If we don‘t count in Manchester City, which are ruling the Premier League in recent years, and who finished either first or second in England since 2017, Arsenal comes as second, if we talk about the most improved teams. One only has to look the last two seasons, when the Gunners not only finished second, but also were credible title contenders until the very end. Before that, Arsenal finished fifth (2021/22) and two consecutive seasons finished in eight place (2020/21 and 2019/20). So the works of Edu is quite visible. Former Gunners midfielder returned to the north London in July 2019 as the club’s first technical director and has been promoted to sporting director.Nottingham Forest and Olympiacos owner Evangelos Marinakis wants to make Arsenal director, Edu Gaspar, CEO of his portfolio of clubs. pic.twitter.com/sFqFhbyxoi— Transfer News (@TransfersLlVE) August 6, 2024 The Brazilian spoke to “Men In Blazers“ in the USA, where his team is playing in pre-season (2-1 defeat from Liverpool), and revealed his football philosophy and his hard work to turn Arsenal around. “You have to be very strong on your ideas, what you believe, what is good for the club, what is good for the future of the club. For me, there are some elements in football which I will always give a lot of attention. When I joined, I looked at the squad balance, the positions, the age of the group. There are three elements that you have to be really aware of. First of all, we have to see the age of the player. Then you have to see the salary of the player. And third you have to see the performance of the player. If you have a player over 26 or 27 years, you need attention. If his salary is high, you need attention. And if he is not performing, you are dead“ explained the Brazilian. Former Gunner advised current Gunner to leave the clubEdu came to the Emirates in 2019 and found out that all of this three elements were no good.“When I came to Arsenal, I saw all the squad, with respect, almost everyone was over 26, 27, on big salaries and not performing. If you have those three elements, which club in the world wants to come here and buy one of our players? No-one. So how do you deal with that situation? You have to be strong and sometimes you have to make decisions. You can go strong and try to let those players go or your project is going to take, instead of three or four years, maybe seven, eight or nine. Then unpopular decisions started to come. Because most of the players that have those elements, they have a fanbase and a media that love them. But for the club it is not healthy sometimes to keep the player in that situation“ explained Edu.Why Arteta doesn’t trust youngsters?So, he decided to build a totally new team, knowing that it‘s the only way to succeed. “When I started I saw every single player in the squad with those three characteristics. Then I said: “Guys, we have to clean this squad, with all my respect, to build a new foundation here. From that foundation, we need to sign younger players, on lower salaries, with better futures, who are hungry to take us where we want to go“ said Edu. So far, his philosophy works for the Gunners. As of March 2024, the average age of Arsenal’s starting 11 in Premier League games in 2023-24 was 25 years and 62 days, making the Gunners the league’s third-youngest team. ##NAJAVA_MECA_8257981##
