Frank Arnesen gives in an interview with supporters magazine Hand in hand a look behind the scenes at Feyenoord. The technical director has now been working at Feyenoord for over a year, where he has to deal with a small budget and high expectations. Feyenoord can make great strides, especially in the field of scouting, Arnesen realizes. No fewer than three scouts left De Kuip in the past year.
The quality of scouting has been a point of discussion at Feyenoord for years. “When I came here, Feyenoord had three scouts, including four. I have never seen so few scouts in a club”, says Arnesen. Michel Beukers (retired after more than 25 years), Mika Lipponen (switched to PSV) and Steven Aptroot (put on hold) then left. “Actually I only have one scout now, Björn Hanssen. He does ninety percent Scandinavia with players from 16 to 21 years old. I can now rebuild the scouting.”
“Scouting includes: seeing, hearing and saving”, says the Dane, who in the past worked as technical director of PSV, Tottenham Hotspur, Chelsea, Hamburger SV, Metalist Kharkiv, PAOK Saloniki and RSC Anderlecht. ” live scouting (visiting matches, ed.), and for that you have video scouting where you can watch more than two hundred competitions a day after the match, from Ecuador to Finland. And the most important thing is data collection to rule out things too. You can compile profiles and then start working with the three forms of scouting. We are now compiling that. “
“It’s not about me, but about Feyenoord”, the policymaker emphasizes. “I’m also not here forever, so I have to make sure there is something that everyone can go through with.” Arnesen does acknowledge that through his experience he is connected with a large number of agents. His network benefits Feyenoord. “I use all agents in the interest of Feyenoord.” In the summer Arnesen brought João Carlos Teixeira, Mark Diemers, Uros Spajic, Christian Conteh and Bryan Linssen to De Kuip. In the winter, Lucas Pratto came on loan from River Plate; Francesco Antonucci, who is currently rented out to FC Volendam, will join the selection in the summer.