.
Edu, a member of the club’s last Premier League title winning team, returned to the club in 2019 and initially worked as technical director under Raul Sanllehi’s regime.
Promoted after the Spaniard’s departure, Edu was a key factor in brining Arteta to the club as Unai Emery’s successor and the pair have formed a strong alliance.
‘As ever, the part of football that weakens your position as a manager is poor results, and ultimately if you suffer poor results, it always helps if you’ve got someone inside the club who you know and trust, and who you get on well with,’ Shearer told Betfair, reacting to Edu’s shock exit.
‘Clearly Mikel Arteta had a good relationship with Edu, and whoever they bring in next, it will be vital to develop that once again, because that link between Director of Football and Head Coach is key to the success of any football club.
‘You must be aligned, and you must know how to get along and to trust each other. It goes without saying that is hugely important.
‘It’s difficult to say whether Edu leaving will strengthen or weaken Arteta’s position as manager, because you don’t know who’s going to come in, but he is losing an ally, someone he knows and trusts, which is a huge thing at that level.
‘It was a huge surprise to me when I read the news that Edu decided to leave, I don’t think anybody expected it as it was out of the blue.
‘I wonder if Edu may have felt his position was weakened somehow, but I’m only guessing about that. Perhaps he wanted to go out and do certain things he wasn’t allowed to do at Arsenal, but I don’t know that either.
‘It would have to be something incredibly special to prize him away from what he’s got and for what he’s done at Arsenal, because that alignment and relationship with Arteta, has made Arsenal serious challengers to Man City’s throne.’
Together Arteta and Edu …
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