Category Archives: Arsenal

Bukayo Saka the Prince of Assists

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If Kevin de Bruyne is the Premier League King of Assits, then Bukayo Saka is the Prince.

It might have been a quiet start to the season for Arsenal’s Star Boy, but he is starting to come to the boil.

Only de Bruyne has more assists this season than Saka as the Englishman has become a key creative outlet for Arsenal.

After 7 Premier League assists last season, Saka already has 4 this. A clear indication that he is becoming more influential in the build up.

It is crazy to think that he only turned 21-years-old a couple of weeks ago – and only Cesc Fabregas has more goal involvements at the same age.

It is perhaps a sign of how much better we are compared to last year that Saka’s performances have gone unnoticed.

Whilst last season, he was our go-to man. We heavily relied on him to create, score, win games.

Now we have the likes of Gabriel Jesus, Gabriel Martinelli, Martin Odergaard and Fabio Vieira stepping up. The improvement of others makes it appear that Saka has gone backwards.

But a quick look at his WhoScored ranking shows he is performing better this season than last.

Last season he had an average PL rating of 7.06. This season his performances average 7.33.

In 2021/22 his 7.06 was enough for him to be our highest rated player on WhoScored.

This season his 7.33 has him 4th (Jesus, Martinelli and Odergaard ahead of him).

The team improving will force Saka to remain focused and continue improving.

If he finishes with a 7.33 ranking and is our 4th best player, it will mean we have had a very good season.

It won’t be long until the Prince of Assists becomes the King of the Premier League.

Keenos

“Btec Silva” puts in A* Performance

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20 minutes into the Brentford game and there were a couple of moans from people behind me.

“His just a Btec Bernardo Silva” was the expert opinion of the fella behind me when describing the early stages of Fabio Vieira’s first Premier League start.

By the final whistle, Vieira’s A* performance saw him awarded Man of the Match.

It sums up the fast-food world we live in: where everything wants everything now and instant judgements are made.

For a start, being a Btec Bernardo Silva isn’t a bad thing.

We are shopping in the market below Manchester City. And with Mikel Arteta’s tactically philosophy being closely aligned with Pep Guardiola’s, it only makes sense the players we sign are “lesser” versions than those playing in the North-West.

Fabio Vieira is just 22-years-old. And what a talent he looks. And I am not too upset with the comparisons to Bernardo Silva.

Silva is now 28-years-old. He is at the peak of his powers and now one of the most effective attacking midfielders in the Premier League. Vieira is 6-years his junior. He will continue to improve, continue to adapt to the Premier League. And as long as he shows the same desire and work rate as Silva, he will quickly progress from being a Btec version of his compatriot.

The last couple of years, we have suffered from a lack of creativity.

With Martin Odergaard now having Vieira as competition, we finally have depth in that position.

I look forward to the pair of them playing in tandem at some point.

Enjoy your Wednesday.

Keenos

Book Review – David Dein: Calling the Shots

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In the winter of 1994 the good ship Arsenal, guided by George Graham, hit the rocks. ‘Bung’. The word had never been heard before in football. A ‘bung’ was something you put in a bottle. All of a sudden, it was about to become common parlance in footballing terminology. Ken Friar said that George had told him that £425,000 was put into his bank account which he didn’t expect and didn’t ask for. George had dealt with the Norwegian agent, Rune Hauge, in the purchase of two players from Scandinavia – John Jensen and Pal Lydersen. 

It is important to understand how transfers worked back then. George was the main driving force, with a great track record of spotting and recruiting hits. If he needed backup on the financial, legal, negotiating or administrative side, both Ken Friar and I were on hand to offer our support. Ken had been involved at Arsenal since he was a boy and nothing usually got past him. My business background and contacts were all part of the big picture where needed

[Rune] Hauge had paid money into George’s bank account without the club’s knowledge and George came to Ken to own up to it – to front up, as his lawyers recommended. He wanted to put the wheels in motion to pay that money back to Arsenal and because it was a taxable situation it needed to be discussed properly. It was not a situation that we as a board had come across before. We held an emergency meeting and members were polarised. Some members immediately wanted to dial 999. I was not one of those.

David Dein was vice-chairman of Arsenal for 24 years. His time at the club straddled the old game and modern era.

Instrumental in the establishment of the Premier League, Dein’s time begun when managers called the shots when it came to transfers. They would decide on a player, do the negotiating and the directors ratified the decision.

By the time he left the club in 2007, the football landscape was very different with Directors of Football, Agents and Super Agents.

David Dein: Calling the Shots is the long awaited memoir of one of the most influential men in Arsenal (and football) history.

It is the story of how Arsenal became a modern super club, written by the man who was steering the ship.

Part memoir, part inspirational meditation on leadership, teamwork and how to invest in people. It tracks the full story of David’s remarkable life and career to date, recounting never-before-told stories from the inside.

Read the stories on the signing of Ian Wright, how being too good looking stopped David Ginola being an Arsenal player and the moment Dein found out Dennis Bergkamp could not fly, as well as the inside story on what happened behind closed doors with the George Graham bung scandal.

Dein was not just a shareholder and employee of The Arsenal, he was a fan.

Often found in the stands at reserve, youth and ladies games (he was President of Arsenal Ladies Football Club), his ownership of the club came out of love. He was more than just an owner to the players. He was a friend.

Calling the Shots: How to Win in Football and Life is available now.

She Wore