Loan signing Jeffrey recently spoke to RedMatchday Magazine:

They do say that football is getting faster every season and if you look at the Aberdeen team, you ’ll see just how true that is. But you never can stand still in this game, so we’ve injected yet more pace into the equation with the arrival of Jeffrey Monakana on loan from Brighton. He seems to be pretty happy to have joined a team that is very definitely on the move …

“There are a lot of very good players in the dressing room. There is so much pace in the team. This is one of the quickest teams I have come across.

“I have told the boys that the training is the best I have come across during my time in the game, including when was a youngster at Arsenal. The training is very, very good and the standard is so high. You have to be fully prepared every day and focussed. If you don’t do well in training then there is no way you will be involved on a Saturday.

“I am really enjoying my time here. There is a great feel about the place. Everyone has been good to me. They have all made me feel very welcome. It is hard to understand some of the boys sometimes because there are a lot of players in that dressing room with strong, strong accents, particularly the Irish boys!”

Monakana’s voice is very much from England’s capital, the legacy of growing up in London.

“I grew up in Tottenham in North London. The environment I grew up in was kind of crazy. There was a lot of gang culture. Luckily, I had a good family behind me to steer me away from trouble and they got me involved with football at a very young age.

“It would have been very easy to walk into the wrong crowd. Most of my friends at school were involved with gangs, but luckily for me, after school I was able to go and play football. My parents were big on taking me away from any potential trouble and they also made me play other sports as well.

“I was actually a Manchester United fan growing up! However when I started playing for Arsenal at a young age, I changed my allegiances. I got to go to all the Arsenal games when I was involved with the club and my dad and mum were also massive Arsenal fans.

“Before then, I played for a team called Broadwater Farm and then the person who ran the team, he had a connection with the Gunners, and one day he just came in and told me I was going to Arsenal. I was only seven at the time! I trained with them and then signed a contract when I was nine – that’s the youngest age that a team can sign you.

“There was so much emphasis on technique at Arsenal. You had to be technically very good. In the training sessions, there was a lot of repetition, just practicing technical skills over and over and over again.

“I felt like when I got to 17 I was almost playing within myself, I was not playing like how I used to, not playing with the same flair and that is when I decided it was the right time to move on. I want to get to back to playing how I did as a youngster.

“The other problem in England is that you don’t get so many opportunities to play as a young player. Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester City don’t really play their own youth players or even have any on the bench. Some clubs in the English Premiership do bring through home grown players so you can’t have a go at all the clubs.

“At Arsenal there were young players from countries all around the world. The funny thing is when you are there, you still believe you can make the breakthrough and get into the first team squad. You still have the belief that you can make the step up. It is only when you leave and look at the situation from the outside that you realise just how difficult it actually is for a youngster to get a chance.

“I know now how hard it would have been for me because when you look at the first team you see guys like Theo Walcott who is still only 25 or 26, Alex Oxlade-chamberlain is 21 or 22, so they will be around for a while yet. It is almost impossible unless they move, and it is unlikely they will as Arsenal are one of the biggest clubs in the world.

“It is very, very hard but there so many very good youngsters at Arsenal and the other top Premiership clubs. I still speak to some of the young kids there and they still have the dream.

“But for me personally, I thought it was best to leave the nest and to go out and make a career for myself. Other players have followed my route – Anthony Stokes left Arsenal and now he is doing well at Celtic.

“There are a lot of youngsters that go out on loan and do very well but never get a chance to play for the first team. At the end of the day, it is up to the manager if he wants to bed in younger players.

“Of course there are a few who make the grade. Hector Bellerin did get a chance recently when there were some injuries. I was in the youth team with him. It was good to see. I hope to see more players making the breakthrough.

“I also played alongside Chuba Akpom who is coming through. He did well in preseason. Jack Wilshire was not in my age group in the Academy but I still played with him quite a bit. Even when you played with him at a young age, you knew he was going to make it. Everyone knew! When he was 16 he was the top scorer for the U18s and the reserves. It was crazy! There has been a lot of scrutiny of his performances but hopefully he can kick on because he is a very good player.

“I knew Emmanuel Frimpong, who did play for the first team as he like me was at Broadwater Farm. There was also Jay Thomas who is now at Bristol City. He is one of the most gifted players I have ever seen but there were just a few things that let him down. I really felt he should have been an Arsenal first team player. He certainly had the ability.

“Arsenal was a great place to learn the game. There were a lot of guys from the same area as me, so you were in amongst a lot of friends and it was one big family. I was there from nine to 18 and we had a very good side. I just started to stop enjoying my football and lost my confidence so I spoke to my coach Liam Brady. I told him I wanted to leave and even though it was against his wishes he helped me and I moved on from there with my career.

“I went to Preston and very quickly regained my confidence. As soon as I went there, my game changed. I started producing skills that I had not been able to produce during a game before. It was weird, everything went for me. I started scoring goals.

“My mentality has now changed. I now have the mentality to go out and be positive, to play with no fear. So when I came on and made my debut against Celtic, I did not feel apprehensive. It was a special moment but the occasion never got to me. In that kind of situation when you come on as a second half substitute you just want your first touch to be good so you can get yourself into the game. That is all you are concentrating on. When you have done that and feel settled, then you try and make an impact on the game.

“I know that when I have the ball at my feet, I can make things happen. So I just try and play my game and if I do that well, then it will affect the team in a good way.

“Coming off the bench to make my home debut at Pittodrie against Ross County was also a great moment. I thought I was going to get an assist to my name as well when I put David in. I was lying on the ground when he rounded the keeper and I was saying to myself “an assist that is decent”, then he hits the post! We had a laugh about it in the changing room afterwards! He apologised. Seriously though, David is a very good player and it is good to see him getting some goals in recent weeks which will help his confidence and make him an even better player. His touch is excellent. As an attacking player myself I can appreciate just how good a player he is.

“It was odd when I first arrived because I had not really started preseason but the boys here had already played a couple of games! So it has taken a little while to get up to speed. I also had a couple of minor injuries which affected my progress. You just have to get your head down and work hard to catch up. You just have to make sure you are in the right frame of mind to overcome these things. Even when I had my injury, I did not feel down or anything. I was just focussed on when I hit get my opportunity to make sure I was ready to take it.

“I got brought here to play so I have to make sure I am ready and right to play when that chance comes along. All the hard work I have done over the past few months will hopefully pay off now and I can show people on the pitch what I can do.

“I would not say that Scottish football is that different to the game in England. The only difference is that you get a bit more space. I have not played in the Championship yet but in League One there is no space really. Everyone is just chasing the same ball. For players like myself, it was hard to create the space that you need to able to get on the ball and run at people. In the Championship I think there is more space because the players are technically better. It would be off a similar standard to the game in Scotland. There are a lot of good players up here.

“The biggest difference in the players isn’t the technical ability but the athleticism, I think they are ahead in England. The young players at Arsenal are very strong and very quick. That is how it is with all the young players at the clubs in England. There are a lot of big strong players. Even the technically gifted players, they have to adapt to that so they eventually land up bulking up.

“In England there is less room because everyone is physically so strong and wanting to get close to you so they canuse that strength. It is almost like players are trying to bully you so you have to be able to look after yourself. Luckily for me I am naturally quite well build so I can hold my own!”

The months ahead are crucial for Jeffrey as he looks to get a regular start at Pittodrie before decisions are made on his immediate future when his loan expires in January. He’s clearly taking that in his stride though.

“I am really enjoying my time in Aberdeen but I am not even thinking about what will happen in January. I know it is a cliché but I really do take each week as it comes and concentrate on one game at a time. As I speak to you now, all I am think about is the game against St Mirren on Tuesday and thinking about my role and thinking about how I can improve my game and get better.”

(interview copyright RedMatchday Magazine)

(interview copyright RedMatchday Magazine)