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Arsenal Confirm Dutch Duo Will Join The Club This Summer As Part Of Major Youth Shake-Up

By mac14 on April 3, 2014

Arsenal have confirmed today that Dutchman Frans de Kat and Jan van Loon will join the club this summer as part of a major shake-up of the youth coaching set-up.

Andries Jonker was appointed as the new manager of the clubs academy recently and he’s had a significant say in the duo following him to the Emirates.

The re-organisation will take effect on July 1, when existing Under-18’s coach Carl Laraman will move up to join Steve Gatting with the Under-21 squad following the decision of Terry Burton to leave Arsenal at the end of the season.

Frans de Kat will then take over leading the Under-18’s side along with Kwame Amapdu – who will move up from coaching the Under-16’s – while Jan van Loon will then take over coaching the Under-16’s.

De Kat has significant experience in the game having coached with the Royal Dutch Football Association at both Under-15 and under-16 level, while he’s also worked as a head scout and head of youth academy at Willem II Tilburg and ADO Den Haag.

van Loon also has a wealth of experience in Holland having worked at Willem II Tilburg and PSV Eindhoven before taking up a coaching role with the Dutch FA, where he works with the national youth teams.

It’s certainly a huge overhaul of Arsenal’s youth set-up right the way through from Under-16 to Under-21 level, and I just hope all the change’s turn out to be positive and aren’t too disruptive.

Arsenal

3 Comments

Malaysian gunner

April 4, 2014 at 12:56 am

Hopefully this 2 will tell Wenger the present matters more than the future.I aint no soccer coach but ifWenger had bought one or two decent players,Arsenal will not be fighting for 4th.
We needafresh start if Wenger fails to deliver 4th. Too muchtime has been wasted on the future potential .

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Delford Magaya

April 4, 2014 at 7:12 am

The idea is to have the right people with the right experience in Arsenal Academy, with experience in managing junior players and recruitment of junior players. It is very important for the future of Arsenal football club. In terms of planning for the future, I think Arsenal is in the right direction. Normally soccer starts at grass roots level, that is what Arsenal is doing. The club will be rewarded in few years time. If there is no proper planning, that means the club will continue to have more problems, in terms of results for the senior team. Such a massive club like Arsenal should not depend on buying, they should groom players from their academy to the senior team. It is about how you plan for the future of the club, to be successfull

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