We have been talking about the unquatifiable “phases” that Mikel Arteta has been talking about since the beginning of his second season at Arsenal, and of course all Arsenal fans know that it was not long after Edu Gaspar joined Arsenal as the “technical Director” (when Unai Emery was the coach) that Emery was sacked a year later, and it seemed that Edu had decided that the club was in turmoil and had gone drastically awry since Arsene Wenger had left the club.
It now appears that Edu and Arteta had been having private discussions about how they had to come up with a plan to take Arsenal back to the very top once again, and these discussions came to a head when a replacement for Emery was needed, and then the talks with Arteta became to be the focus on the long term decisions needed to make those wishes become a reality.
Now, for the first time, Edu has revealed in an interview with MenInBlazers, how he and Arteta made these long term plans, and why the first thing on the agenda was to get rid of the high earning but underperforming stars were that were not a very good example to the few young stars we had left on the books.”Sometimes you have to make decisions that are not popular and popular,” he said. “You have to be very strong in your ideas, what you believe, what is good for the club, what is good for the future of the club and everything.
“So for me, there is some elements here in football which I will always be with a lot of attention. I always started to see the squad when I enjoyed or when I see the squads I started to the squad balance, the positions, the age, the group what we have but there are three elements here which for me you have to be really aware.
“First of all, we have to see the age of the player, and then you have to see the salary of the player and the third you have to see the performance of the player. So if you have a over 26, 27-years-old you need attention.
“If his salary is high, you need attention and if he’s not performing, you’re dead. Let’s come back, if you have a player 27-years-old, 28-years-old, big salary, but he’s performing you can accept.
“What you cannot accept is if you have those three elements and one of them went over 28 you start to be uncomfortable, it’s better for you to move on because maybe this player is blocking someone younger as an asset to help you. So, when I came into Arsenal, when I see all the squads with all my respect, almost everyone was almost 26, 27, biggest salaries not performing.
f you have those three elements, which club in the world want to come here and buy one of our players, no one. So how you deal with that situation when you have those situation in your hands, you have to be strong and sometimes you have to make decisions.
“So, or you go strong and try to make those decisions to let those players go or your project is going to take instead of three, four years it will take seven, eight, nine. Then unpopular decisions start to come, because most of the players watch, they have those elements sometimes in the club they a fan base, they have the media which love the players but for the club its not healthy to keep those players in that situation.”
We now know that they went for the quick fix to start their “phases” and as Edu said, they went for the 3 or 4 year plan, rather than the longer version, and they very quickly started dismantling the older age players, like Sokratis, Kolasinac, Lacazette, David Luiz, and of course the one with the biggest wage was the famous “Shirt Seller” Mesut Ozil, who seemed to be quite happy doing what he wanted while quietly building up his bank account without worrying about the fortunes of the club he was supposed to be working for.
Considering where Arsenal are right now, it would appear that their plans are coming to fruition, whether you think the way they went about was considered ruthless or not is what I will leave you to discuss….
Jack Anderson
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Edu is so right and I think we have to be strong , determine and ruthless to succeed in life and all we do. The Club took the right decision for the benefit of the happiest of the fan
Taken with the proper grain of salt.
That was a rotten bunch. They underperformed and din’t care. The disrespected the coach(Emery) with the good ebening nonsense. Good riddance.
Actually, it was the fans and certain people in the media who disrespected UE with the “good evening” nonsense.
Hang on, didn’t this combo give Aubameyang a £300k plus salary?
Didn’t they give Havertz a £250k a week salary?
What about Nketiah and Nelson on a £100k a week?
I thought we were in phase five now, not 1 to 4?
CL promised in three years, turned out to be no european football for the first time in two decades!!
Knocked out of the fa cup in rounds three and four.
Spending nigh on three quarters of a billion pounds since you got together and still haven’t won anything with your players!!
You’ve finally, after wasting money on the likes of Lokonga, Cedric, Willian to name a few, seem to have got it right, but please don’t try and whitewash your mistakes away as if they didn’t happen.
I’ll leave you to discuss the above points, while we await some trophies.
Auba was worth the money at the time the contract was given. Nketiah and Nelson’s salary is pure speculation. Harvertz is not a bad player. It a bit longer for him to settle and is doing ok upfront. They made mistakes but they have learnt from it. The champion’s league promise is between Mikel and Willian😂😂😂.
So point out, in Edu’s statement, where he admits to making mistakes.
I’ve given a list of things I believe he should acknowledge as such.
The CL promise was made to the fans and it didn’t include no european football!!
I’m more than happy where we are now, even if it’s taken another phase to get there, but let’s get the whole story and not the positive points.
By the way, I didn’t say Havertz is a bad player, I’ve said he’s one of MA’s success stories.
Purr speculation regarding Nketiah and Nelson?
Isn’t that the case with all the contracts? As with the one saying Ozil was on £300k plus a week – didn’t seem to worry folks claiming that was the case though!!
Aubemeyang had already broken club rules when he was awarded his new contract and the captaincy, but if you see it as a success story, so be it.
Ken clearly this was not a statement from Edu but an interview. I didn’t follow the interview so I don’t know for sure all the questions that were asked but have you considered that he wasn’t asked about the supposed mistakes? Was he supposed to bring up something the interviewer wasn’t interested in?
Imagine going to an interview,someone asks you what your name is and you respond by saying you have three kids. Even though it’s true you have three kids,that’s not what was asked.
It’s also possible that Edu talked about the shortcomings but whoever wrote this didn’t include it for whatever reason.
To everyone – Click on the link and you can listen to the interview….
Agree.
I have seen the interview and the criticisms are the usual stuff without context. As usual, Mr Ken comes up with his own particular set of issues much of which lacks perspective and feeds into a negative agenda which is prevalent amongst a certain set of fans.
Edu was asked a set of questions to which he gave clear and reasonable answers.
If people wish to query Edu they should ask him the questions. If they have an alternative solution or plan for progress they should present it.
Instead we have endless tirades set forth primarily to present Edu and Arteta in as poor a light as possible. This is in really bad taste particularly since most of the key decisions have helped Arsenal to progress to become one of the best sides in the PL and in Europe.
I disagree.
Tell me David, what have I said that lacks perspective and why should facts lead into negativity?
I’ve stated quite clearly that the last two seasons have been nigh on perfect, while the previous seasons weren’t.
Do you agree or disagree with that viewpoint?
The last two seasons have seen the key decisions propel us into touching distance with city115, but one of the best sides in Europe?
Not yet, as the poorest Bayern side in years proved.
But if you want to keep “bigging” everything up and have no complaints, I’m pleased for you.
Just one more very simple question for you to answer :
As a Arsenal supporter for over 70 years, why do you think I want to set forth primarily to present Edu and Arteta in as poor a light as possible?”
You made the accusation, now explain it!!
@David.
He has had a narrative that goes back to the 2020/21 season like all the others.
And a few weeks a ago I asked @Ken1945 to admit his own mistakes / sensationalistic stances on Arteta, Edu and their Decisions throughout the last 5 or so seasons..
It seems like Ken loves to demand that the likes of Edu, Arteta and those that have backed them at Arsenal admit / acknowledge their mistakes while he himself and his group find it nearly impossible to admit that they have been some of the wrongest people when it comes to their historical stances towards Arteta / Edu and the decision they have made.
The Hypocrisy and irony is all over the place.
Just read this piece of nonsense after replying to Onyango.
You asked me to “admit my mistakes” as point 1 of five that you promised to reply to once I gave my answer.
I did, including the acceptance that I was wrong about Odegaard for example…. guess what?
Not one answer came back to points 2,3,4 or 5 and here you are talking about hypocrisy and irony!!
You might belong to a “group” or a cult, but I have my own mind and opinion and don’t need to have a shoulder to lean on.
Why is it you need this prop of others when putting across your opinion?
Are you so weak that you can’t debate on a one to one basis and actually answer the points you say you would?!
What is the point of wasting time with someone who does that.
That’s all I have to say to you.
@Goonster
The usual group are already ganging up on ADA in another article. Why don’t you join there too as per the course?
It’s amusing none of the members of your group can stand on their own without the others coming in support.
HH, did you compile that list of players that Wenger “brought up and developed” and how much we paid for them on the Cheque book thread ?
Nicolas Anelka, Kolo Toure, the great Patrick Vieira, Ashley Cole, Gael Clichy, Kieran Gibbs, Cesc Fabregas, Laurent Kolscieny, Wojiech Sechezny, Jack Wilshere, Ainsley Maitland Niles, Theo Walcott, Aaron Ramsey, Oxlade Chamberlain, Armand Traore, Alexander Song, Francis Coquelin, Mathieu Flamini, Philipe Senderos, Rob Holding, Vito Mannone, Carlos Vela, Denilson, Emiliano Martinez, Niklas Bendtner, Emmanuel Adebayor, Emmanuel Eboue, Johan Djourou, About Diaby….
Just to mention few.
Yet HH, you left out the most important part, how much they cost 🙄
All 30+ players listed combined cost less than Havertz and half of them were from the academy.
And decent profit made
HH, apart from AMN and Gibbs, the rest were paid for.
So you give no credit to the Academy staff for their work with the kids then ?
When the kid is promoted to the first team it’s no longer academy coach job to develop them.
I won’t argue with you any further because you are not afraid to lie to pacify yourself.
HH, yes when they get selected for the first team it is down to the manager and he did a fairly good job with them, but without the coaches at the academy they wouldn’t have made the first team.
Who is arguing ? It’s a discussion as far as I’m concerned.
HH, lie ? Where exactly ?
@HD
About the whole thing. The fact that you are denying Wenger did not develop at least 40 young players that we know of, any further debate or argument is futile.
It’s impossible to debate with someone who argues against facts with his imagination.
HH, do have a comprehension problem ? I gave him credit once the players played in the first team 🙄
Nothing to do with imagination, it’s all about facts, something that you seem to be allergic to.
Edu statement was perfectly correct,
In football age matter a lot.
Onyango, please listen to the interview.
It is a very revealing and honest interview… up to the points that I’m making above.
Edu explains in great detail the plans that he, MA and the club set out to do and it all makes perfect sense… except that he doesn’t explain why or how it went wrong (see above) and he had the opportunity to do that but didn’t.
I’ve learnt a lot from the interview and have changed my views on certain things, such as MA being the sole and ultimate decision maker and why MA feels the need to admit to his mistakes, something I’ve spoken about and admired in his honesty before on JA.
In fact, he’s more honest than those supporters who see nothing wrong in what he’s done!!
If you take the interview as it was, there have been no mistakes, no reasons to explain why they happened and THAT’S why I questioned his replies.
It’s easy to talk about your plans and successes etc but don’t you want to know why they went wrong or didn’t produce the results that were claimed would happen?
My thoughts are that we saw a couple of sincere people who had little experience, take the club down to a level not seen for decades results wise.
But they learnt on the job and we can now see and witness the incredible results that they have produced these last two seasons… what I’m saying is please don’t, at the very minimum, gloss over the mistakes before that and I gave the examples of said mistakes as I see them.
Now, if that is not what one wants to read and accept, then I have no problem whatsoever as it’s only my opinion and I am entitled to it, just as each and every other Arsenal supporter is entitled to theirs.
I am looking forward to watching the club we all support go one step further this coming season and I will be giving my 100% support as usual – just don’t gaslight the way it was by not including the negative parts.
You started the gaslighting with your earliest comments sir, by calling out the players you did as their failures. Maybe the interview was not long enough to highlight all those, or maybe not. Was there any lie he said in that interview as quoted by the article? No is the answer. What then was your motive or agenda for pointing out the mistakes rather than talk about the success? That I question as I and some here aren’t unperceptive. We no Arteta’s and Edu’s flaws, I even mentioned a couple in one my earliest post. Your earliest comment unlike the article pointed us to their wrongs with no single complement to their good like the article suggested, that was were you got it wrong sir even though you tried correcting that partially with further comments. Maybe your first comment didn’t quite express all your thoughts that I can accept as your only excuse and not your further comment for justification.
Solwills, the interview gives enough praise as does the article itself – what more do you want, bells and whistles?!
There was not one sentence, sir, that discussed any negatives whatsoever and, as I’ve said before, if your happy not to acknowledge and discuss them, I’m more than happy for you.
Discuss about the interview and article. When there’s an article about their flaws likewise. Very simple, rather than totally ignore the article and only highlighting or reminding us of their flaws or past mistakes as your earliest comments suggests only if you will acknowledge the truth in what I have been trying to point out from the inception.
As I’ve said, the article and the interview gave all the credit one could have wished for… but, I ask you again, what was missing?
It’s as simple as that and you are doing the same by the way, by not acknowledging that there was not one word about any mistakes made.
Now, if you really want to read and agree that the club has, for the last five years, had a project that has been 100% on the ball, then I’m pleased for you.
I, on the other hand, would rather have it explained to me why the examples I’ve listed happened.
Nothing to do with a negative agenda,, just a thirst for knowledge about my club and a desire to have things explained to me…. in order that I understand and change my opinion.
Simple really, but if you see a conspiracy, then that’s your perogative.
Auba was worth the money at the time the contract was given. Nketiah and Nelson’s salary is pure speculation. Harvertz is not a bad player. It took a bit longer for him to settle and he is doing ok upfront. They made mistakes but they have learnt from it. The champion’s league promise is between Mikel and Willian😂😂😂.
Now now ken we must all buy into the narrative or else we’re not true gooners.🤦♂️
Sigh!! I guess your right BB.
I’ll try and do it in phases and not admit to any mistakes. 😖
At Ken, still trying to understand your motives here. Don’t know what you’re always on about. Sometimes it looks like you’ve got Mike’s and Edu’s back, sometimes neutral and at other time against with an agenda just like this post suggests. Your opinion, I agree. But what Edu said about our club 4 to 5 seasons is more than 80% true and not so hard to understand I am sure I which you do. Why bring up Auba when he was performing, our highest goal scorer and best player when that contract was handed over to him? And what did they do immediately when they noticed the next phase of his career? The answer is obviously in line with what Edu spoke about. They made a mistake which didn’t seem like one at the time as I recall some here also were clamoring for them to do whatever ever it takes to make a strong statement by keeping our best player and the epl highest goals scorer the previous seasons a fair gamble. Once they noticed it had gone in the direction not in line with their plan for the club, they accepted their error immediately and acted in line with what this article quoting Edu says. I could go on with the other players you mentioned but this is already a long read. Edu and Mikel are not above mistakes, just like we aren’t. But they have managed to fix this club by making more more than 70% more right calls than wrong. Look at who we are up against, City115. How long did it take them to get there? How much did they spend? Liverpool was able to beat them just once in the last 8 seasons while pushing them to even become better. That is what Arsenal is up against now, a team much better and more experienced than when Liverpool started challenging them. This team won the treble two seasons ago. I love watching Arsenal now, I can be critical to of Mikel and Edu but I never loose perspective and context. Have a lovely day.
My agenda, as you put it, is plain and simple.
Speak the truth, praise the successes and criticise the failures. Don’t try to kid the fanbase, have accountability and use the same methods for judging MA as was deemed right for previous managers.
Simple really and for the last two seasons, MA and Edu have hardly put a foot wrong…. in my opinion.
ken1945 👍👍
@Solwills
I can see that you are starting to put two and two together. Things are not adding up, are they.. Take your time and you will realise..
🤣🤣
@Goonster
They sure aren’t. But I think I can now see through the comments as I have been a detailed and quiet observer here in JA for years. Don’t always agree with Jon Fox and Ken1945 as I have a mind of my own and ready to point out flawed and disguised agendas when I deem fit. Like Ken1945 suggests.
*Ken1945’s comments implies*
Good for you Solwills, now please explain what you mean by “flawed and disguised agendas.”
If I had something to hide, why would I have come out so strongly?
Look forward to your reply.
It seems a lot of the credit we give Arteta for being ruthless might be a little misplaced or at least some of it is
Spot on and how this “ruthless streak” can be explained with the Willian debacle remains a mystery.
I should point out that it’s Edu who’s making this statement and not Mikel Arteta.
Thiago Motta just did it to Juventus by axing Chiesa, Szczesny, Melo, etc
I guess football managers and technical directors have some metrics/ calculations to measure players based on their ages, salaries and performances
OT: Mislintat was just threatened with dismissal at Dortmund after merely three months. This is the guy who recommended Aubameyang, Mkhitaryan, Lichtsteiner, Sokratis, Guendouzi and Torreira to Arsenal
Aubameyang wasn’t a bad player. Yes he has some attitude problem, but he was still a top striker in his prime.
He was a world-class striker and I’d never forget about his heroics in FA Cup, but his playing style and abilities didn’t fit into our high-possession football
@Jackson Anderson.
You did not do the full Honorary title. It’s “The Shirt Selling Genius”.
Not “Shirt Seller”. You sold him short on the honours.
🫡👌👍
And so it was not all a conspiracy concocted by the “Peoples Republic Of China”?
Edu and Arteta wanted to just get rid of all the underperforming scroungers and reset. Isn’t it?
😣
Well it was the TV company from the “Peoples Republic of China” that renaged on their payment for the PL rights just after the season restarted from covid. Up till the postponement of that season, Ozil had been heavily involved in the games.
The voice of reason once again HD.
The irony of it is, that you, I believe, have the same view about Ozil as he has, but he just cannot answer when facts are put to him.
I also notice that Ozil continues to live, rent free, in his head and nothing gives me greater pleasure 😂😂
Ken, I’ve never been his biggest fan, but when he deserved credit I gave it to him.
A little story for you. When Emery was appointed Head Coach, Ozil did a Q&A on twitter. I asked him if he will still be having his two mid-season breaks now there was a new man in charge ? The Q&A was immediately shut down 😂
Did you ever get on the Arsenal TV channel with Stewart Robson (I think it was him!!)?
I got on and asked why Eboie (sorry about the spelling) was wearing the shirt – it was something I regret having done to this day, as I’ve always tried to be positive about every player when they do wear the shirt.
What made it worse, was that Robson tended to agree with me!!.
I wonder how he’s getting on now?
No, I never went on his show. Never even listened to it.
I must say I liked Robbo as a player. Never shied away from a tackle and always gave 100%. One of my lasting memories of him was an evening game against Villa at Highbury. George Wood, our keeper was sent off and Robbo went in goal. Villa had a corner which Peter Withe met with a firm header at the back post and Robbo somehow managed to dive across his line and push the ball out just before it crossed the line.
Ozil gets a hard time when you consider none of the current squad have achieved what he hasn’t for Arsenal
Actually Dan, Arsenal haven’t won (achieved) anything since he left, but let’s hope that’s about to change this coming season.
I fully expect it to happen by the way, don’t you?
At this moment , no sadly
Think we need a proven striker and keeper makes too many errors
Need a striker or City to get a points deduction
Lol
Okay. Still holding onto that nonsensical conspiracy I see. Seems you are dying on that hill.
So did the Chinese communist government start laying their groundwork in advance back in 2018 before that twitter post was ever made in December 2019?
Because if I can remember correct Emery / Arsenal had first tried to force out the “Shirt Selling Genius” in 2018 but Emery failed.
But that was a clear message that the club had had enough of him. The next opportunity came during the Arteta / Edu tenure and this time they through with the mission of forcing him out.
But if the China conspiracy theory helps in soothing the pain then I will not force anyone to abandon that made up rubbish.
Reminds me of the way some individuals in the US having absolutely convinced themselves that the 2020 election was rigged and stolen from them by the Chinese communist, Socialist Venezuela led by the ghost of dead Hugo Chavez in favour of someone else.
Anyways, we can all believe whatever makes us feel nice and fuzzy on the inside but that won’t change the objective reality. Have to be backed up by tangible evidence and not just a hunch or instinct.
Cheers.
If the club were trying to force him out previously, they would’ve done, but he, like I posted played right up until covid. Once he came out with his statement about the Chinese Muslims, that was the straw that broke the camel’s back, as the old saying goes. That Chinese TV company refused to show our scheduled game after the restart of the PL and then renaged on their payment to the PL, resulting in not just The Arsenal, but every PL clubs losing millions of £s.
Btw, I was never his biggest fan, going back to his days at his hometown club Schalke 04 !
My view at the time was that Arteta thought that he could get back to the big time rather more quickly than actually happened. It was a mistake to put that out publicly as he made a rod for his own back and it is regularly put out there to remind him. I really thought that Arteta believed it was going to be a quick fix, because why say such a thing?
The reality was different. I thought the signing of Willian was a knee jerk reaction and it didn’t work. Luiz was a partial success but again it seemed to be an effort to get the quick fix, using experience and success at many levels.
My personal opinion – and it hasn’t altered – is that Arteta was shocked at times by what he saw. That could be his fault, but in equal measure there were definitely a few senior players who were not performing to a standard that could bring back success.
The old saying – Rome wasn’t built in a day – is a reflection of the time it took to ease players out, and bring players in and for many the wait was a bridge too far.
I understood Edu’s point of view regarding the requirements of each player that he and Arteta discussed as being quite a straightforward ideology. Age, ability and salary and how they mix together is logical. I would rather the phase/process has been thoroughly thought out and not a scatter gun approach that appears to have afflicted Chelsea and Utd. The idea is to put into place a long term plan (another p) that actually has a chance of building a solid foundation
Boehly and the Glazers, a match made in heaven.