Osasuna coach Jose Angel Ziganda decided to rest Mexican striker Carlos Vela for his sides vital relegation clash against Real Mallorca.
But he also realised his squad does not have the quality to leave players of the calibre of Vela out, so included the on loan Arsenal forward on the bench. Ziganda took up the opinion he needs Carlos fresh ahead of the final run in, and brought Eduardo Dady in place of the 19 year old.
Osasuna started brightly and it seemed did not miss Vela in the early few minutes, Azpilicueta cut inside and blazed over after a nice passing move. Mallorca then came back Fernando Varela shot over after great work from Daniel Güiza. Then Mallorca’s leading marksman Güiza smashed wide after a fantastic pass from Angelos Basinas.
The end to end play continued as the game was half an hour old, Hector Font’s ball to Juanfran was judged offside, and Astudillo suffered the same fate as he latched onto Nacho Monreal’s through ball. Eduardo Dady had clipped an effort wide of the target in a spell of dominance from Osasuna, but they were then caught on the break.
Juan Arango a player Cesc Fabregas urged Arsenal to sign, skipped forward and played Daniel Güiza in, he kept composed and slotted the ball beyond Ricardo to give Real Mallorca the lead on 32 minutes. Osasuna hit back instantly, and Josetxo saw his volley clawed out of the net by Miguel Moya.
The half ended with further Mallorca chances, Angelos Basinas curling effort found only the stand.
Half Time – Real Mallorca 1-1 Osasuna
Ziganda issued a rallying cry during the interval and Javi Garcia then tried to work his side a goal, but Mallorca’s tight offside trap stopped the chance from developing. On 52 minutes and with the points slipping away a double substitution was made.
Carlos Vela > Astudillo
Javier Portillo > Eduardo Dady
Following a corner Osasuna broke away and the two nearly combined to bring Osasuna level, Carlos Vela raced forward and found Javier Portillo, who drilled his effort straight at the week. More possession followed for both teams before the visitors finally bagged an equaliser.
Francisco Juanfran picked out Javier Portillo, and the former Real Madrid man placed the ball beyond the goalkeeper with a left footed shot. Game on for both teams, but the importance of the points then showed as several heated tackles between the sides, saw a flurry of fouls and stoppages.
Then Portillo turned from hero to villain, as he was sent off for a dangerous two footed tackle, meaning Osasuna would have to battle on with 10 men. Vela went down the middle and was playing almost as a loan forward. Plasil picked Vela out and as he tried to turn away Nunes fouled the Mexican for a free kick.
However they could not hold onto the ball, and Mallorca went straight down the other end and won the game, substitute Óscar Trejo slotting home to grab the three points and leave Osasuna in real danger of relegation.
Vela did not have much time to get into the game, but showed decent touches and could be a vital impact player from the bench for Arsenal.
Full Time – Osasuna 1-2 Real Mallorca
Article By – J.Sanderson
good article by the way who was player of the month for april
Jack Wilshere mate
I’ve watched Vela several times this season and he will do well at Arsenal. I can see him starting some games as a left sided MFer or as a support striker.
The game may be faster but the passing will be vastly superior to Osasuna’s direct tactics. He holds the ball well, is not afraid to attack an opponent and defends well from the front.
There has been something of an agreement that Vela did not have good performances in his last two games, and thus slipped to the bench for Osasuna’s crushing 2-1 loss at Mallorca.
I watched both those games and want to add a couple of observations.
The first is that Osasuna’s style doesn’t suit Carlos. He’ll be far more at home with Arsenal, where the ball is moved quickly. In those so-called “poor” performances, quite often Carlos wanted to break and initiate an attack but his teammates dithered trying to get him the ball.
The same problem occurs when Vela makes a run. At one point in the Real game, he outran everyone down the left wing and blazed in toward goal, but then he had to hesitate.
Osasuna doesn’t have much pace as a team, so Carlos is often faced with the dilemma of taking a low-percentage shot with the keeper unbothered, waiting like a kid in the park for someone to come help him — or finally just chip the ball toward the middle of the box and hope that some red shirts arrive.
Even though he’ll be moving UP to a tougher league and a more competitive team, I believe Vela will be a more effective player at Arsenal. I think he’s one of those guys — Cesc would be the same — who raise their game when there are better players around them.
We’ll have to wait and see about his stamina — he’s a wisp of a kid — and find out how good his decisions are. That latter item is really what’s held back Theo Walcott longer than necessary.
Now Theo’s been out there enough that the correct options are coming to him naturally, which is perfect. He’s going to be a star.
With other players (Cesc), correct decisions seem to be a God-given gift. We’ll have to wait and find out where Vela fits in that category.
But the boy really has talent. He can play the game — and he’ll play it better at Arsenal.
Oh god… Vela, Barazite, Rosicky, Cesc, Denilson, Diaby, Traore, Randall, Wilshire, Gilberto, Merida, Eboue, Jay Simpson, Hleb (will not believe he is gone until I see him break contract, and see Inter break the gentleman’s clause they have with us over transfer policies)…
Frankly, with the depth we will have, even with the departure of up to 3 of those listed midfielders/wingers… next year should be exciting. Personally, I hope Simpson fills Eboue’s void, with Vela backing Rosicky… give me one midfielder of creative talent with a knack for free kicks and dead ball situations & a stoic center back. That’s all I ask for. 2 players and a handful of youngsters as, “one(s) for the future.”
The future is exciting of course, many of those players mentioned, Barazite, Merida, Traore, Randall, Wilshere, Simpson are all Reserves players, and inexperienced.
It is depth.. but many of them are untried at this level.
Oh god… Vela, Barazite, Rosicky, Cesc, Denilson, Diaby, Traore, Randall, Wilshire, Gilberto, Merida, Eboue, Jay Simpson, Hleb (will not believe he is gone until I see him break contract, and see Inter break the gentleman’s clause they have with us over transfer policies)…
Frankly, with the depth we will have, even with the departure of up to 3 of those listed midfielders/wingers… next year should be exciting. Personally, I hope Simpson fills Eboue’s void, with Vela backing Rosicky… give me one midfielder of creative talent with a knack for free kicks and dead ball situations & a stoic center back. That’s all I ask for. 2 players and a handful of youngsters as, “one(s) for the future.”
Danny M said this on May 8, 2008 at 7:01 am
These are some of the wisest words I have seen for a while from an arsenal fan. I think the same, it is not the end of the world to loose Flamoney and Hleb, they are definately not difficult to replace … cheers
Forget “the wonder of you” Arsenal’s song next season should be Tomorrow Belongs to Me! ( someone just needs to rewrite the nazi bit)