Since last summer Ivan Gazidis has been busy preparing the new management setup in preparation for taking Arsenal forward when Arsene Wenger decided to call it a day, and I must admit that I think most of us Gooners are very pleased with his efforts, especially with Unai Emery being the cherry on the cake.
now that the final piece of the jigsaw is in place, Gazidis is certain that Arsenal and the players can only improve from here onwards. “All of our players will respond to the new energy that Unai brings.” Ivan said. “They will have somebody under whom they can improve their individual games and their collective game. If they embrace those challenges then the players we have today can be more successful in the future. I don’t think anybody believes that sixth place is a place that a club the stature of Arsenal should be in. We need to look to improve that. How big a rebuilding job that is, is a discussion that we’ve started with Unai and a discussion that will continue. The ambition is to be in a position to be a candidate to win the biggest trophies in England and the biggest trophies across Europe. We’ve got to understand that that’s not just going to be done in one leap. It’s the result of focus, hard work, discipline, energy, commitment, will to win. That’s what we need to do.
“The players will embrace it and I strongly believe the energy Unai can bring with his qualities, they will embrace that as well. The challenge we have is very big. I’ve always said it’s the biggest challenge this club will face: to transition from one of the giants of the game in Arsène Wenger – and I maintain that. This is not an easy process. We’ve spent a lot of time building to this moment. It is not just about the last month or six weeks of the process around identifying recruiting Unai. It’s really been an ongoing process for a couple of years, building up the capabilities of the club: from the facilities to what we do with strength and conditioning, fitness, medical, psychology, analytics, scouting – all of these support services.
“This year, with the addition of Sven Mislintat as head of recruitment and Raul Sanllehi as head of football relations, we are working in a different way than we’ve worked in the past. It’s going to be a team effort to support Unai’s vision, supporting his energy finding ways we can help him to be successful.”
We certainly do have a top management team in place, and now we just need to see if the players can respond in the same way to up their game under the new coach. If they don’t I have a feeling that they will not be treated with the patience that Wenger gave them.
I am actually starting to feel very positive about next season for a change!
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