Meet New Arsenal Academy Manager Andries Jonker: Part Two

After months of silence from new Arsenal Academy Manager Andries Jonker, he's gone and dropped two interviews in a matter of days on Arsenal Player (Check out analysis from Part One of the interview here).

This part of the interview is much shorter, but contains one or two nuggets of real interest, which is more than can be said of the tame first installment.

He's excited to work with Arsene Wenger and feels that his track record of bringing young players into the first-team fold meshes with his academy philosophy.

For me, [it's] a very important point that we have a coach like Arsene because if coach doesn't want to bring young players, you can immediately ask, 'why do you have an academy?' So I am very happy Arsene extended his contract. Of course we spoke with each other before I signed, we got to know each other and I think it's fine between us because his goal is to bring young players and my goal is to develop young players for him. So that's fine, I think.

Also, it sure doesn't seem like he has any plan to succeed Wenger as Arsenal's manager, whenever that (awful, terrible, horribly sad, depressing) day comes. He's in this academy project for the long haul and was given assurances that Arsene's successor will continue the philosophy engrained in the club.

Also, [I] asked if Arsene might leave, what kind of coach will come?' People at top of the club told me if he leaves, we will bring in another coach in the philosophy of Arsenal and won't come in a coach denying the academy. And that was very important to me because this is a long term project, and it doesn't make any sense to do this for couple of years then say the next manager can forget about youth.

He's got a ridiculous standard for success. He'll never be successful at Arsenal because his standard of success requires England winning the World Cup. HAHAHAHAHA good one, Andries.

I think it's the same for every top club, and with Bayern Munich I had the luck almost to get there. You want to be champion of your country, you want to win the cup, you want to win the Champions League, you want to win the World Cup, and you want to win the Super Cup. and if you win the five of them, you're successful. And I think working for an academy you try to contribute by delivering players help to achieve that success.