Well it looks like revolution at Arsenal continues with two new very interesting additions to our management set up. The Gunners have added two very experienced managers to oversee the development of our youths and coaches.
The first is the highly experienced Dutchman Marcel Lucassen, who used to work for the German FA, where he had responsibility for the individual technical and tactical development of the German national youth teams. And we all know how successful the Germans are at international football…
This is how the official Arsenal website described his appointment…
Marcel Lucassen joins us as head of coach and player development, responsible for all coaches and teams from under-9s to under-23s.
He joins from Al-Nasr FC in Dubai where, as technical director for the past three years, he has overseen the club’s youth academy and supported the UAE Federation in the development of their national coach education programme.
We also have Lee Heron arriving from Reading, who will be working with the younger players as well. During his 15 year stay at Reading, Herron has helped the club produce a constant supply line of talent which his seen youngsters progress from the academy to represent the first team. The likes of Gylfi Sigurdsson, Shane Long and Hal Robson-Kanu are just some of the players he has helped nurture and turn into international stars. He will be able to share his long experience with Per Mertesacker who will be in charge of the Academy players in the coming season.
We also welcome Lee Herron to the academy as our head of academy football operations. Lee joins us after 17 years at Championship club Reading, where he has been a key figure in making their academy one of the most effective in the game. He has been Reading’s academy manager since 2016.
Ivan Gazidis had already said that they wanted the new manager to keep up our tradition of bringing youngsters through and it looks like they mean business. We can expect a lot more “one-for-future”s arriving I expect!
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