Football: Is there a disconnect between Manager and Head of recruitment at Arsenal?

During the past twelve months Arsenal have made massive changes in their structure, completely shifting power in the football club

in order to build a more efficient recruitment process.

Part way through last season Arsenal Chariman Ivan Gazidis brought in a new right-hand man, Sven Mislintat, to spearhead a recruitment process that had been under critism from fans and media for years. During his time at Dortmund Mislintat forged an impressive resume and reputation for himself due to his ability to spot talent at its infancy; earning him the nickname ‘Diamond Eyes.’

Arsenal would also go on to replace their manager that season and during the hunt for a new manager the willingness to working under a Head of Recruitment was high on the list of priorities for their new manager. Step up Unai Emery. Emery had experience at working under a Head of Recruitment with both Sevilla and PSG and a track record of winning trophies. Arsenal felt as if they had landed their perfect fit.

Throughout the summer Arsenal strung together a succession of impressive signings. But most notably for fans, Arsenal had all their transfer dealings completed well in advance of the deadline. A breath of fresh air compared to the club’s usual transfer dealings.

Arsenal fans rejoiced and celebrated at their club’s dealings, finally they had covered the necessary areas that needed covering; mostly goalkeeper (Bernd Leno) and central defensive midfielder (Lucas Torriera).

On the back of an impressive showing at the world cup and in the case of Leno an impressive reputation coming from Germany excitement grew for the new season and seeing how these two players slot in place under Unai Emery’s guidance.

Well so far, they haven’t.

One of the pit falls of having a Head of Recruitment is that they are not guaranteed to see eye to eye with the manager or the head coach. What one-man thinks is a good player, the other might completely disagree.

Despite anticipation for these two players being so high. Unai Emery has decided not to start either player yet so far in the Premier League, instead opting to play the experienced Petr Cech and Granit Xhaka. So far neither Cech or Xhaka have been value for their starting position. Petr Cech has struggle thus far adapting to the modern, passing out form the back, style that Unai Emery wants to play. Granit Xhaka has shown the same defensive fragilities, lack of composure on the ball and slowness in possession as he has in the previous two seasons, the same traits that made Arsenal fans call for his replacement to begin with. But Unai, so far, is sticking to his guns.

So, it is possible we are seeing a disconnect between the Head of Recruitment and the Head Coach. Despite poor performances from the players ahead of these the new recruits, Unai Emery seems resolute in his selection choices and is un-budged by fan anticipation to see these players play.