Impact of Edu departure

The most important factor in a club these days is the togetherness of the holy trinity.

Not, I am not talking about the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. I am talking about a football clubs Manager, Director of Football and Owner.

Whilst Edu has his criticis, mainly from fans who could not run a bath and have never negotiated for a house, he has been key in Arsenal’s revival. And perhaps even more important then his individual influence has been the way he has worked with Mikel Arteta and Josh Kroenke.

The 3 have pulled us out of the doldrums. Reinvigorated a club that felt it was on life support. And the most important factor in this has been the togetherness of the Senior Leadership Team.

Since the departure of Raul Sanllehi, Edu, Arteta and Kroenke Jr have worked together on all football matters, with finally Vinai Venkatesham and now Richard Garlick dealing with the commercial arm of the team.

Everyone knew their roles. there was no ego. No back stabbing. No self promoting. And the clarity of direction in the board room led to a clarity of direction on the football pitch.

Arsenal, Manchester City, Liverpool and Aston Villa are probably the 4 best run clubs in England right now. They are the ones whose leadership teams are pulling as one. Zero infighting.

Meanwhile Tottenham’s boardroom is in crisis. Manchester United’s in clueless. Chelsea’s is at civil war. And Newcastle and West Ham have individuals self-promoting themselves. Like those well run clubs rise to the top, those with issues often falter.

Whilst Edu’s skills as a sporting director might be replaceable, the relationship he has with both Kroenke and Arteta is unique and not easily replicable.

Off to Forest?

In the summer, Nottingham Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis spoke about how he wanted to poach Edu.

The Greek owner reportedly had high hopes for Edu, with rumours circulating that he would install the Brazilian as a sort-of CEO specialising in international football across all his endeavours.

Ultimately, Edu is an employee. And everyone who has worked for a company would have seen a senior colleague leave for a role on the next step of the ladder. Even if that ladder is at a smaller organization.

Whilst joining Nottingham Forest will be a step down in organization size, the job role Marinakis has him penciled in for is a more senior run. He would be running the entire football operation across multiple countries on behalf of Marinakis rather than just as a sporting director at Arsenal.

With the multi-club model becoming more and more popular, this is a step that could eventually see Edu return back up the table to the likes of a Manchester City or Chelsea overseeing their owners multi-club structure.

And I would imagine the new job comes with a huge payrise…

Shunned by Arsenal?

Arsenal appointed Richard Garlick as new Director of Football Operations back in January. It is a role that I am sure Edu had put his hat in for…

Being shunned for a job is not a good feeling, and can lead you looking for jobs elsewhere. Is this potentially what has happened to Edu?

He felt he was ready to take the next step up in his career. We told him there was a better candidate. Edu began looking for a new job. Again, if you think of this as normal work life, it is something that everyone will probably go through at some point.

Having had discussions with Marinakis over the summer (not illegal to have conversations with a potential new employer), he might have hit Arsenal with an ultimatum – pay me more and promote me or I am off. And if this is true, then Arsenal have shown him the door.

Garlick influence

When Edu came in, Arsenal were lacking “football men” in the boardroom. The majority of those running the club were more focused on finances and commercial deals than the pitch. Edu changed that.

Richard Garlick is a football man.

He spent over 8 years at West Brom before becoming the Premier League’s Director of Football. Garlick’s LinkedIn profile outlines his history in the game:

I held a variety of positions, including Legal Director, Club Secretary, Sporting and Technical Director and Director of Football Administration. I was appointed to the Board of Directors in 2010.

Responsible for all football administration matters at WBA and led on negotiations with players, intermediaries, clubs, head coaches and senior football staff.

The feeling at the club could now be that with a football man at the helm, we no longer need Edu.

Previously the man at the top of the tree (Vinai, Ivan), were business first. Meanwhile Garlick has all the skills of Edu and more!

We may well see Garlick absorb Edu’s roles into his own job, and then offset some of the commercial minded roles to Juliet Slott., the clubs Chief Commercial Officer.

That would see us focused on the football from the very top, rather than commercial first then football.

This does not mean garlic has pushed Edu out. More than the leadership structure has been potentially reviewed and a decision made that you do not need two people (Edu and Garlick) with a similar skill set capable of fulfilling a similar role.

Other runners and riders…

I have seen some mention Marc Overmars, but he is currently on a year long ban from all football activities. I am not sure if we would want to touch him.

If we are looking for a more junior person to take over some of Edu’s lesser responsibilities, then we might see Per Mertesacker promoted from Academy Manager. That way we would keep that strong link between Arteta and the board through the Big German!

Keenos

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