EDU FIRES A WARNING TO ENGLAND: YOU MUST GIVE YOUTH A CHANCE
IT is 16 years since Edu swapped the Brazilian summer for the depths of winter at Arsenal but his interest in English football remains undiminished. He watches every Arsenal game and this year Brazil’s general manager was charmed by the England sides who won the Under 17 and Under 20 World Cups. ‘This is a big generation,’ Edu says, his smile broadening. ‘But the Premier League is so rich. You have a fantastic young midfielder in Phil Foden at Manchester City but there are two or three fantastic ones in his position. So, how can you play? How can you develop these guys? You have good players but to get better, they need to play in the first team. Clubs don’t look to the Under 17 guy because they go to the market.’ Edu’s priority for now is Brazil. Little by little, he is healing the scars of a calamitous semi-final exit at their own World Cup. Following Dunga’s exit in June 2016, Edu and head coach Tite were appointed. Brazil won 10 of their 12 qualifiers, finishing first — 10 points ahead of Uruguay. ‘Tite and I worried about the mentality,’ Edu explains. ‘People were thinking about Brazil in a way we didn’t like. When people look at Brazil, they should respect us for our present and for our history. We were missing that. The team were not close enough to the people. With all due respect, I don’t want to be the way English guys are. We are Brazilians. So let’s be Brazilians: friendly, laughing, talking. Some people cannot afford tickets for a game. So sometimes we open up training and let 50,000 people in for free. ‘Before, Brazilian players would not go into a hotel through the main doors. Why? Why do you want to go through the back door? People just want to see us. Now we go through the main doors. A kid breaks through and wants to see his hero. Let him do that. As a player, I tried to be nice to people. Say “hello”, it’s not hard.’ As Tite forged a winning formula on the pitch, Edu focused on marginal gains. He introduced a chartered flight from Madrid for all players travelling to Brazil
games from Europe. Brazil have had 14 captains since Tite took over. ‘We don’t want only one person feeling responsibility,’ says Edu. ‘Another example. We beat Uruguay 4-1 — rave reviews. But we had Paraguay next. We knew everyone thought Paraguay will be easy. Tite and I wouldn’t have that. Normally when we return, we have open training. I said to Tite, “We have to change the mentality and surprise the players”. We closed the session. The players were expecting the press and the fans. Nobody was there. It was serious. We then won the game. It was a little thing but the mentality is changing.’ It is a freezing cold afternoon in Knightsbridge. It is a long time since Edu signed for Arsenal as a 22-year-old in 2001, but memories are fresh. ‘So cold!’ The “Welcome to England” tackles arrived. ‘Sol Campbell,’ he winces. ‘Always Sol. Training in Brazil is lower intensity. Here it is bang, bang... but it’s nice. ‘But I was feeling sad. I lost my sister a week before I arrived. I was not in a good way. But I found a club and manager that worried about me as a person, rather than as a footballer. ‘Every day Arsene Wenger pulled me into his office. He wanted to check I was OK and check how my family were. He cared so much and it made me feel so good. I come to London once a year and always go to see him.’ Edu became close friends with Patrick Vieira. ‘Patrick... amazing. People want to sign another Vieira? Forget about it. Never. Patrick was one of the greatest. Better than Roy Keane. I have huge respect for Keane but Patrick was a more complete player,’ he says.