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.
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.
Gtech Community Stadium, 166 Lionel Road North, Brentford TW8 0RU
Sunday, 18th September 2022. Kick-off time: 12.00pm (noon)
(4-2-3-1) Aaron Ramsdale; Ben White, William Saliba, Gabriel Magalhães, Kieran Tierney; Thomas Partey, Granit Xhaka (c), Bukayo Saka; Fabio Vieira, Gabriel Martinelli; Gabriel Jesus.
Substitutes: Eddie Nketiah, Rob Holding, Takehiro Tomiyasu, Albert Sambi Lokonga, (Marcus Vinicius Oliveira Alencar) Marquinhos, Matt Turner, Matt Smith, Ethan Nwaneri, Lino da Cruz Sousa.
Scorers: William Saliba (16 mins), Gabriel Jesus, (27 mins), Fabio Vieira (48 mins)
Yellow Cards: Granit Xhaka, Gabriel Jesus
Arsenal Possession Percentage: 64%
Referee: David Coote
Assistant Referees: Nick Hopton, Timothy Wood
Fourth Official: John Brooks
VAR Team at Stockley Park: VAR Peter Bankes; AVAR Neil Davies
Attendance: 17,250
Because of the sad passing of Her Majesty The Queen on 8th September, this is our first match for ten days, and after today’s game, our next game will be in seventeen days time, which is the North London derby, of course. This is our first visit to Brentford since the opening day of last season, and none of us wish to be reminded about what happened on that sad day, suffice to say that we are a different team this year, and our resolve is greater.
Within minutes of the kick-off, we showed our intent when Granit Xhaka, who is our captain for the day, as Martin Odegaard is injured, ran down the left hand side of the home side’s penalty area, crossed it for Gabriel Martinelli, who missed a good chance to open the scoring from just twelve yards out. Although the home side had a chance to score just afterwards through Bryan Mbeumo, his header was weak and did not trouble Aaron Ramsdale in any way, shape or form. Slowly, we started to show our class and dominate proceedings with some fabulous footwork and passing ability, the likes of which Brentford had trouble containing, let alone stopping. The pressure we placed on the Brentford defence was only going to have one outcome, and just after the quarter of hour mark, a Bukayo Saka corner, (that wickedly curled into the home side’s penalty area) which William Saliba rose to meet before flicking a superb header into the net off the post. Five minutes later, Gabriel went to ground, but our physio ran on and attended to him before carrying on with the match. On the twenty-seventh minute, Granit Xhaka found time to take a look to see where Gabriel Jesus was positioned before chipping a perfect cross onto his head, somehow looping a header into the back of the net, to make it two-nil to Arsenal just before the half-hour mark. A few minutes later, Bukayo Saka almost made it three, and as the first half wore on, we looked like we were simply cruising. Kieran Tierney had a long range shot from twenty-five yards which went up and over the home side’s crossbar, and as half-time appeared, we were not too bothered by any Brentford attack in the slightest.
The second half started fairly much as the first one finished, with Arsenal in complete control, and just three minutes into the second half, Bukayo Saka stroked the ball off to Fabio Vieira some twenty-five yards out, who simply took a touch and whacked the ball into the back of the net via the post (again), for our third goal of the game. Complete control. There could easily have been a fourth goal a little while later but goalkeeper David Raya made an excellent save from close range to deny Gabriel Jesus his second goal of the game. Granit Xhaka received a silly, soft yellow card from referee David Coote, and just after the hour mark, Bukayo Saka’s strike from the edge of the penalty area was amazingly kept out by a flying save from David Raya. On the seventieth minute of the match, supporters were on their feet to applaud the memory of Queen Elizabeth II and her seventy years on the throne. With thirteen minutes of the match remaining, Thomas Partey was replaced by Albert Sambi Lokonga and Gabriel Martinelli made way for Eddie Nketiah, and our pressure on the Brentford goal continued, with both Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Jesus being desperately unlucky not to score within seconds of each other. Takehiro Tomiyasu replaced Ben White on the eighty-fifth minute, and we received our second yellow card of the day when Gabriel Jesus stupidly tripped Adam Hickey. And then, on the stroke of ninety minutes, a truly historical moment in the history of Arsenal Football Club happened, when Fabio Vieira was substituted for Ethan Nwaneri, who at fifteen years and 181 days, became not only Arsenal’s youngest ever player, but the Premier League’s as well! Also he is the first player to play in the Premier League under the age of sixteen. Such a huge honour for both the lad and his family. Just over three minutes later, the match finished with a well-deserved win for us, who remain top of the Premiership tonight.
From beginning of the game to the end, Arsenal were by far and away the best team on the pitch today. Our passing was crisp, our finishing was clinical, and Mikel Arteta had the confidence to give an Arsenal debut to the youngest-ever Premier League debutant as well. All this and more, sets us up perfectly for the North London derby in a couple of weeks!
Remember everyone, keep the faith, get behind the team and the manager, as this season is going to be crucial for our future success in all competitions. Stick with the winners. Our next match: Tottenham Hotspur at the Emirates on Saturday, 1st October at 12.30pm (Premier League). Be there, if you can. Victoria Concordia Crescit.
Steve
Too Dearly Loved To Be Forgotten: Arsenal v Racing Club de Paris 1930-1962 by Steve Ingless (Rangemore Publications, ISBN 978-1-5272-0135-4) is now available on Amazon
She Wore A Yellow Ribbon 