It’s becoming so clear why Mikel Arteta added Gabriel Heinze to his coaching staff at Arsenal in the summer.
In July, Heinze replaced Carlos Cuesta as one of Arteta’s assistants.
As Cuesta left to join Parma, Heinze was appointed to fill the void, bringing a similar level of desire but an entirely different personality.
Heinze is a fierce, no-nonsense figure within Arsenal’s coaching team, matching Arteta’s passion on the touchline and even post-match.
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What Gabriel Heinze was doing after Arsenal’s win over Fulham
After Arsenal’s 1-0 win over Fulham, Heinze spent some time with those who didn’t play to conduct a warm-down on the pitch at Craven Cottage.
Watching on from the press box was Amy Lawrence, who shared one thing she saw when Heinze was leading the warm-down.
Speaking on The Athletic’s Handbrake Off podcast, Lawrence set the scene to describe the level of animation Heinze showed despite the relaxed setting.
“Was it Mosquera or Ethan? I can’t remember, but he [Heinze] was doing a bit of one-to-one, like, and he was so animated. And it was very chill, the post-match warm down.
“It was like the lawnmower is going and it’s all just very light, nice and easy. But he was getting animated and involved in explaining things in quite a heated way.”
Lawrence said that just seeing Heinze act in that way gave an insight into how high the standard is for the Arsenal squad right now.
“Just even in a sort of relatively quiet moment like that, and that’s just insightful, I guess, to the fact that again, when we’re talking about demanding of each other, he is demanding of them nonstop.”
Arsenal are aware of Heinze’s bullish ways, with the impact of such showing through the coach’s demands even after the game at Craven Cottage had been won.
It’s refreshing to see a group of commanding and perfectionist-like coaches at Arsenal, with the winner’s mentality installed from the top.
Heinze known to be ‘uncompromising’
Even the best won’t cut it at Arsenal right now, and Arteta knew just that when Heinze was appointed in July.
Speaking to the Daily Mail shortly after the Argentine was unveiled, journalist Juani Carducci gave an insight into Heinze’s reputation in his home country.
“Heinze is known to be a very stubborn and uncompromising coach, with little self-criticism. He always believes he’s right and is tenacious in his convictions,” Carducci said.
Arteta will love what Heinze offers, and his hire has certainly benefitted Arsenal, who are clearly undergoing a mentality switch.
Sitting top of the pile after eight games is where Arsenal want to be, with Heinze’s work set to become more and more evident as time goes on.
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