Arsenal’s loanees are some of the most talked about and debated players at the club, with thousands of fans using websites, blogs and social media to put their points across on potential stars of the future.
However, few truly know the daily goings on of players at their loan clubs like the actual supporters of that particular outfit. To get the full perspective on another crop of exciting youngsters, Young Guns’ Loanee Analysis sees me catch up with journalists who follow their club closely.
To get the low-down on Carlos Vela, I caught up with Chris Lepkowski, a football writer who covers West Brom for the Birmingham Mail. He gave me the Baggies perspective on Vela.
What was the feeling when Carlos signed for West Brom?
“The feeling was one of excitement, certainly among the fans. They were in a mess at the time, Peter Odemwingie was misfiring a little and the club needed a lift.”
How has the season been, and what part did Carlos play in it?
“The season has been a great success from Albion’s point of view. Less so for Carlos. His biggest misfortune was to go five weeks without a game. He scored a very late equaliser against Wolves in Roy Hodgson’s first game, which will guarantee him cult status whenever he’s passing through West Bromwich, and then did the same at Stoke.”
“He then went about six weeks without football. Since then his appearances have been sporadic. He started against Spurs and did reasonably well but struggled against Villa. His last outing was against Wolves. He wasn’t seen after that.”
What would you consider his highlights this season?
“Scoring against Wolves and Stoke were highlights. The nature of goals were important, too; late equalisers.”
What would you consider his low-lights this season?
“His disappearance from the first-team towards end was a shame. He never settled and that five-six week break was the turning point.”
What does the future hold and do you think he’ll make the grade at Arsenal?
“I think he’ll struggle to break into Arsenal’s first team. He’s got very good ability, technique and looked a good finisher, but he didn’t offer much else. Was quite lightweight and drifted out of games too. Perhaps he needs a team who aren’t scrapping away – although Albion’s style of play is fairly open.”
Any other stats, facts or little pieces of extra information?
“Nothing really, sadly. He wasn’t the talisman Albion hoped for, but he certainly has a bright future.”
You can read all the articles in this series in our loanees area.
A good pre-season and hard work in training can see Vela kick start his season next term. His versatility is a bonus to Arsenal if Wenger continues with a 4-3-3 formation. Vela can be a very good left winger on LWF, as he did when on loan in Spain before joining up with us
We didn’t let him go to the Copa America or Gold Cup so looks like we are going to give him a last chance.
Not good enough. Wage bill needs to be trimmed.
what are you arsenal’s accountant?
No, but Paying millions of pounds in wages to a player that barely plays and won’t make it at the club is a waste of money. You want us to bring him back to the club where he’ll make another 5 substitute appearances, chip one goalkeeper and pocket millions? How is that good management? There comes a time where you have to accept a player won’t make it. He doesn’t stand a chance with the people ahead of him.
Hmmm..It’s just amazing how a player on his debut can come out an score a hattrick and then not considered not even for the bench but that is ok cuz at the time he still new to the league. Ok moving forward he comes back and against premier league teams in the cup still can score goals of real class and skill and again barely make the bench. Fast forward to this season where finally he has a preseason of sort and looking the part at the preseason games. He is not given a chance early on with all our other strikers still working on fitness par Maroune. he finally gets it against Bolton and BOOM!!! he scores. No biggy as no real pressure, right? He then gets a couple minutes again in CL action and scores 2. Wow, was that in successive games? 3 goals in 2 games and guess what happens next…doesn’t get a run out in the next couple games not even for a second. Wonder if it were Theo what would have happen (during his earlier days where he took forever to score a first goal for Arsenal and even longer to score a Prem goal). So u be the judge… Okay!
His biggest problem, along with a number of other Arsenal youngsters is attitude. The guy has bags of talent, and could be the prolific finisher that we have been crying out for. However, instead of focusing on that, he’d rather live the party lifestyle and presume his talent will carry him through.
It’s a case of shape up or ship out.
Voted down 238 times. That must be some kind of record. I guess the truth hurts. Come on, vote me down some more!
The funny thing is, I like Vela and want him to be a prolific goalscorer for Arsenal. I’m just dismayed that it is unlikely to happen unless two things happen. Firstly, he’s got to show the right attitude, and secondly, Arsenal need to start playing 442 as he certainly isn’t going to dislodge RVP (or even Chamakh) as a lone striker. That in a nutshell is the problem.
Vela is probably superior in every way, except speed, to Walcott. However, Walcott has 10x the attitude: works hard, doesn’t really go out partying, stays behind after training to work on things he needs to work on and came back from several major career setbacks to have the best season in his short career.
great great point, jack wilshere and theo walcott have completely different attitudes but they are probably the best two attitudes in the squad, maybe it isn’t coincidence they are the only english first teamers
I disagree. Theo has been given everything by wenger from day 1. Wenger was immediately happy to start walcott in big games when one of the wide players was injured, and before theo had even strung two solid performances together and was “rewarded” with a 60k pw contract. He has had one real setback in his career: being left out of the world cup squad, which is what he deserved based on his performances, and THAT is the reason he has finally started to show consistency, and he’s had a very good season.
However, had wenger shown as much faith in vela as he has in walcott, do you really think carlos wouldn’t be at least as good by now? He is much more gifted, and it’s not like he doesn’t put his all into the games he plays.
You’ve got to see how it is different for a foreign kid to come to this league, and see himself constantly overlooked. Last season he was the only fit striker in the squad for quite a while, but despite decent performances in the CL in a position that isn’t his most natural, wenger went with arshavin instead. After that, velas confidence visibly dropped for a while, and he started to look like an isolated figure at arsenal.
He was/is a young man in a foreign country, with a coach who seems to like him but has no confidence to play him – Do you really think theo would have reacted better had he been in the same situation? There’s no way to really know, but I do know that if I had to choose I would rather have had theo’s situation than carlos’. Maybe these “partying” incidents, which I believe have happened, what, twice? and both while away with the national team, could be down to the lad wanting to let off some steam. Don’t really see it as a big deal in any case.
I am afraid you have a short memory. Walcott was plagued by shoulder problems for the early part of his early Arsenal career which lead to a bit of start-stop in his progress and then there was the season following the U21s when he had all sorts of problems. The World Cup snub was the latest setback but definitely not the only one.
Vela has had his injury issues too and those would have set him back too. However, with Walcott, you felt that it wasn’t just us who was unhappy with his performances when he was at a low, but HE was unhappy too. Sometimes with Vela he does something wrong and he just shrugs, smiles and runs away. Vela is a nice guy, I’m sure, but maybe too nice for the rough and tumble of the Premiership? Does Vela care enough?
Walcott gets told by practically everyone that he is the most awful footballer on planet earth in the summer and comes back and scores a dozen goals and provides similar numbers of assists this. If Vela can do the same, great, I’ll support him completely but, if he isn’t going to give it EVERYTHING he has then there is no future for him at Arsenal and maybe in top flight football in general.
“However, with Walcott, you felt that it wasn’t just us who was unhappy with his performances when he was at a low, but HE was unhappy too.”
Being really honest, I never got that impression. He never really let on in interviews that I saw. It seems quite clear that the thing that set him on the right track was being left out of the WC squad. Had he been picked, I doubt he would have improved this much.
“Sometimes with Vela he does something wrong and he just shrugs, smiles and runs away.”
Sure, and sometimes he gets down about it. You could say the same about a lot of players. I don’t see a problem here.
“Vela is a nice guy, I’m sure, but maybe too nice for the rough and tumble of the Premiership? Does Vela care enough?”
I don’t understand. You could say exactly the same about walcott. He has been exposed to the 1st team for so long that he has gotten used to it a bit, but he still plays in a “nice” way. Whether vela cares enough, who knows? One could only speculate either way, but my view is that he has started to care less and less since he has been overlooked so often by our manager.
Most of what both of us has said is just speculation or opinion, but one thing is absolutely clear – theo survived for 3 years in the arsenal 1st team based on two or three amazing games or pieces of skill; one of those games being for england. Apart from that he was abysmal for the most part, not even average, but wenger nonetheless persisted with him and rewarded him with a massive contract.
There is a clear disparity with how he has been treated compared to others, one of those being vela.
I find it close to impossible to believe that vela would have played so badly in those 3 years, given the way he has played for arsenal when he has been on the pitch. He hasn’t always been great, sometimes he’s been quite poor, but with the minutes he’s had, he’s done a lot more than almost all the other attackers in the squad, and he has always shown a competence when it comes to the basics (something theo struggled with for a year or so while he was clocking up games) and yet he is given no opportunity to progress.
Theo may have a great attitude, I don’t doubt it in fact, but I fail to see any real evidence that vela has a poor one. In any case a good attitude should only get you so far when you play for a side that’s supposedly trying to win the title, and theo should have been dropped countless times in the past couple of seasons, but wasn’t. As a result, other high quality youngsters, like vela and merida, have been overlooked, and frankly I can think of no other reason than the nationality of the players involved.
I just don’t believe you could have looked at those three players and honestly concluded that theo was so much better, in attitude, in ability, anything, that he should have been able to accumulate over 100 PL appearances by now, with a good portion of them from the starting line-up, while these other players could barely make the bench. Based on what they have done on the pitch, they should have been considered at least equal to theo.
It’s just amazing how a player on his debut can come out an score a hattrick and then not considered not even for the bench but that is ok cuz at the time he still new to the league. Ok moving forward he comes back and against premier league teams in the cup still can score goals of real class and skill and again barely make the bench. Fast forward to this season where finally he has a preseason of sort and looking the part at the preseason games. He is not given a chance early on with all our other strikers still working on fitness par Maroune. he finally gets it against Bolton and BOOM!!! he scores. No biggy as no real pressure, right? He then gets a couple minutes again in CL action and scores 2. Wow, was that in successive games? 3 goals in 2 games and guess what happens next…doesn’t get a run out in the next couple games not even for a second. Wonder if it were Theo what would have happen (during his earlier days where he took forever to score a first goal for Arsenal and even longer to score a Prem goal). So u be the judge…
Always liked Carlos Vela..I hope he makes it..i know its a cliche but i dont think he has been given the opportunities some players have..if he doesnt make it will be ashame..he has all the ability and attributes..but then so did Quincy
Carlos has a lot more than quincy had. That guy had quick feet but didn’t always look in control. Plus his finishing was never up to it once he made the step up. Imo vela is better in every way, except that I think quincy was a bit quicker over the first few meters; more explosive, I suppose.
vela has definitely not been given the opportunities that bendtner has this season and he is a more natural wide man in my opinion, unfortunately bendtner and others have not cut it this season so why not give vela more of a chance to prove himself?
may be Vela is more suitable for the La Liga team than Arsenal
For one thing, he’s still learning that position. I would have loved to see them play him alongside odemwingie (I think this only happened once) because it seems to be carlos’ best position by a long way. Still I think he’s much better out wide than he was, say, last season.
Whenever I saw him for WBA, though, his quality was obvious. His close control is as good as it gets, and he does have a good football brain I think (although he shows it only sporadically atm). He does have a tendency to hold on to the ball too long still, which is quite normal for young players (but he is at an age where he needs to shed that now) and he misplaced easy passes every now and again, which I felt was down to lack of gametime. He did seem to get himself into a lot of good positions cutting in from the wing, and just needed to be played through, but unfortunately I felt his teammates let him down there pretty regularly. Maybe it was down to lack of vision, or maybe they didn’t trust him?
I disagree completely with people who say carlos is lightweight. He is significantly stronger than walcott (for example) and other wide midfielders who seem to do pretty well (just watch the video of him holding off tevez for proof) but his aforementioned tendency to hold onto the ball too long gets him in trouble. This was evident against spurs in the 1st half where he twice had a simple pass on, but he decided to turn and got shoved off the ball by several players. Both times he was fouled actually, but the ref didn’t call it, and on the 2nd occasion it was close to the edge of the WBA box, and was a poor decision.
Anyway, these are his weaknesses as I see them, and they’re nothing that can’t be fixed with more time on the pitch, and maybe a bit of direction from the coaches.
He has so much talent, it would be a real shame to waste it.
People talk about not giving some players enough oppurtunity yes i agree on a few but dis players also have to stand up for themselves being loaned out to other PL club is also part of being given an oppurtunity.We could also argue about the formation not being suitable but he shot himself in the foot by not going to bolton,not that he know for certain he things would have panned differently but they showed more intend in wanting him but we all know why he didnt go there
CARLOS VELA LIKE THIS PEOPLE
CHUKS ANEKE
LUKE FREEMAN
BENIK AFOBE
HENRI LANSBURY
Last chance saloon for Carlos now. I think everyone can see the potential in him so it’s pretty frustrating.
vela might not be the new henri we’ve been waiting for. but he could be the fox in the box we need with not so fancy goals but important one.some games last season we failed to win just because crosses are being wasted and no one there for a simple tape in. he’s a typical latin striker, he doesnt use strength to over power defenders, he has the intelligence to sneak in and lose his marker.
hopefully arsene will give him more games next season.
and he’s a better winger than bendtner.
Hahahahaha this must be the Carlos Vela fan club. He didn’t even make a regular starting spot at WBA and had less of an impact than Sturridge had at Bolton, but somehow you think he’ll get into the first team at Arsenal? You can thumbs down all you want but he won’t make it. Goodbye cult of vela. Say hello to cult of Denilson on your way.
dude! i am glad you are not arsene wenger.
loan move is a gamble for a player, it could turn out good like ryo and jack. because they badly needed them. it could turn out badly it doesnt mean the player is useless. i believe some loan deals today are pay as you play. when they feel they dont need a player they decide not to play him.
vela scored important goals for westbrom that kept them up and wellington had only one game at lavante and he was the best player on the pitch.
i am glad you are not arsene.
btw, i dont support vela. i support arsenal.
Gibbs didn’t have a great time on loan either and then came into the 1st team and did pretty well. Also, vela was a Di matteo signing, but the majority of his time there was spent under hodgson who, understandably, wasn’t willing to take a chance on vela. Had di matteo stayed in the job, who knows, maybe vela would have played more games.
he should have been send on loan in spain where he would have developp nicely.he is very highly ratted there (he destroy madrid while on loan at osasuna)
he was never given the chance.even after a good performance with the first team he is send back in reserve and forgotten.
wenger give hundred chance to some less talented player who let him down match after match while some are send on loan afer loan ,and reserve match after reserve match them he sold them or give them for free.
Talented boy. Was so looking foward to him joining a few years ago.
If arsenal had a strong squad, winning mentality and winning trophies then Im sure vela would get a chance to shine, but the truth is…..
“we are in desperate need of world class attacking footballers that are going to make a huge impact on the premier league next season”
Vela is not the solution.
Move him on, take the fee and spend it on the wages of someone that is going to bring arsenal back to the summit of english football.
Its time for change and that means wenger has to be ruthless. Too much dead wood and too many players that have had years to make their mark and have failed.
Vela falls in to this bracket unfortunately.
That’s like saying flamini was dead wood in 2007 (as many did) when he hadn’t really been called on to do anything.
“Dead wood” could describe denilson, eboue, (although I’d disagree) diaby, and arguably bendtner because they’ve had their shot at the first team and, at least in the opinions of many, haven’t shown that they can be called upon to do anything. Vela hasn’t even been given the chance to do that.
He needs a season on the fringes of the first team – and by that I mean *starting* games when injuries/fatigue allow, rather than being sent on with 5 minutes to go. He needs to be properly tested.
If you take velas goals:minutes on the pitch for arsenal, I bet you is it much better than almost all of his rivals for a 1st team spot. My guess is that only van persie is better.
Without a run of games, we will never know how good he really is. IMO he is a natural finisher and has great movement. I hope he stays.
He just isn’t good enough. I really liked him at first and thought he should have been given a run in the team back when Adebayor had a poor last season for us. But to be fair he has been given chances and he has not taken them. If he’s not good enough for West Brom he sure isn’t Arsenal material. You only have to look as far as his teammate in Mexico, Javier Hernandez, for comparison. United’s striker made a massive impact in just a season. Vela scored a handful of goals since 2005.
Vela just doesn’t have that determination and killer instinct like Hernandez does. His work rate is rather poor, he’s not mobile enough and doesn’t always give his best. Inconsistent, just like a bunch of other deadwood players we have (Bendtner, Denilson..). He’ll make it at a Championship side or a modest club in La Liga, Arsenal is just too big for him.
I think its all down to his confidence. When he was at Osasuna he was playing some very nice football, they trusted him and let him loose to run at defenders. I remeber watching him tear apart the best rb imo Ramos for fun. If hes given a decent run, i think he’d do a very good job.
come on guys,
you have to earn a run of games, you have to show the manager in training that you are ready to make a big positive impact on the first team.
Vela has not done this.
Jack wilshere is proof of what rewards you get if you have the ability.
Wenger said at the start of this season that it was a huge season for Vela, he failed to break in to the first team, or even come close.
He has been sent on loan and failed to make an impact. He has talent but does not impress.
Arsenal can not afford to wait around for players like vela, diaby, denilson bendtner and arshavin to fullfill there potential. This is because it has cost us big time, no silverwear in 6 years.
The players that wenger had put so much trust in to, have not flourished.
The club is going through a change, Jack wilshere has shown the whole club the benchmark for a young talented player to achieve first team status.
Arshavin has failed to cement the left attacking position for arsenal and we need someone to fill that gap and take this league by storm. Lift the dark clowds over the emirates and give us a new cult hero. Someone that you would pay admission alone to watch.
If vela can not do this for west brom then he can not do it for arsenal. Simple.
I will end my rant on a positive note.
Vela is not the future, but I think Ryo may well be.
I think we need to switch back to 4-4-2, that way people like Carlos can come into a game and play alongside a striker and not be stuck out on the wing so often.
I’d like to see him given a chance, but not as charity. I think we need him. Bendtner will in all probability leave. That’s something I know a lot of Arsenal fans are happy about though I feel we’ll regret it in years to come. But we need anther striker as a backup to RVP. A goalscorer. I hope we sign one. That would mean we have 3 strikers (RVP, Chamakh, New signing) With RVP’s injury record, I think 3 strikers may not be enough for an entire campaign, especially if we ever want to switch to 4-4-2. Vela can play on the wing, and up front when injuries strike.. As long as he shows a willingness to learn and improve, I think he should have a chance.
and thats the thing Davi, its ok to say he has not gotten a chance etc. but has he really been the first player on the pitch for training? and the last one to leave? Cos that is what is required of fringe players trying to break into a team. You have to work twice as hard as the establishment.
Walcott may not be the most naturally talented player in Arsenal but neither was Kean in United, infact Roy Kean was an awfull baboon. Vela has a million more talent than Roy Kean ever had, yea the baboon kean ended up Captaining his side. If a sack of potatoes like Crouch can make it in a Cl club how come a player like Vela with so much potential cant even shine at WBA?
PL is so hard and especially top 4 that you need to give 200% to succeed. Look at Hernandez. He succeeded through hard work. hes does not have as much natural talent as Vela(imo) but if you have the right attitude and work hard, you dont need to be unnaturaly gifted like Vela to break through.
They say genious is 90% hard work and 10% talent. You cannot become the best if you dont work harder than the rest, even if you are talented. You cannot xpect to be given a oportunity in a club like Arsenal only cos you are gifted and have talent. You have to EARN your place, show something more, show that you are special and that you deserve to wear the shirt.
Same goes for JET. Its not enough to be an English local lad. You still got to earn your respect. You can be the most talented guy on earth, if you dont work hard everyday, every minute to take advantage of that, If you are not the best in training every session, work hardest even when you feel you are not treated fair, then you wont make it. That is the harsh reality.
Becoming a PL star in the top 4 is almost an inhumane task. Not only do you need to be blessed with sick talent from birth, you also have to work hard, live the right way off the field, get enough rest, stay away from alcohol, not party and live the life of a true professional. Jack Wilshere says that is the biggest change for him, How being a footy pro is a 24/7 job for those who wants to reach the top. No matte what people say nothing can prepare you for life as a pro,he says, thats how hard and challenging it is.
Both Vela and JET will have to chose their path over the summer. Both are untaturaly gifted and would have a great career at Arsenal if they are willing to sweat, work, suffer and bleed for it. If they are willing to live a life as Professionals, with the rules and regulations which comes with that. It demands huge sacrifices to become the best. Are Vela and Jet happy to make those sacrifices? that is the question.
Look at RVP he does not eat red meat during season and only drinks lukewarm water. Thats the life of a real pro.
“but has he really been the first player on the pitch for training? and the last one to leave?”
I have no clue.
Was walcott? was fabregas? was wilshere? was clichy? was denilson? was diaby? was eboue? sagna? gibbs? ramsey? song? arshavin? bendtner? adebayor? almunia? tv? kos? djourou? – I don’t know, and neither do you.
I do know that all these players have been given plenty of chances to play, and they can’t all have been the first to training every day and last to leave.
I do know that vela shows a good attitude when he plays, and has improved quite dramatically as a winger over the past season or so, despite the relatively little first team action. Just imagine how good he could be he’d been backed as strongly as some of the others, and had, say, 15 or 20 starts this season in all comps.
Do you really think every player who has started games for arsenal this season sweats blood in every training session? It doesn’t look that way on the pitch. Wilshere, rvp, sagna, kos, TV, nasri and song are the only ones who *consistently go the extra mile.
For some reason people expect more, or assume less, of vela than the other players. Why that is, I really no clue.
Zag: Is that true about RvP not eating red meat and drinking lukewarm water? No wonder he is so brittle.
But let me add. If he is with us next year, i will support the boy 100% and hope he does well. Its AW that will decide whos hot and whos not. And i trust AW.
“live the right way off the field, get enough rest, stay away from alcohol, not party and live the life of a true professional. Jack Wilshere says…”
but mate, jack wilshere was involved in some pretty high profile stuff involving nightclubs when he first got into the arsenal team. I don’t know if that means he drinks, but it shows he’s not 100% focussed on improving as a footballer. He’s a human being too, as is vela.
It seems he’s changed his behaviour since then, but it’s not as though his chances were limited then. And let’s face it, joey barton is a top level footballer, and he’s all over the place. I know he would probably be even better if he sorted himself out off the pitch, but I don’t think vela is anywhere near that guy’s level.
Andy carroll and wayne rooney have had their problems as well, but both are doing pretty well. Again, vela is nothing like as bad.
Hopefully he’ll be given more opportunities next season and it’s simple – if he takes them and plays well; keep him, if not; let him go. I don’t think it’s fair to judge him too much on what happened on loan at WBA.. he wasn’t given the opportunity unlike Sturridge at Bolton for example
1.Whats with all the diaby bashing. How can you put denilson and bendtner in the same league as Bendtner? Diaby does well for us after he gets games then gets injured.
2.Vela is better than Walcott but Walcott has more pace which is an attribute. If Walcott was slower he would never play over Vela as he is a better footballer. However, theo has MAGIC, that crazy moment when he produces genius(CL vs liverpool anyone? barca?) Theo’s potential is far greater than velas. The fact that he has poor technique and is still more effective shows this.
With that said Vela cant play in a 4-3-3. He just cant beat anyone or shoot from far out. But he cant hold up the ball, or handle being marked by 2 defenders. He can only blossom in a 442 where he can ‘pop’ up unexpectedly. I would give him one more season in the Carling cups and a few FA cup games to adjust his game. then sell him if he doesnt make the grade.
TO BE GIVEN A CHANCE OR NOT TO BE GIVEN AN HONEST CHANCE!!! It’s just amazing how a player on his debut can come out an score a hattrick and then not considered not even for the bench but that is ok cuz at the time he still new to the league. Ok moving forward he comes back and against premier league teams in the cup still can score goals of real class and skill and again barely make the bench. Fast forward to this season where finally he has a preseason of sort and looking the part at the preseason games. He is not given a chance early on with all our other strikers still working on fitness par Maroune. he finally gets it against Bolton and BOOM!!! he scores. No biggy as no real pressure, right? He then gets a couple minutes again in CL action and scores 2. Wow, was that in successive games? 3 goals in 2 games and guess what happens next…doesn’t get a run out in the next couple games not even for a second. Wonder if it were Theo what would have happen (during his earlier days where he took forever to score a first goal for Arsenal and even longer to score a Prem goal). So u be the judge… Arsenal to the world!!
Vela’s time at WBA is a mystery to me. He had a meh first game but soon after scored two very important goals on very late subs that more than likely kept WBA out of regulation. Bottom line: he was given the same chicken scrap minutes at WBA and still made a difference. Why wasn’t he utilized after those performances? I don’t know.
did anyone watch afobe with the hudders yesterday?
i think its wrong to judge a player on loan to a lower team. benik was running for the ball everywhere and getting kicked all over the pitch. i am sure at arsenal he doesnt need to do that coz jack and cesc will serve him with great passes.
the same with wellington at lavante, just one game he played but suffered to keep the ball.
personally i wouldnt judge our loanee playing with lower division clubs anymore.
the point is not wheter Vela is bad or not. The point is wheter he shows enougth to make AW want to pick him and wheter he sulks like nicky when he does not get picked or wheter he picks himself up and keeps working.
I dont know if how he preforms on training, i dont know if he shows much or litte, or if he is sukly or not.
My point is AW knows, if AW deemed him ready to go he would be in the first team. AW sees him every day, knows his personality, his strenght and weekneses.
simple put AW knows when the boy is ready. There is a reason he is not in the starting 11 every week. We do not know that reason, AW does. he must have done something to make sure hes not included. Same as JET. Lets just hope he does enough to get in next year.
As i said he does not have to prove to the fans hes good enough,. he has to prove to the manager, the coaches and his team mates hes good enoug, Obviousley he has not done that cos if he had he would be on the team sheet.
You can ague as much as you like, in the end its upto Vela to do exactly what Arsenal wants him to do or find himself out of the loop. thats how it is. Convince AW you are good enough or bugger off….
Joey barton is a good footballer but he would never play for a top 4 club. He has maximised maybe 95% of his potential. The lat 5 percent is what divindes the good from the absolut best.
He doesn’t suit the 4-3-3. He can play wide left as he did for Osasuna but he’s mediocre there. He’s a striker by trade. We actually saw the best of Vela (and Bendtner) in a 4-4-2. They had some great games together in the CC and linked up brilliantly at times. If we stick with the 4-3-3 I can’t see Vela ever being quite good enough. Mediocre on the left and too slight to play a lone striker role.
I believe in a 4-3-3 he’s best equipped to playing as the RW cutting in on his left and finishing or creating. I reckon he would be lethal there but ONLY after his confidence has been restored. Only Wenger could do that.
P.S. He scored the PL goal of the season imho. I’m sure you all know which one i’m talking about. Team goals get nowhere near enough praise in this country unless Man Utd or the Spuds score it!
Swansea would be a good place for Vela to go next season. He’s likely to get some good game time (they’re in need of strikers) and they play a similar shape and style to Arsenal.
Chicarito and Vela are interesting comparisons. I’m sure Vela would be a better player now if he played for Manure.