Arsenal selling Martinez was a huge mistake
As of right now, I’m a pretty pissed-off member of the red army. I wasn’t happy when Arsenal sold Martinez last year, and it ranks with some of the stupidest decisions this club has made. I’m even less happy with his replacement in Alex Runarsson, possibly the worst goalkeeper I’ve ever seen at Arsenal (I’m 27 for reference). So, it’s shocking to think that his signing was recommended by hand-picked GK coach Inaki Cana, and that the higher-ups actually agreed to it.
This begs 3 huge questions:
1: Who the f*ck is this guy if he thinks Runarsson is a good goalkeeper, and why is he at Arsenal coaching the first team?
2: What does this say about the quality of coaching and managerial oversight at this club?
3: What the f*ck is our club doing with the recruitment department to OK his signing?
I can think of few other people who can suck it besides Yerry Mina
1 - Who is Inaki Cana
For those who may not know, Cana had an unspectacular playing career in the Spanish lower divisions from 1992-2007, the highlight being a year-long spell at Barcelona C. His first coaching role was in 2015/16 at Sabadell, followed by Nordsjælland, Brentford (in the championship), and finally Arsenal in the 2019/20 season.
We all know that a playing career doesn’t necessarily translate into potential as a coach. However, a distinct lack of coaching experience combined with an unspectacular playing career doesn’t exactly inspire confidence. In addition, his predecessors (Sal Bibbo and Andy Woodman) had 22 years of coaching experience between them before joining Arsenal. Cana’s 4 years, by comparison, is slightly alarming.
1- Role in the Arsenal Martinez Howler & recruitment overall
While doing a little research on Cana, I came across this article dating back to Sep 2020, when we were looking for Martinez’s replacement. In it, Arteta mentions how Cana will be integral to the direction of the club at GK, citing his expertise, as well as “specificity.” He also says that all staff should be trusted, given responsibility, and held accountable for tasks.
Judging by that, it’s safe to say that there’s a good chance Cana had a part to play in the decision to sell Martinez. More worryingly, he will definitely be involved in our future planning too. Now, I’m sure coaching staff have a role to play in squad planning at most clubs. In fact, I’d be surprised if they didn’t!
So why is it that when Arsenal do something they always cock it up? I mean, is this club seriously planning to move forward with a coach who is so bad at judging talent? Runarsson isn’t a player who needs a bit of time to settle in. He’s lightyears away!
How can Cana be part of planning this squad and helping to make decisions around personnel, feeding reports to Arteta and co after dropping this clanger?
2 - Do we have substandard Coaches?
First, I’m going to summarise my thoughts with an analogy.
Imagine you run a private business selling used cars. Your new mechanic pops in with a recommendation. He’s seen the car, tells you that it will be an easy sell, and needs no major fixing. You buy the car, only to find out it’s a mechanical write-off. It will cost triple its value to repair, yet a trained mechanic wasn’t aware of this. How would you view him as a professional in your business?
The answer, of course, is you question his ability. Some might even fire him on the spot. Bringing it back to Arsenal, Cana was hired by Arteta as the man he wanted to help move the club forward at the goalkeeping position. He has “big Faith” in Cana and will “try to follow what their [staff] feelings are” though the final decisions are down to the manager himself.
Alarm bells should be ringing by now. Listening to staff who are better qualified than yourself is a good thing. Arteta however, believes and trusts in the man who would recommend Runarsson to replace Emi Martinez. What does that statement imply about the standards of staff hired under Arteta’s regime?
2 - Untrustworthy Leaders
Think about it. We sacked 55 staff members during the pandemic to save money. Arteta and Edu must have been pivotal in rebuilding the new team. Above them, Vinai knows nothing about football and has even admitted as much. On the other hand, the Kroenke’s are the Kroenke’s.
Do you have any faith that this leadership team went out and hired elite backroom staff? Even the players were concerned about Cana’s suitability last season, never mind the fans.
Now I’m not suggesting that all our staff are crap. In fact, our youth coaches do a fine job at developing young talent. I just want to understand what’s going on behind the scenes. It doesn’t look good from the outside. To start with, who exactly is providing feedback to the transfer committee on player ability? If we’re relying on the likes of Cana, we’re in some deep shit. Also, who makes the final decisions? How much weight does one person/area have over another?
The point I’m trying to make is how do Arsenal do their business? Surely no club, let alone one the size of Arsenal, ever just signs a player based on a coach recommendation? What happens if a coach just dislikes a player? What if that coach is totally inept? As a big club, you can’t afford to be lacking oversight in decisions around playing staff.
They’re the most important and impactful decisions that you regularly make. There should always be a clear plan and direction in place.
2 - No Forward Planning
We all know what happened. Arsenal received a bid and grabbed the money at the first chance, with no second thoughts. They didn’t even bother to haggle for a higher fee. Then the usual panic followed. Arsenal needed to replace Martinez. Cana recommended a convenient and cheap signing, and that was all she wrote.
This is a prime example of something Turkish LDN has said for years. Arsenal aren’t proactive in the transfer market. We should have a list of squad replacements/upgrades ready to go for every transfer window. It’s the whole point of employing scouts.
Equally, the idiotic person in charge of our transfer business failed to recognise that Leno was close to entering his final two years. So now, we’re left looking even more stupid than usual.
3 - Scouts aren't to blame: Arsenal Ignore them
Despite the lacklustre transfer activity in recent years, Arsenal have great scouts. Becoming a scout is not what most people think. It’s not some cushty job (see “the nowhere men” for more details). It’s pretty brutal and is often a thankless task. A lot of scouts don’t even receive expenses, let alone a salary!
My point is, you’d be mad to become a scout and sacrifice what most have to half-arse it. If you do half-arse it or are a terrible judge of talent, you won’t be employed for long. So, to even make it to the top level speaks volumes.
We’ve made fantastic signings in the past, and Martinelli is proof that our (now much changed) scouts can still identify a top player. The youth department is another shining light on their work. We always have top players coming through the ranks.
Both the scouts and youth coaches deserve credit for this. But this raises another question: Since our scouts work well within the youth setup, why not with the first team? It’s because we don’t actually listen to our scouts!
Mustafi and Perez are two high-profile examples. Our scouts told the club not to sign the pair, yet Arsenal did otherwise. We repeatedly see Arsenal making strange decisions in the transfer market, even recently (Willian).
If you put it all together, it makes sense. The people who make the final decisions are inept. Scouts aren’t the problem.
Conclusion: There's a Severe breakdown in communication at Arsenal (Martinez & others prove this)
Martinez was a player with tonnes of ability. Yet somehow, he was allowed to leave for a pittance. We’ve established that scouts aren’t to blame, and the youth setup does a good job. This means that somewhere in the senior team, things go terribly wrong.
Gnabry is another example. People say that no one could have seen Gnabry turning into the player he is today. Here’s one person who will tell you that I thought this would happen. His contract was allowed to run down, and he left for game time, developing into a major star. Saliba, Guendouzi, Mavropanos, and even Martinelli, have also been questionably managed.
So who's a fault?
Can coaches and the manager not see the ability and potential of our squad? Do they completely ignore scout feedback? Is it the DOF who overrides these people and keeps on making terrible calls? Are we under pressure from the Kroenkes to sell? Are the coaches up to scratch? How do we identify talent when we can’t even retain the right players already at the club?
Each scenario, if true, is as damning as the other. I personally think a combination of all those factors is at play. At the same time, I’m sure that most professional coaches can spot a good player. The issue at this club is that the footballing and business operations don’t seem to co-exist. And this is why we’ll continue to see clangers dropped in the transfer window.
Let me know what you think. I’ll see you in the comments.