Attending a post-match mixed zone can be a fruitless task for a journalist. Players are obliged to file past their would-be interrogators, but not stop and chat. The majority, tired and understandably eager to get home, tend to keep their heads down.
In that context, the demeanour of Arsenal’s sporting director Edu was striking as he emerged from a lift in the Emirates Stadium mixed zone after the win over Bayer Leverkusen in pre-season. With a beaming smile, he oozed charisma as he greeted those waiting.
It was a glimpse of the interpersonal skills that have helped the former midfielder establish himself at director level. “A people person,” is how the former striker Alan Smith describes him. Edu, a close ally of Mikel Arteta, is a popular figure at every level of the club.
It is partly for that reason that his resignation, to take up a role with the network of clubs run by Nottingham Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis, comes as such a blow to Arsenal, where Edu has of course shown he is a lot more than an affable personality.
Since his return in 2019, initially as technical director, a few months before the appointment of Arteta, a process in which he was heavily involved, Edu has demonstrated considerable expertise in helping the club navigate a comprehensive and sometimes painful rebuild.
There have been mistakes as well as successes in the transfer market. Arsenal have recouped far less in sales than they have spent on signings. Ultimately, though, they are a team and a club transformed from where they were five years ago.
The progress is obvious and Edu has played a significant role.
He has backed Arteta but also challenged him. When discussing the overhaul of the squad in March 2022, and a level of upheaval described by the Arsenal boss as “unheard of”, Arteta smiled when asked if there had been any rows between the pair along the way.
“Not rows,” he said. “The good thing is that we have people who say what they think, then go away and work on it and present their reasons why, and that makes other people think.
“And the really important thing is that we decide whatever we decide on this table, then we leave the room, and it’s our decision. It’s not yours or mine, it’s our decision and we stick by it – even if we make mistakes.”
In the same interview, Arteta was eager to emphasise that the club’s decision-making process involves numerous others, including Arsenal’s Kroenke-family owners and board members. “Between all of us,” he added, “we have been very consistent and very united.”
Edu’s exit does not spell the end of that spirit of collaboration. “The plan and vision that starts with the ownership is very clear and very ambitious and we are going to continue,” said Arteta on Tuesday. It does, though, take the club onto unfamiliar ground and comes at a time when the side are stuttering on the pitch.
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Jamie Carragher explains why he thinks Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal are looking more like a Jose Mourinho team than a Pep Guardiola team
Having won 16 of their final 18 Premier League games last season, Arsenal have only won five out of 10 this term. They are seven points off the top and six points worse off than at the same stage of the last campaign. Supporters are understandably concerned.
Saturday’s defeat to Newcastle has led to intense scrutiny of their performances this season but there are enough mitigating factors at play to ease any concerns over their direction.
They have been hit by a string of injuries, for a start, with Martin Odegaard, Bukayo Saka, Jurrien Timber, new signings Riccardo Calafiori and Mikel Merino and now Declan Rice among those afflicted. Arsenal’s availability issues have been compounded by suspensions following three contentious sendings-off.
As a result of those red cards, shown to Declan Rice against Brighton, Leandro Trossard against Manchester City and William Saliba against Bournemouth, Arsenal have played 16 per cent of their total Premier League minutes this season with 10 players.
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Gary Neville says he’s still tipping Arsenal for the Premier League title
They dropped points in each of those games, drawing with Brighton and Manchester City and losing to Bournemouth, but they were either in front or level at the time of the red cards. In each instance, the underlying numbers underline the impact of going down to 10.
Arsenal gave up chances worth 5.76 expected goals in those games, but around 85 per cent of that total came after the red cards. Brighton and Bournemouth had created only 0.09 and 0.03 xG respectively beforehand. Even City had only created 0.77.
Of course, Arsenal kept 11 players on the pitch against Liverpool and Newcastle and still dropped points. They have so far lacked the fluency of the side that scored 91 Premier League goals last season.
But exclude the minutes played with 10 players and their statistical output is in fact at a similar level, with a high volume of scoring chances created and comparatively few given up at the other end.
Arteta’s tactical approach has come under scrutiny too. He has been accused of negativity for the way Arsenal played in the games against their title rivals. But his record vindicates his methods. Arsenal are unbeaten in three Premier League games against Pep Guardiola’s side and unbeaten in five against Liverpool.
As with Edu’s exit, it is important to see the bigger picture when assessing their recent form. Arsenal are not where they want to be in the Premier League table. They have faced setbacks off the pitch as well as on it. But the outlook is not as bleak as it might appear.