Arsenal cull their Scouting Department

Mr_Miscellaneous

Mr_Miscellaneous

Well-Known Member
Arsenal have just fired 10 senior scouts, as well as their head of scouting in the UK and head of international scouting.

According to the Athletic, they are going for a "Agent-led" approach to signing players as opposed to the vast Scouting network and sabermetric approach they've used for decades that unearthed talents like Cesc Fabregas, Serge Gnabry, Wojciech Szczesny amongst other talents.

Instead they look to make more signings like Willian, Petr Cech and David Luiz and whomever else Chelsea cast off in the future for being in their mid-30's.

Seems like an utterly crazy decision. The fans are up in arms andm (rightly) see it as a "cost-cutting" measure that delivers more up front money to the owners, but will absolutely drain the bank account in the future as they pay way over the odds in transfers and fee's for players that would quite like a relaxing, no-pressure life in London and will chuck it in at the first opportunity.
 
Degausser said:
I think this is madness from Arsenal. The only way they’re going to start getting higher places in the table is to be smarter in the transfer market. This isn’t it.
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Surely if you need to cost cut the best way to do that is being smarter in the transfer market? Surely that's common sense?
 
You wonder how scouting is working just now, & for the foreseeable. Do you think it's just being done all through video?
 
I seen a Chelsea fan saying they can have Willian we had his best years hes on his way down. Fair point to be honest. If chelsea are replacing him with the likes of werner/havertz I know which support will be happier
 
Arsenal are just playing at being a big club now. They under invested for years, and when they finally did start to spend, bought poorly. City, Liverpool and even man u well ahead of them. Chelsea look as though they are going to have another go at it, and Mourinho will at least have spurs like a functional unit next year.

Hope they enjoyed the fa Cup last week, might be the last trophy for a while. Arteta has a massive job on his hands. If Aubamarang goes especially.
 
Chocolateleftfoot said:
Arsenal are just playing at being a big club now. They under invested for years, and when they finally did start to spend, bought poorly. City, Liverpool and even man u well ahead of them. Chelsea look as though they are going to have another go at it, and Mourinho will at least have spurs like a functional unit next year.

Hope they enjoyed the fa Cup last week, might be the last trophy for a while. Arteta has a massive job on his hands. If Aubamarang goes especially.
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Aubameyang rumoured today to be signing a new 3 year deal.

Just need to wait and see how Arsenal will do. Strongest rumours are Coutinho, Willian, Thomas Partey & Gabriel. If they managed to get them with Saliba coming back you think that would be a big improvement for them.
 
Sebo23 said:
You wonder how scouting is working just now, & for the foreseeable. Do you think it's just being done all through video?
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The vast majority of it has to be done through WyScout (application that has a bunch of stats, live video of tonnes of games and highlights of individual players) alongside other scouting software and statistical packages due to social distancing.

There is a really interesting article in the Independent talking through the anxieties the Scouts are having at the moment.

With that being said though, it wont be long until there is at least a partial allowance of fans in the stadium and with that the scouts will be right in there making up for lost time. Many of the clubs see multiple rounds of live scouting as the real litmus test for new signatures rather than a fully statistical/agent based approach.
 
Sebo23 said:
Aubameyang rumoured today to be signing a new 3 year deal.

Just need to wait and see how Arsenal will do. Strongest rumours are Coutinho, Willian, Thomas Partey & Gabriel. If they managed to get them with Saliba coming back you think that would be a big improvement for them.
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They'll be linked with everyone, I'll wait and see what actually happens. I've nothing against Arsenal but they haven't been a top team in England for nearly 15 years and the clubs I mentioned have got a headstart. If they have any ambition to win the league, they need at least 6 players of genuine quality. If they don't have any ambition to win the league, they're as well as chucking it.
 
2 or 3 friendly agents offloading their dud clients no one else wants onto them

In a couple of years, they'll be dreaming of Europa League qualification
 
Sounds like there about to be ripped off for years to come with agents, prob people at the club going to make money on it.
 
Gordy Boy said:
I used to like Arsenal. Full keeper kit as a kid, socks, shorts etc.

What an embarrassment they've become.
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This ^^^^

A great loyal fan base, been shafted for years by the parasites upstairs.

On the one hand, the likes of “Sir Chips”, on the other, foreign vultures - and it just keeps getting worse.

Used to be a proper club who I really looked up to. Now, lamentable…
 
Kroenke not interested in Arsenal. He needed a cash cow to pay for a new stadium in LA for the Rams and they fit the bill. He owns all the shares and can do what he wants. They are stuck with him.
 
Geedubya said:
This ^^^^

A great loyal fan base, been shafted for years by the parasites upstairs.

On the one hand, the likes of “Sir Chips”, on the other, foreign vultures - and it just keeps getting worse.

Used to be a proper club who I really looked up to. Now, lamentable…
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Who is Sir chips?
 
Probably just helps to shine a light on the current pantomime that is modern football transfers. Most big transfers are pretty much illegal and sketchy as %^*&. If a big player moves between one club to another there’ll be some youth player punted about as a result of it. I’m not explaining myself very well but if you know Mino Raiola you’ll know what I’m on about.

Agents decide who plays for who at almost all levels and very often it’s them recommending a signing to a club and not scouts.
 
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Genuine question, is the role of scouts at these top club changing / diminishing somewhat? I know clubs like us depend on good scouting and identifying players that might not be as well known, but what about clubs at the top end? Do Chelsea need super scouts to tell them how good Kai Havertz or Tino Werner is for example, Man Utd how good Jadon Sancho is or Jack Grealish is, Man City how good Nathan Ake or Koulibaly is?

Even if its trying to pick up a hidden gem youth player from abroad, how many actually make it at that club? Who on the Chelsea team recently, or the Man Utd team, was a 'hidden gem' from abroad, plucked from obscurity?
 
Sebo23 said:
Genuine question, is the role of scouts at these top club changing / diminishing somewhat? I know clubs like us depend on good scouting and identifying players that might not be as well known, but what about clubs at the top end? Do Chelsea need super scouts to tell them how good Kai Havertz or Tino Werner is for example, Man Utd how good Jadon Sancho is or Jack Grealish is, Man City how good Nathan Ake or Koulibaly is?

Even if its trying to pick up a hidden gem youth player from abroad, how many actually make it at that club? Who on the Chelsea team recently, or the Man Utd team, was a 'hidden gem' from abroad, plucked from obscurity?
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For the ones with financial limitations, it's a must have. Identifying and bringing through players allows them to spend vast sums on 'known quantity' players who might make a difference at the very top end.

A lot of the "Elite" English clubs do not have that problem. Although, they use these vast scouting networks to pick up talents at a young age and bring them in. Liverpool did this with Raheem Sterling, Joe Gomez and Rhian Brewster. Whilst Manchester City don't have to bother with it given the amount of resources at their disposal, they have an extensive set-up that identified players like Brahim Diaz, Jadon Sancho, Eric Garcia and Oleksander Zinchenko.

Strangely, it's the foreign clubs that cannot compete with the English money that are heavily reliant upon it. Real Madrid's entire system is based on this approach. Guys like Marcelo, Federico Valverde, Casemiro, Marco Asensio, Vinicius Jr, Rodrygo and Lucas Vasquez all coming through extensive scouting and signing them up before anyone else gets the chance and that allowed them to threw money at the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, Gareth Bale, Kaka, Edin Hazard and Karim Benzema.
 
We should sign up some of their fired scouts - improve our scouting knowledge. Not a criticism of our current scouting which seems to be miles better than it’s been for years but to build on it.
 
Sebo23 said:
Genuine question, is the role of scouts at these top club changing / diminishing somewhat? I know clubs like us depend on good scouting and identifying players that might not be as well known, but what about clubs at the top end? Do Chelsea need super scouts to tell them how good Kai Havertz or Tino Werner is for example, Man Utd how good Jadon Sancho is or Jack Grealish is, Man City how good Nathan Ake or Koulibaly is?

Even if its trying to pick up a hidden gem youth player from abroad, how many actually make it at that club? Who on the Chelsea team recently, or the Man Utd team, was a 'hidden gem' from abroad, plucked from obscurity?
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Not necessarily abroad, but Billy Gilmour comes to mind.
 
That wee fella Wirtz looked a hell of a prospect last night, 17 and looked like he'd been playing at a high level for years
 
Portrushbear said:
Heaven forbid you click into a thread on here and not have to read about those fuckers

It's embarrassing
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More annoying than embarrassing but that’s the way of forums.
We could be left with nothing to discuss if every topic that embarrassed /annoyed anyone was banned.
 
Sebo23 said:
Aubameyang rumoured today to be signing a new 3 year deal.

Just need to wait and see how Arsenal will do. Strongest rumours are Coutinho, Willian, Thomas Partey & Gabriel. If they managed to get them with Saliba coming back you think that would be a big improvement for them.
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Not what I’ve heard. There’s three names on their list, Shankland, Ferguson and Dykes.
 
Decent Article in the Guardian about more redundancies to be announced today.

"Arsenal’s overhaul of their scouting network has continued, with several more recruitment personnel told they will be made redundant.

The scouting department has been heavily hit in a cull that comes on top of the 55 job losses announced on Wednesday. Francis Cagigao, the head of recruitment, was the highest-profile name to be released, and Pete Clark and Brian McDermott were also told their services were no longer required.

Now the club have informed Ty Gooden, who covers France and Belgium, that he will not be retained and further changes are being made across their international operation. Leonardo Scirpoli, who has overseen their scouting in Germany since last summer, will also lose his job and a similar fate has befallen their scout in Scotland, Alex Stafford, the Spain scout, Julio de Marco, and the Italian scout Alessandro Sbrizzo.

While some internally feel the overhaul has been long planned, it has caused surprise within Arsenal and at several other leading European clubs. There is no indication yet as to how Arsenal intend to restructure the scouting operation after losing this top-level talent.

Cagigao made his name with the discoveries of Cesc Fàbregas and Héctor Bellerín, among others, and has not been short of suitors elsewhere throughout his 24 years serving the club. Some observers of Arsenal’s recruitment methods are concerned they are moving towards an agent-led approach.

Kia Joorabchian has been involved in several of their recent deals, such as a contract extension for David Luiz and the acquisition of Cédric Soares from Southampton, and another of his clients, WIllian, is closing in on a free-transfer move from Chelsea

Arsenal’s players are unhappy about the redundancies across the club. The squad’s WhatsApp group is understood to have been abuzz with discussions on the topic, although it is too early to say what action they may take. There is frustration given that, when they agreed to pay cuts of 12.5% in April – which will drop to 7.5% now they have reached the Europa League – part of the rationale offered was that it would help protect other areas of the organisation. That annoyance may well be voiced in some form.

Staff at the club’s Highbury House administrative base are waiting to discover whether individual departments will be undergoing cuts and whether their roles are at risk. Those employees are sweating on their futures at the same time Arsenal look to follow Willian’s likely arrival with a new contract for their captain, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, who is believed to earn close to £200,000 a week."
 
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