Arsenal academy chief identifies key to long-term plans

Arsenal academy chief identifies key to long-term plans Pascal De Maesschalck has set out the thinking behind Arsenal’s academy recruitment, explaining why identifying the right players comes before facilities, systems or anything else. Photo via Arsenal.com Pascal De Maesschalck has put recruitment at the heart of his plans for the Arsenal academy, arguing that even the best facilities and structures are of limited use if a club brings in the wrong players. The academy director arrived from Strasbourg during the summer and has been outlining how he approaches the job, with watching matches only one part of assessing potential recruits. For De Maesschalck, understanding the player away from the pitch matters too. “I watch many matches,” he said. “I also build relationships with the players and their parents, because I think it is important to know the players personally. It remains a ‘people’s business’. “And recruitment, of course. That is the most important thing. You can have the best facilities or operations, but with the wrong players, it won’t work.” Speaking to Sporza , De Maesschalck also acknowledged that the job at Arsenal brings challenges which differ from those he encountered previously in Belgium and France . Photo by Paul Harding/Getty Images The regulations in English football, particularly following Brexit , mean the environment is not the same even if the fundamentals of developing footballers remain familiar. “That is the challenge for me now,” he added. “Does my approach work at the very highest level? “Don’t forget, working in the Premier League is completely different from in Belgium or France. You have the Brexit story, the rules are completely different. “It is still the same game, the same players, but it is presented completely differently. That is my challenge.” Photo by Andrew Redington/Getty Images Arseblog News notes that the recent summer recruitment drive was largely concentrated on players already based in Great Britain and Ireland . But finding those players is only the beginning. The next part is developing them towards the level required by Mikel Arteta , and De Maesschalck has been particularly struck by the Arsenal manager’s work on the training ground. “His training sessions, I have never seen anything like that anywhere else,” De Maesschalck said. “And I have seen a lot of training sessions from a lot of coaches. “What he does at the level of the details is astounding. When you talk to him about football, it is about details, discipline, respect… He is an absolute winner, but also a very pleasant person.” Photo by Carl Recine/Getty Images