Arsenal kingpin Edu reveals his recipe for Emirates success

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Arsenal’s new technical director Edu wants everyone at the club to return to the winning mentality which made Arsene Wenger’s side invincible.

The Gunners are preparing for a second campaign under new head coach Unai Emery, who guided them to the Europa League final but could not deliver Champions League football.

Former Arsenal midfielder Edu has been appointed to the newly-created role, which the club said will see the Brazilian “coordinate the work of our first-team coaching group, the academy and player scouting and recruitment in order to oversee the constant building up and efficient strengthening of our squad”.

The 41-year-old was part of Arsenal’s unbeaten ‘Invincibles’ squad of 2004 which won the Premier League under Wenger, and later went on to play for Emery at Valencia.

Edu left a similar role with the Brazil national side following their Copa America success and has now linked up with the Gunners again on the club’s pre-season tour in the United States.

While he accepts it will not be an overnight change in mentality, it is a process Edu believes is vital if Arsenal are to compete for top honours once again, both at home and in Europe.

“To work with a strong mentality, you don’t do it like that (instantly). You build a good mentality,” Edu said in an interview with Arsenal Media.

“When you talk about mentality, it’s not only the players. The club has to have the same mentality of the players.

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“We have to have the same mentality, and the mentality of Arsenal, we always had to have winning in front of us. That’s football. That’s the real world. When you’re talking about good jobs, doing other things, without results I’m not sure (it works). It’s unfair maybe, but the reality is like that.

“We have to fight very hard for results and we have to understand the real world, where you live and where you are right now. So we are at Arsenal, we are a big club and we have to understand the situation.

“Winning… fight for winning, and how do you do that? We have to prepare ourselves. How? By working hard, by giving everything, giving us (a chance) to be better and better, and working really hard to be where the club wants to be.”

 

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