Pundit and stand-up comic Ian Stone has criticised the way Arsenal operate and has slammed technical director Edu for not being honest enough in his role at the north London club.
Stone was recently hosting the latest episode of the ‘Handbrake Off’ podcast and a discussion took place about the job Edu has been doing at the Emirates. Stone also joined this debate and had some things to say about how Edu has a role to play in the club not being completely honest about the current situation. Journalists Amy Lawrence and James McNicholas were also part of the debate.
Edu was announced as the club’s technical director last year, joining the club from a similar role with the Brazilian national team. As per the club’s website, Edu is involved in player recruitment, scouting and coordinating the work of the first team and the academy.
With uncertainties over players’ futures and the Gunners’ on-pitch fortunes in relative disarray, Stone was not happy with the lack of communication from backroom members such as Edu, with the panel speculating the effectiveness of his arrival in the summer.
He said: “This is what I wanted to talk about – the honesty of the message and whether the club are being totally honest in talking about how bad it has got.
Would you blame Edu for Arsenal's current situation?
Yes, he deserves blame
No, he's done a good job
“In stand-up comedy, there’s a thing called ‘the gap of delusion’ – and you have to keep that to a minimum. If you’ve come off a gig which is a seven and you go ‘that was an eight’, that’s fine – not too big a gap. But if you’ve come off a gig which is a two and you say ‘that is an eight’, that is not fine.
“And I think there’s still too much [of that]. Reading that piece by David Ornstein, and the way that Edu spoke about the club and how great it was with Arteta, it was like reading a piece from a parallel universe for most fans. I think fans would be accepting, at this point, the club fronting up and saying how bad things are because the evidence is in front of us on the pitch, is it not?”
Stone is clearly not happy with the club’s situation currently, but he wants them to at least accept it instead of portraying everything in a positive light.
TIF Thoughts…
The Gunners have now slipped to as low as 11th in the Premier League and have lost their last two games.
Mikel Arteta’s men have generated an XG of only 39.60 this season and that is the 12th best tally in the Premier League. They also have the 11th best defensive record in the league, having let in as many as 41 goals so far (via Understat).
That is a reflection of how they’ve had a poor season and they really need to improve before the season ends if they want to play some sort of European football next year. Edu admitting that the club is in rebuild could assure fans that there is a project in place under Arteta and they should trust it. This would allow the club to operate under less pressure, which could help players thrive.