If Arsenal's director of football were Munch, what would happen to those three seasons?
This is not speculation about YY, but something that was once very close to the truth. Of course, if Arsenal can really get Munch in 2019, then Emery will probably stay in office, and the club executive in charge of transfer affairs will be Raul Saley.
"I don't know if there's another football director in the football industry who would take a risk like me." This is Monchi's generalization of himself. He is La Liga, or Europe's most prestigious football director, a man who has been doing miracles for twenty years.
And Sevilla is the stage for him to display his talents and create miracles. Monchi and Sevilla, neither apart from each other, is why Arsenal eventually lost touch with him.
It is no exaggeration to say that Sevilla have been able to go from an ordinary La Liga club to winning the Europa League six times in the last 20 years and becoming a regular champions league club. He took office in 2000, at the low point of Seville, during which he briefly left for Rome. This season, Sevilla is closely following the top of the table Real Madrid, although the possibility of winning La Liga is doubtful, but Munch's work performance will always be eye-catching.
Past the winter window, his loan from Manchester United problem striker Anthony Martial, the Frenchman's recognition of Sevilla, was the main reason for the success of the deal. Manchester United fans are quite unhappy with Martial, who always has a gloomy expression and has only 1 goal this season, but Munch does not see it that way. 'If a player has technical, tactical and physical strengths, even if he's not in good shape, all you have to do is let him regain those strengths. "We believe we can find a way to activate Martial, maybe it's more about him, more support and trust for him, maybe more communication with him, so that his family can adapt to local life more smoothly, so that he feels the importance of his team." There is no unified solution that works for everyone – everyone has different needs. ”
Munch must have analyzed What Martial had done, "He's been here for a few weeks, and I've seen the happiness on his face. That's a good sign. Munch said.
When Munch, 53, introduced his successful experience, he stressed that his analysis of players is to "go deep into the hearts of players and recognize this special individual.". Bringing in marginalized players from the Premier League and succeeding, he had a successful case of bringing in Canute in 2005. When Canute first arrived, the coaching team thought that Canute's training attitude was not good, "but our coach, at that time, did not realize that Canute was in the middle of Ramadan, and his training performance could not be good." ”
More than one million euros, from Brazil's small club Bahia, to buy full-back Danny Alves, is Munch's "perfect transfer". It's just that such a transfer with cheap and beautiful and huge appreciation space is much more difficult now than it was 20 years ago. Monchi said they found Alves at the U20 Championship in Uruguay, South America that year, "The European scouts who were on the scene at that time, only Sevilla represented, and now this kind of competition will attract at least 120 scouts!" ”
Of course, the resources he can use now are not the embarrassment of 2000, when he only had one scout under his command. Today's Sevilla, the first team and the entire youth training system, Monchi commanded a team of 35 people. In addition, his international scouting system will also be formed in the fall of 2021, with a team of 20 people.
With the help of technology, he is also constantly upgrading his scouting system. "I love data, I love new techniques, and now all of my scouts are working on the front lines, traveling around the world, watching all kinds of games," Munch said, "and we still have to rely on the naked eye recognition of watching games on the spot, but data can provide key help in two directions — to help us do the primary grooming, to save time, and to help us reduce the probability of making mistakes." ”
Among the clubs in Europe's five major leagues, Sevilla's transfer performance error rate is indeed extremely low. In the past 10 years, the total transfer volume of Sevilla has been a net profit of 15 million euros, while the 20 clubs in the Premier League this season, 14 of the past 10 years have been negative, and Manchester United has a net loss of more than 1 billion euros. Mengqi understands this: "It is not surprising that England is the most important buyer's market for professional football, and it is extremely difficult to trade in the buyer's market for a long time and remain profitable. And we all know that Premier League clubs have a wider range of revenue channels, so I don't think this loss is a bad result. On the contrary, I think it is more proof of the ability of English football to generate revenue. The results of the competition also confirm my point that in the past decade, the Premier League clubs have become stronger and stronger, and all European finals have their presence. ”
Munch and his Peers in the Premier League often communicate, such as Manchester City's football director Begillistan, Tottenham's football director Paratic and Leeds United's football director Orta, are all familiar with him, the cruelty of premier league competition, Monchi has a full understanding, "so the club of this league must continue to keep investing." ”
Monchi may be the first football director in the history of professional football to have a contract of 5 million euros in "liquidated damages", which was the constraint on him by Sevilla that year. At one point in April 2017, he left with 11 trophies. It's just that in Less than two years in Rome, it's not exactly what he wanted. In March 2019, if it were not for Sevilla's renewed urging of his return, he would probably have been on the Premier League table. "My goal at the time was really the Premier League," Monchi recalled, "to be honest, even the tickets to London were ready, but Sevilla came back to me, it was the only club in my heart and I couldn't refuse." Of Arsenal at the time, he said: "Unai is the head coach and Raul Sanrey is the head of football, so I am very eager for this challenge. But when Sevilla came along, I couldn't continue working with Arsenal. ”
Returning to Sevilla, Monchi's title became general manager and he entered the board. Not only is he responsible for the decisions made at the competitive level of the club, he also has a wide range of communication with fans, so unlike the Premier League managers, Monchi is often present in the Spanish media. During his career, he was a substitute goalkeeper for Sevilla, and the club's ability to score in a European match was a huge achievement, and now they are champions league regulars. The goal of this season, Monchi kept a low profile, saying that if they can chase Real Madrid to the last 5 rounds, they are qualified to think about the league title.
Operating in the winter window, Munch brought in Martial, retained centre-back Diego Carlos, and rejected Newcastle's £30m offer. He doesn't deny that "every player has its market price", but Sevilla clearly have enough expectations for the second half of the season. In the summer 2021 window, Munch did not do much, selling winger Brian Hill to Tottenham, the only major transfer. His centre-back Comte is still in chelsea's relentless pursuit. However, in Munch's view, his pair of centre-backs can "rank in the top five" in Europe. Their group stage performance in the Champions League this season is still not good, but the Europa League is Sevilla's hunting ground, not to mention this season's Europa League final, which will be played at the home of Sevilla.
If Arsenal can get Munch, what will happen to the transfer operation in these three years?