COMMENT: He didn't miss, did he? Edu and that wide-ranging interview this week from the US. Arsenal's technical director didn't name names - though also left nothing to the imagination. And for the supporters, it was great preseason gift...

Away from the Premier League spotlight. Away from the local press. It's supposed to be the players who let the mask slip and tell all when on foreign soil. But this week it was Edu, Arsenal's Brazilian technical director. Sitting down with touring journalists at the squad's training base in Florida, Edu basically let it all hang out. There wasn't much prodding, there was no need. Edu was in his element. On form. And broke down what he found upon his return to the club. The plan he put together to rebuild the place. And where he expects this project to take Arsenal in the coming years.

And as we say, he didn't miss. Arsene Wenger wasn't named, but his infamous claims of a top four finish "being as good as a trophy", were lambasted by his former midfielder.

"We cannot accept it," declared Edu. "That's why I was really, really hurt when I arrived (in 2019).

"I said, 'That's not the mentality of this football club. What is happening? Everybody is comfortable, everybody is OK, OK, OK...' F*** you."

F*** you, Arsene? It's strong language, though also accurate. Edu simply articulating the slide the club and it's culture endured in those final years under Wenger. Arsenal had gradually found itself a place of mediocrity. Of nearly enough being good enough. And as this column has often stated, if you're treading water in the Premier League, you're sinking.

So that was Wenger's card marked. But Edu didn't stop there. Then came the players. Again, no names were raised, but it was obvious by the profile he put together who the Brazilian was describing.

"If a guy is performing and has a big salary, that's not a problem," said Edu. "When the player is 26-plus, big salary and he's not performing, he's killing you.

"You don't have a valuation to sell the player, the player is comfortable — Arsenal, London, beautiful, everything is fantastic — and a good salary. How many players with that kind of characteristics did we have in the past? Eighty per cent of the squad."

Edu celebrates scoring for the Gunners at Highbury in 2003

Edu would go on to discuss paying off these coasters to get them away from the club. Mesut Ozil and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang stick out like a sore thumb. But Edu has also overseen pay-outs for Sokratis, Shkodran Mustafi, Sead Kolasinac and Henrikh Mkhitaryan, while Aaron Ramsey was allowed to come off contract. Eighty per cent? Well, from what we've seen depart over these past two years, you can see Edu is getting pretty close.

Furthermore, Edu admitted the process is still not over: "Tell me how many players in the squad we have with those characteristics (of being over 25 on big contracts) today? I can tell you next summer (we won't have as many)."

Bernd Leno? Hector Bellerin? The clean out is continuing. For Arsenal. For what we've seen these past two years under Edu and Mikel Arteta. This must be historic. Unprecedented. Yeah, errors have been made along the way, but with this interview, at least Edu has taken the Arsenal supporter through the process and the planning behind it.

As we say, this has been a preseason gift for Gunners fans. Edu taking the supporter inside the planning room. Detailing everything he has put together - in co-operation with the board - since his return in 2019.

There's no need to speculate or second guess. Edu has laid it out in front of us. Passionately. He cares about the job. But beyond everything else, he cares about the club. It's status. And the overhaul of the squad Arteta inherited shows Edu is demanding no-one is bigger than the reputation of Arsenal FC. Aubameyang. Ozil. Ramsey. Arteta, as the front man, bore the brunt of criticism as he and Edu moved these stalwarts on. But after Edu's words this week, it's clear what sections of the Gunners support were highlighting at the time was also being felt in the offices at London Colney.

Personalities. Politics. Edu doesn't do that. He'll slay a sacred cow if he has to. It's nothing we haven't heard or seen from the stands at Emirates stadium. But now those fans know they have someone in the front office who feels the same.

Again, Edu will make errors in the market. That's football. That's life. No-one gets it 100 per cent right. But fans now know the plan. They know it's in action. And it's one being driven by a director who insists nearly enough is not good enough.

This interview from the other side of the world was a gift for Arsenal fans. A blueprint in detail of what has driven these changes over the past two years. The supporter may not agree with everything that has taken place, but Edu has made sure every Gooner knows why such decisions were taken - something which is pretty rare in today's game.