Former Liverpool icon and ex-Newcastle United manager Graeme Souness has admitted he has been left surprised by Arsenal's appointment of Mikel Arteta.
The Spaniard returns to the club that he left three years ago after retiring as a player, taking the reigns as head coach following three years as assistant to Pep Guardiola at Manchester City.
Highly-rated by the Premier League champions, the hope is that Arteta can become a great manager but Souness believes Arsenal should have appointed a more experienced candidate.
"It's a big risk. Being a good coach doesn't mean that you are a good manager. I would have thought they would have gone with someone with big experience," he told Sky Sports.
"I would suggest that Arsenal is a very different football club to the one he's been at.
"He would have learned from Pep. He won't have done the day to day management aspects before.
"The fact that they have gone for someone who has never been a manager before is a high risk.
"I would have liked someone that has been there before.
"Football doesn't change too much.
"It'll be interesting to see how he deals with that.
"They are one of the great clubs but they are a long way off that now."
