Gary Giessing has spent the last 11 years training and developing Arsenal’s potential stars of the future. Now, he must find them. The South African coach has swapped his coaching role for a scout position at the Academy.
Giessing has worked with the very first fruits of the Academy after its re-form by Arsene Wenger. That crop included the likes of Henri Lansbury, Jay Emmanuel-Thomas and Sanchez Watt. However, the notable name in the group is Jack Wilshere. The 45-year-old explained to Times Live the moment he first saw Wilshere.
“I first saw Wilshere play eight years ago, when I was assisting with the Under 12 side. He was one of the best we had at the time, but not necessarily one that you’d say was 100% certain to be a player. He was probably in the top three, and he has come to the fore at a young age, but there are others who are a bit older, like Henri Lansbury and Sanchez Watt, with similar potential.
“What you’ve got in Wilshere is a boy who absolutely hates losing. It’s a Roy Keane thing. If one of his teammates got kicked, you could always bet your bottom dollar that Jack would return the favour, sometimes legally and sometimes not. He’s very competitive, but also very level-headed.”
“Jack is probably going to be better than everybody is expecting.”
Gary was born and raised in Johannesburg, but moved to England after the sudden death of his brother. The firm focus on football took his mind of the trauma. After working at non-league side Hendon, he was recognised as a promising coach and signed by Arsenal.
He went on to speak about some of the training drills he uses to develop players and what qualities they must show in return.
“At Arsenal, we put enormous emphasis on ball retention in tight spots, the technical ability to receive and pass the ball.”
“But you can talk about drills until you’re blue in the face. The coach has to teach the players how to think before receiving the ball, what considerations to make, and how to implement his decisions. For me, a ’4 v 2′ drill is better, because then the player has to think about two defenders.”
“The unteachable thing we look for is football intelligence. Certain players have the ability to see the bigger picture, and there can be a big difference in that ability between one six-year-old and another.”
“When we’re looking at a player, we want to tick four boxes: football intelligence, technical ability, attitude and physical attributes – speed, strength and height. Height isn’t an issue for midfielders, though it is for strikers and defenders. If he’s not tall, or if he has attitude problems, then he has to tick the other three boxes.”
The South African returns home often, but he revealed that Arsenal don’t scout that market, due to the work permit situation. Giessing says this is why Mamelodi Sundowns defender Siyanda Xulu failed a trial, because the cost of recruitment and loaning before he even plays for the club is around £5 million.
A deal for Xulu may have fallen through, but according to Arsenal’s latest scout, there is a number of exciting options already in the system.
“There’s an 18-year-old Dutch-Turkish central midfielder, Oğuzhan Özyakup, who reminds me of Fàbregas. And we have a 13-year-old at the moment, who I can’t name, who I think is a genius.”
Having learned over the years what qualities are needed to make the break through at Arsenal, few are better positioned to find future talent like Gary Giessing.
