Loss of Jonker leaves Gunners still searching for Brady replacement
HOW do you replace a man like Liam Brady? That is what Arsenal tried to do when they appointed Andries Jonker to run the academy in 2014, recruiting him from VfL Wolfsburg where he was assistant manager. Less than three years on, with Jonker heading back to Wolfsburg, Arsenal must accept that they failed.
The timing of Jonker’s departure was a surprise but it had been clear for some time that his tenure at the head of the Arsenal academy was not working, that he did not have the capital required to truly impose himself on the role.
Results are certainly not everything in youth football but they are not nothing either, especially when Jonker had lost the support of Arsene Wenger, the academy staff and the youngsters themselves. Jonker’s departure is inconvenient for the club, but not exactly devastating news.
Jonker was brought in to close the gap on the big-spending academies of Chelsea and Manchester City but the reality of the last few years is that the gap was widening, not narrowing. Chelsea have won the last three FA Youth Cups, beating City in the last two finals, and Arsenal cannot break that stranglehold. They were knocked out of this year’s competition by Blackburn Rovers last December, a disastrous result given the gulf in resources between the teams.
In the UEFA Youth League, Arsenal have not made much of an impression under Jonker, failing to get out of the group stage this season. In the Under-23 league Arsenal are at least now in Division One but their Under-18s are still underperforming in their own league.
When Jonker arrived at Arsenal in the summer of 2014 he was optimistic about his ability to change how the academy worked. He wanted to end the club’s policy of giving professional deals to talented youngsters as soon as they turned 17, forcing them to earn their way to lucrative deals instead. The reality of academy football though is that if Arsenal did not give these 17-year-olds deals then other clubs always will and so Jonker had to back down.
ENVIRONMENT
It became clear that Jonker did not, in fact, click with his Arsenal environment in the same way that Brady did. His Dutch frankness did not always go down well with players, staff or parents. There was a feeling that on many issues it was either his way or no way, when youngsters wanted more flexibility. Coaches did not feel as if it was the same positive working environment that it used to be.
Jonker, like any coach, brought in his own people but Frans de Kat returned to Holland to coach last year. Jonker’s big signing Donyell Malen has not yet proven to be much better than the players Arsenal already had. The Arsenal academy is working fine but it is no better than it was when Jonker took over in 2014. He could not leave much of an impression on it which, in part, is why he will not be desperately missed.