football | Thursday, April 20, 2023 6:10 PM

Silvestre picks Mikel Arteta for Manager Of The Year ‘no matter what’

Devang Prasad

As the Premier League season inches closer to what should be an exciting end, we sat down with four-time winner Mikael Silvestre to discuss who could be the players to bag the end of the season awards.

The former Manchester United and Arsenal defender gave his take on who should be named the Player Of The Year, the Young Player Of The Year, Manager Of The Year as well as the players and teams that surprised him, both positively and negatively.

In this article:

Player Of The Year
Young Player Of The Year
Goalkeeper Of The Year
Manager Of The Year
Player that surprised him
The teams that surprised him

Player Of The Year

Despite Martin Ødegaard racking up 11 goals and seven assists for table-toppers Arsenal, Silvestre picked Kevin De Bruyne as his Player Of The Year.

He mentioned that he was tempted to pick the Norwegian midfielder but went with De Bruyne, who’s 15 assists are the most in the league so far.

“I’ll have to go with Kevin De Bruyne for the Player Of The Season. His influence overall at Manchester City is tremendous and his stats are amazing with both goals and assists.”

“I was tempted to go with Martin Ødegaard but when I look at the numbers, Kevin De Bruyne is ahead of him for me.”

Young Player Of The Year

Silvestre’s choice for this award is Arsenal’s starboy, Bukayo Saka. The Frenchman explained his choice, saying that the Hale End product’s impact has been big and he has been unstoppable this season.

“Bukayo Saka is the Young Player of the Season for me. He has been fantastic. He had a slow start but once he got going he was unstoppable. He has a lot of goals and assists.”

“He is not only able to dribble, he also has a good end product and he has had a big impact for Arsenal. He definitely deserves that.”

Goalkeeper Of The Year

Silvestre went with yet another Arsenal player for this award, saying that Aaron Ramsdale should be the top choice, owing to the important saves that he’s made as well as the ball distribution that is key to the way Arsenal play.

“For the Goalkeeper Of The Season, I have to go with Aaron Ramsdale. He has made a lot of amazing and important saves.”

“He keeps Arsenal in the game and he has been very influential and his distribution is very excellent as well.”

“Ramsdale has been consistent and to be where Arsenal is right now it’s very important to have a good goalkeeper.”

Manager Of The Year

With Arsenal battling Manchester City for Premier League supremacy, a season after they missed out on a Champions League spot, Mikel Arteta will definitely be in the conversation for this award.

Despite Arsenal’s title bid getting a bit derailed, Silvestre believes that Arteta should win this award no matter what the end result of the league is. The Frenchman praised the turnaround that has happened under Arteta especially pointing out the importance of squad discipline.

“Mikel Arteta is the Manager of the Season for me no matter what happens and if they win the championship or not.”

“The way he has been able to maintain and restructure Arsenal is great and it’s not easy to compete for a Premier League title.”

“He has changed the dynamic at the club. They struggled before but he has been able to get everyone on board.”

“He also released their captain, Pierre Emerick Aubameyang, so he has had a big focus on their discipline, which has been a pleasure to watch.”

Player that surprised him

Silvestre picked his compatriot William Saliba as the player that has surprised him the most. He mentioned that he was surprised by how quickly Saliba accustomed to life in the Premier League as well as the maturity that he has shown at a young age.

“William Saliba has surprised me a lot this season. Coming to a new league for him and adapting so well is not easy.”

“Despite his young age he has shown maturity and he wins the majority of his challenges.”

“He has had a very good season and he has also been picked for the national team, which is impressive.”

The teams that surprised him

The former French international picked Newcastle as the team that surprised him positively. Similar to Arsenal, Newcastle’s turnaround from being relegation strugglers last season to a top four team this season has impressed Silvestre who gave credit to both Eddie Howe as well as the club owners and executive management.

“I have to go with Newcastle for the team that has surprised me the most in a positive way. How they have been able to maintain their position and have been a strong force in such a short time is impressive.”

“They were fighting to avoid relegation last season and now they are fighting for a spot in the Champions League. I have to give a lot of credit to the new owners, the people behind the scene and of course Eddie Howe.”

“They have recruited very well and it’s a pleasant surprise to see a historical team in such a big turnaround.”

He then picked Leicester as the team that he thinks has underperformed, saying that their steep decline has been very surprising as he expected them to be a mid-table team before saying that not signing new players hurt the Foxes this season.

“Leicester is the team that has disappointed me the most. They have underperformed and they even had to change their manager.”

“It has been a surprise to me that the team has declined so quickly. I was not expecting them to fight for relegation.”

“I think they made a mistake by not signing that many new players. You need both refreshment in terms of new players but you also need to challenge the players that are already there but maybe it wasn’t possible.”

“But they still have quality and I was expecting them to be a mid table team. They have conceded too many goals but attacking wise they still have enough quality.”