any attachment to your club, a manager who relegated Cardiff and had a good/decent career for 8 years or so as manager in Norway or the assistant of one of the greatest managers in history for the last 3 years?
Now its been proven that it counts for shit but at the beginning it was something.
Arteta got his job based on:
- Former Arsenal player
- Pep thinks he could be a good assistant manager for Manchester City
- He has watched Pep be a manager for three years (you don't automatically aquire skills from watching)
- Interveiws
Ole got the job based on:
- Former Manchester United legend
- Experience as a manager for youth teams, Molde and Cardiff (showing for example that he is a good man manager, can develop youth players, can win the league, can take his team through bad stints, can dominate teams, etc)
- Succcessfull period as interim manager (good results, squad believe in him, his philosophy aligns with the club)
- Played for SAF for several years (knowing the culture of the club in its most successfull period)
- Popular with fans
- Interviews
I think hiring Arteta was definitely more risky, though both appointments should be categorized as risky. I think more people were more surprised Arteta got the job than Ole (after his successfull interim period). Both teams probably felt it was time to take a risk after previous safe appointments didn't work out. Risk it to get the biscuit.
Of course Ole would not get the job in any other big club, as the attachement to the club played a big part. That doesn't mean it shouldn't play a part. Its also probably why Pep and Zidane got their job (and had immidiate success). Pep did an amazing job in Barcelona, but I don't think many other big clubs would have hired him before that, and I don't think he would have been successfull in for example Cardiff. There are different requirements to manage big and small clubs. To be relevant for other big clubs Ole would probably have to take smaller step like Haaland.
For curiosity, were do you draw the line? At assistant manager? What about player? Would any ex-Pep player be better suited to manage Manchester Unted than Solskjær? They have obviously seen how Pep work both on the training ground and in the dressing room? What about a Bayern Munich fan who closely followied Pep and wathched all his games in Germany? Would he/she be more qualified? If so, why doesn't it count that Solskjær played for SAF for several years?