Gabriel Heinze: Arsenal's new taskmaster with a big role alongside Mikel Arteta

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Evening Standard

·10. September 2025

Gabriel Heinze: Arsenal's new taskmaster with a big role alongside Mikel Arteta

Latest addition to Arteta’s coaching team is a workaholic who is already making his mark with the Arsenal defence

Your matchday briefing on Arsenal, featuring team news and expert analysis from Simon Collings

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Mikel Arteta has assembled a sizeable backroom team at Arsenal, but it is not hard to spot Gabriel Heinze on match days.

The former Argentina defender is a conspicuous figure during the warm-up, barking instructions and even manhandling players as he puts the back four through their paces.

It is a snapshot of Heinze as a coach: enthusiastic, loud, passionate. He is also a workaholic, much like Arteta.

Heinze specialises in defensive coaching, as shown by his early days at Arsenal, but his knowledge extends far beyond that.

“I think he can contribute a lot to the defence because of his position,” Juani Carducci, a journalist in Argentina, tells Standard Sport. “But he also talks a lot with the forwards, because he likes his wingers to play one-versus-one and the inside midfielders to get into the box.”

Heinze works closely with the Arsenal defence

Arsenal FC via Getty Images

Heinze brings pedigree to Arteta’s coaching staff after an illustrious playing career that included spells at Manchester United and Real Madrid.

The 47-year-old is a proven winner and, in Arsenal’s pursuit of silverware, any wisdom from his experiences could prove valuable.

When Carlos Cuesta left in June to become Parma head coach, Arteta had to choose a new assistant to partner Albert Stuivenberg. Within three weeks, Heinze was on board in time for pre-season.

The decision to go with Heinze was no real surprise. He and Arteta have been friends for over 20 friends, dating back to their time together at Paris Saint-Germain.

Arteta has called Heinze and Mauricio Pochettino “inspirational” and said they “guided” him at the start of his career.

The pair have remained close, fuelling speculation last year that they might work together when they were photographed at a youth match in Madrid. They were pictured again in April, after Arsenal had knocked Real Madrid out of the Champions League.

Heinze mirrors Arteta’s intensity

Arsenal FC via Getty Images

Timing is everything and, with Heinze out of work this summer and Arteta in need of a new assistant, the pair have finally been reunited.

Heinze is a very different figure to Cuesta, who joined Arsenal in his 20s, rose through the ranks and was popular with players for his individual analysis and tailored programmes.

At 30, Cuesta connected with players as he was a similar age to them, and many expect him to become a top manager.

Heinze, by contrast, arrives with heavyweight credentials and a reputation as a taskmaster. That was evident during his last job at Newell’s Old Boys two years ago.

“According to the players, he was very intense and unbearable, in a good way, with the work on the field,” Carducci says.

“They also had to weigh themselves every day; anyone who wasn’t 100 per cent didn’t play. It was a love-hate relationship, some loved him, others hated him. He’s very passionate about what he does. You can tell he lives for it.”

Heinze’s last job was when he was in charge of Newell’s Old Boys in Argentina

AFP via Getty Images

Similar stories emerged from Heinze’s brief spell with Atlanta United in MLS, where he won only two of 13 games before being dismissed in July 2021.

“The training sessions were very long,” Doug Roberson, of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, tells Standard Sport. “He would make them do something over and over until it was exactly the way he wanted. Sessions went three or four hours. He worked them into the ground and that’s one reason he got fired.”

Arsenal players will not be subjected to four-hour sessions, and Heinze should flourish in an environment with greater quality at his disposal.

His intensity mirrors Arteta, who values daily input from his staff and meets them each morning before training.

Arteta moved his office at the training ground four years ago from the reception area into the heart of the coaches’ and analysts’ hub. A large table outside often serves as the venue for an 8.30am meeting, with Arteta usually arriving almost two hours earlier.

Heinze is often putting the Arsenal back four through their paces

Arsenal FC via Getty Images

Heinze and Arteta see the game in much the same way, both wedded to pressing high to win back the ball.

“He (Heinze) is known as a disciple of Marcelo Bielsa,” says Carducci. “It reflects his way of seeing football. His system never changed, always 4-3-3, with movement and rotation.”

Those in the US speak of a similar style, although Heinze struggled to implement towards the end of his time at Atlanta.

“It was a pressing system, it was a lot of energy,” says Roberson. “He was the same school as Tata [Martino].

“A build-out approach, a lot of pressure, a lot of energy when you didn’t have the ball. That is what it was supposed to be…”