Ex-Arsenal chief Raul Sanllehi fears Mikel Arteta’s all-controlling role as manager is a ‘mistake’ 50
Ex-Arsenal chief Raul Sanllehi fears Mikel Arteta’s all-controlling role as manager is a ‘mistake’ 51
Ex-Arsenal chief Raul Sanllehi fears Mikel Arteta’s all-controlling role as manager is a ‘mistake’ 52
Ex-Arsenal chief Raul Sanllehi fears Mikel Arteta’s all-controlling role as manager is a ‘mistake’ 53
Arsenal ‘betrayed the model’ by returning to how things were under Arsene Wenger, claims ex-Gunners chief Raul Sanllehi, who fears Mikel Arteta’s defining role in the Emirates is a ‘mistake’
Former Arsenal director Raul Sanllehi fears Arsenal ‘betrayed the model’He believes Arsenal made a ‘mistake’ by giving Mikel Arteta too much control Sanllehi joined the club in 2018 and lost his job during the Covid-19 pandemic He set up a ‘dream team’ of four directors to lead the club after Unai Emery’s reignBut the Spaniard is now concerned that Arsenal have fallen into bad habits since then
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Former Arsenal director Raul Sanllehi fears The Gunners made a ‘mistake’ by returning to how operations were run under Arsene Wenger.
The Spaniard, who first arrived in north London in 2018 after a 14-year stint with Barcelona, was named the club’s new head of football following the departure of former CEO Ivan Gazidis.
During his time with the Emirates, Sanllehi implemented a new governance model in an effort to recover from Unai Emery’s ill-fated stint as manager.
Ex-Arsenal chief Raul Sanllehi fears the Gunners made a ‘mistake’ in the way the club is run
He believes Arsenal have fallen back on how operations were conducted during Arsene Wenger’s reign
He wanted to divide the leadership of Arsenal into different roles and pioneered a ‘dream team’ of four, including head coach Mikel Arteta, technical director Edu, head of football operations Huss Fahmy and academy manager Per Mertesacker.
But Sanllehi, as he admits, has revealed to… the athletic that the plan collapsed just a few months later, and Arsenal have since moved away from that model following its departure during the Covid-19 pandemic, leaving Arteta with most of its control.
He explains: ‘Within the model there are four points: head coach, sporting director, football operations and academy, and they have to be very well coordinated.’
The Spaniard is concerned that Mikel Arteta’s all-important role at the club could be damaging
“Arsenal had decided to move forward with Arsene Wenger, a boss who did everything.
“We had a good coach in Unai, but it was crucial for Arsenal to get to the Champions League and losing the Europa League final to Chelsea kept us there, which made the second year hell for Unai.
“It had been the one-boss model. All due respect to Arsene – what he did for Arsenal is unique and probably the best way to do it at the time – but you had to develop, and that’s what happened.”
Sanllehi considers the decision a ‘mistake’ and fears Arsenal have fallen back into bad habits under Arteta, who appears to be in control of all affairs at the club.
Sanllehi (L) introduced a four-member management model including technical director Edu (R)
“I don’t agree with clubs calling the first-team coach ‘the manager’,” he added.
“The coach of the first team is the coach of the first team, that’s enough. These days the workload is overwhelming and I want him to focus on the first team.
“They’ve betrayed the model a bit now. By going back to the manager at the top, that’s a mistake, but that’s their mistake.
“I wouldn’t have let that happen. But that’s fine, it’s been working for them so far.”