Arsenal sporting director Edu Gaspar is now thriving in his role, as he helped Mikel Arteta build a title-challenging squad.
Edu returned to Arsenal as a sporting director in 2019, having undertaken similar roles with Corinthians and the Brazil National Team.
The Brazilian previously played for Corinthians, Arsenal and Valencia, and was part of the Arsenal Invincible squad which won the Premier League undefeated under Arsene Wenger.
Whilst Edu was not as crucial as Patrick Vieira or Gilberto Silva, he still found himself in the team, although he did have a surprise confrontation with Wenger once, with a hilarious outcome.
Edu Gaspar confronted Arsene Wenger about his Arsenal playing time
Speaking on the Men In Blazers podcast, Edu revealed what happened when he saw his name omitted from the Arsenal teamsheet, and how he confronted Wenger about it.
“That case specifically was beautiful to be fair, because I remember I was playing every single game, starting and the team was doing really well,” Edu explained.
“I was performing well but one day I saw the team list in the dressing room. My name wasn’t there for the game and then as a Brazilian sometimes you puts an emotion on things, and I said ‘no I have to talk to Arsene straight away.’
“Everybody was looking to me as well in the dressing room, and said they do why I was not in the team, they said ‘what’s happening, an injury?
“I went directly to his office and knocked the door, and I said ‘boss can I talk to you,’ and he was in a meeting!
“He was with someone, and I knocked the door open. He said ‘Okay, let’s sit in another office here.’ He was very calm, very much Arsene Wenger. Then he said ‘Okay tell me what’s wrong.’
“I said ‘please what’s going on here, because I’ve been playing well, the team is performing well, we’re winning a lot of things blah blah blah, and he let me talk for five minutes.”
What happened next, was a complete shock to Edu.
Why Arsene Wenger dropped Edu Gaspar from the Arsenal team
Edu had found himself suddenly out of the team sheet despite having no injury. His teammates were confused at his absence, and he went to confront Wenger.
Wenger’s reason for dropping Edu then became clear: that he simply wanted him to have a period of rest after playing so much.
“He then opened one book with a lot of information, data physical information, games in front, game’s we played before, and then Arsene said ‘I just want you to rest my friend, because I need you for that (an unspecified future match) game in front of us, and I need you fresh because you’re playing so many games,” Edu added.
“‘Now is your time to relax and also, I have to tell you something. Can you please enjoy with your family, go away, take your family, I don’t want to see you even in the training grounds.'” Edu revealed about Wenger’s explanation.
“Can you imagine my face after I said what I said, and then he just said ‘I just want to look after you my friend, I don’t want to see you here go and look after your family, go away, clean your mind and then you’re going to come back for the team before the next game.'”
Edu had therefore learned a valuable lesson from Wenger, after charging into his office asking why he had been dropped after regularly playing, as the Frenchman showed that he was willing to prioritise the player’s wellbeing over the team when it came to burnout.
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