Sunday Mirror (Northern Ireland)
Arsenal had no direction and a lack of talent
GUNNERS HEAD OF DEVELOPMENT MARCEL LUCASSEN BLASTS STATE OF THE CLUB WHEN HE JOINED IN 2018
MARCEL LUCASSEN, the Dutchman recruited by Arsenal to discover a new generation of stars for the Gunners, has revealed how he found a club in crisis when he arrived at the Emirates.
In a damning indictment, Lucassen admitted he could not believe the mess he inherited when he agreed to become the director of coach and player development in the summer of 2018.
“Before I started, Arsenal had told me that we had to build everything from zero,” said the 56-year-old.
“But when I started the job, I told (academy boss) Per Mertesacker that this information was not correct. We were not starting from zero – but from two below zero!”
Mertesacker had played a key role in Lucassen’s appointment – although the German was still to officially complete his own move from player to the club’s technical staff. Lucassen prevailed from a list of 90 candidates lined up by headhunting specialists Nolan Partners.
But he was dismayed by what he found when he arrived.
In an interview with Dutch football magazine Voetbal International, Lucassen said: “In my first month, I asked 20 different people at the club to describe the ‘Arsenal Way’.
“Everybody spoke about it, but no one could answer my question. Three people just said ‘it’s the passing game’.
“I’d worked with other clubs where the objective was for a player to pass to someone else in the same colour shirt, so what was unique about this Arsenal philosophy?
“They had all kind of academy plans, but nothing was based on a proper football philosophy or playing style.”
Lucassen added: “There was a lack of quality in certain age groups and I saw very few players with the potential of Champions League level.
“The problem we are dealing with is that the philosophy after the Arsene Wenger (above) era has not been developed. You can see this in the passing. Players make passes just because they think they have to pass the ball.
Another problem was that youth teams had lots of technically gifted midfielders and no wingers.”
When Arsenal sacked Unai Emery last November and Freddie Ljungberg came in as interim manager, the Swede wanted Lucassen to be his assistant.
“It was impossible because I was not well at the time and so Mertesacker was the alternative,” said Lucassen. “Recently I spoke to Ljungberg about that period and he said that he regrets not listening to me in a number of situations. I said that is part of his learning curve as a manager.
“The majority of football managers don’t have a clue what they are doing and try to cover that with a lot of words.”
He added: “Bukayo Saka is the best example of what we want at Arsenal. He has the potential to become one of the best three wingbacks in the world and I think Arteta can help in that process. Talents like Saka, Reiss Nelson, Eddie Nketiah, Emile Smith-Rowe and Joe Willock should all benefit from him.”