Just how good enough is good enough? At what point does a player become Arsenal quality? Who decides whether he is world class or just a squad player? And are these judgements set in stone, or can a player move from one state to another? These questions are prompted by two things, the first being a vague conversation I became involved in yesterday about Jack Wilshere, the second in light of the reaction to the possible re-signing of Carols Vela.
I am fascinated by Jack for a whole variety of reasons, and it is possibly easiest just to list them.
- He is only 22
- He has on occasions been hailed as England and Arsenal’s saviour
- He is capable of the most sublime football
- There is a touch of the street fighter about him
- He is a fans’ favourite
- He scored the best team goal that anyone will ever see
- Arsene Wenger has described him as one of the most talented young players he has ever worked with
- He has spent the last three seasons either injured or returning from injury
- He is no longer a favourite of all the fans and some don’t see him as an automatic starter either for The Arsenal, or, more strangely, for England
Not so long ago there would have been little debate about his quality, which would have been seen as top, top, or world class. He was our very own Superjack, and when much else in The Arsenal world was slightly rocky, that at least was certain. But now it would seem it isn’t, or at least it wasn’t to the person I was talking to yesterday, nor indeed to Stuart Pearce who pronounced that Jack wouldn’t kick a ball in the World Cup. I happen to think they are wrong, and maintain my belief that he is an outstanding talent, but the point of this post is not to argue his, or any other’s case (that can safely be left to Twitter and the comments section)but rather to explore what lies behind the judgments that are made about a player’s ability.
Clearly the proof of the pudding is in the playing, but often it is more than that, especially as only a very small number get to see players play for a full 90 minutes with their own eyes. For those that watch whole matches on the TV their view tends to be determined by the shots the cameramen choose to take, and by and large those shots follow the ball. If, say, a quarter of the value of a player to his team is what he does when he isn’t directly and immediately involved in the play, then it is clear that judgments are not based on the full story. Given that even more of those judgements are based on recorded highlights, and that those highlights rely heavily on editorial decision making, with all the bias that such selections inevitably entail, then we can see that most fans’ view of a player is already compromised. Throw into the mix the comments of pundits, who may or may not have an axe to grind (old allegiances run deep, and few past players are totally in love with their modern successors) and suddenly the claim that player X is not world class can be seen to be distorted.
The judgements become even more tainted of course when assessing the value of a transfer target, or when the player in question is being debated in the school yard (yes, I know school yards no longer exist, but what is a comment on football without an appropriate cliché), because then a kind of macho one-upmanship comes into play. Signing Vela is of absolutely no use to that kind of fan. He will not cost nearly enough money (anything under £25m these days is seen as a “Lol, poverty”), he does not come from a well-known club, he has already been dismissed as a failure once in his Arsenal lifetime, his YouTube videos are a little underwhelming, and perhaps most crucially of all, he isn’t talked about in reverential terms by those pundits who are persuaded to talk so glowingly by the agents they spend so much time with. If the dismissal of Vela can be accompanied with a sneering comment about Wenger dithering about in the bargain basement again then so much the better, especially if the twitterliverer of that comment can at the same time proclaim that only he properly understands just what players Arsenal need to even get top 4 again.
So Vela has no chance, and I suspect that a little like Giroud, even if he does come he will spend his life being criticised for what and who he is not , rather than celebrated for what he is and what he does offer. It apparently doesn’t matter that he has improved significantly, because whilst it is apparently fine to say that a player has regressed or hasn’t lived up to his potential, it is not allowed for anyone to improve. And it is that aspect that I find saddest of all, because I believe the biggest obstacle anyone can have to living their life successfully is to settle for a fixed and pessimistic mind-set. The whole basis of coaching is to help a player unlock his potential and find improvement, the whole point of training is to make progress from where you were yesterday. The best coaches dare to see the potential in players, the outstanding ones know how to help them unlock it. Choosing to adopt a growth mind-set is the most positive difference you can make to your life, whether you are a professional footballer, or gainfully employed in some other walk of life or simply waiting to leave school and to find a job that really suits you – or even, like me, just a student of the game.
If Vela returns he will be exciting, as will Balotelli (and the thought of him coming just makes me smile – I don’t think he will, but it would be kind of fun to see what happens if he does, and there is, in truth, only one manager on the planet who I would trust to get the best out of him).
Eighteen months ago, when Jack Wilshere was driving The Arsenal forward to a Third Round Cup victory over Swansea few would have imagined it was Aaron Ramsey who would make the most progress over the next year or so – but he did, and it was due to his courage and determination, but also to the unshakeable and visionary faith of his manager. I would not offer you any odds at all on Arsene Wenger helping Jack, or any of the others he chooses to sign, unleashing that potential too. And while this may well come back to haunt me, I do want to finish by saying that fitness permitting, I believe that Jack Wilshere will be as good a player as we have ever seen at The Emirates.
Today’s post was penned by @foreverheady
Positively Arsenal 
“Shame they couldn’t both lose! Not only do the dutch have the greedy badger, they also have the diving old man robben. But it will probably be the usual flash in the pan from them only for the massive ego’s to take over and they self destruct once again.”
As usual I agree with Passenal
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“Poisongas”
I tried Flabbergas & Fartygas but I think you win
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The ones I really want to see lose are Brasil. Apart from Neymar being way over hyped, their team is full of Chavs and Spuds. I hope they get eliminated by Argentina in the next round.
Chelsea signed Cesc for 30 million and 200k a week for five years. There’s no way we were going to give him that. Not when we have Santi, Ozil, Aaron and Jack in the team. And not when we have players like Zelalem pushing into the first team. Chelsea have to pay that kind of dough because they have shit for scouts. And they can afford to keep their very good academy players out of the team.
Dex, I never got what the fuss over Costa was all about. He’s not particularly strong and he’s not dominant in the air. Personally, I think Giroud is a better finisher and craps all over him strength-wise.
————–Costa
Hazard—–Cesc—–Willian
———Matic——-Mikel
————–Giroud
Santi——–Ozil———-Theo
———-Mikel—-Aaron
Which of these two line ups inspires the most fear?
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Nathaniel Chalobah is a very good young Chav player. He has real talent but it will be wasted there
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The Cesc Fabregas story: “For years I was having a great time sleeping with Kelly Brook, but then I decided to move on and chance my arm with Michelle Keegan. However it didn’t really work out so after a few years I desperately tried to get back with Kelly, only to find she’d moved on to younger, better and more talented suitors, so to my eternal shame (even though I really tried to put on a brave face) I ended up with Susan Boyle.” The End.
This is a comment I read from the Daily Heil.
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i still expect spain to make it out of the group. but as i predicted before what you all saw last night, they wont make it to the semi final. tiki taka was made for messi. the reason it worked for spain in the past was the fear the other teams have when they play spain as a result of the successes tiki taka brought to barca.
now that it is begining to fail at barca ( as a result of messi’s injuries/ loss of form ) it is bound to fail anywhere else.
as for costa, i still expect him to do well at chelsea because costa thrives in a team that plays on the counter. even though i dont rate him as highly as many people do. he is not falcao, cavani, suares or aguero. just a very good striker who is good at taking his chances when it is created for him. but his movement inside the box, especially when it is crouded has always been poor.
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He flew through the air with the greatest of ease
Van Persie the man put Spain on her knees
A perfect run forward and acrobatic stunt
A flying dutchman who left us and we now call a cunt.
Could end up being the goal of the tournament.
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Pass
I forgot about Benjamin Robben the old baby!
Still, my fondness for Holland predates both him and van twattie!
George; I think Mata is as good as, if not better than Cesc, if we go by his chav stats at least; 20 goals and similar amounts of assists.
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I have changed my tune (again) in terms of who I think we should sign as a striker.
Balotelli is my new fave! He may be crackers, but he has bags of talent and could be turned into a world class striker by AW.
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Mario now Dex? Who was it previously?
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Well, I still think Remy would be a good signing AS WELL as a central striker.
And I have long felt that Lukaku would be the kinda striker Wenger could do wonders with, but JM would never allow that to happen! Mandzukic is very similar to Giroud so would be decent addition.
But Mario? He has the ability to be a very special player, who can make something happen out of nothing, who Wenger could work with to improve him loads still. His bad boy reputation may put some off, but I think he will mature out of that soon enough, with the right manager.
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Dex
I’ve always been of the philosophy, that even the baddest boy can be changed with the right social worker or influence of someone significant in their life. I would have Mario as well.
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Dex: you are spot on about Balotelli. I think he is one of the very few out there who could actually be better than those we already have.
NB: thank goodness you never met the right social worker. The world has enough safe water colourists as it is.
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Looks like the Marquis messed up the transition.
No “oil in the engine” to quote the great man of that midfield. To be fair some are wondering if the thirty plus Robben had been on the Juju juice. But Spain started with no Pace, and they also had Gazprom-upon-Chelski’s £80M super strike force! Villa may be off to the MLS but surely after his performance in the CL final he was worth the start over those who aren’t fully fit or are just shit?
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I saw Mad Mario in the game when Arteta scored that screamer.
He was the worst player on the pitch by a distance. So far out of the game that a blubberless Santos (as in a fit Santos) felt compelled to tell him what’s what. I’m not sure that he is the answer.
Sanchez? Now you are talking. He’s quick! So it won’t surprise many of you to know I’ve been dreaming of his signing since he was at Udinese. However I suspect that he won’t be moving so far North.
So, I’m not bothered. Looking forward to seeing Campbell later on. Remember the jip the disingenuous and proven revisionists gave poor old Dick when he signed him up.
Don’t mess with the Law. Heh.
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Forgive me, but I just posted this on UA, and thought you might like the content:
Stewart Lee is a satirist. One of my favourites. Lee recently had a series on the BBC. The episode that perhaps makes my posting ‘not off topic’, is the one entitled “Context”.
This won’t be everyone’s cup of tea. I think youngsters and/or AAA will detest this humour. For everyone else, I’d urge you to at least check the relative football bits, which start at about 19 mins, with extra special attention to the vignette at the end of the show (26 mins.), which sums up the whole refshite thingy:
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x1ln1fb_stewart-lee-s-comedy-vehicle-s03e04_fun
Shrug your shoulders, oh yes.
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I have said it before, Mario is a decent footballer and on occasion he can pull something out of the hat excellent and unexpected.
It is all the games in between when Mario is nowhere to be seen, not contributing, not standing up when things are not going his way, and more importantly not contributing to the team. Its is disappointing. He is an experienced player. Playing like a sulky juvenile is poor.
It ain’t all about Mario and what Mario wants.
I’ll pass.
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I was reminded yet again last night what an excellent player Robben is
The opposing side know what he is going to do, a left footed player who plays on the right flank, he will cut inside and shoot.
And yet the longer the game went on last night the less efficient Spain were in stopping him.
It was almost the same set of Spanish players who had muzzled Robben in the Bayern v Madrid games six weeks ago – and yet last night he tore them apart.
Very very good – I am impressed
Mario watch that – learn
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Costa has all the makings of being the next Adebayor. He’s a decent striker whose one spectacular season fools everyone into thinking he’s better than he really is. Like Ade, he’ll be flogged off to a financially dope club for £30m and will not live up to his price tag.
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So much great football insights on PA as usual but none more than since the start of the world cup. It is easy to rush to conclusions after one game but the most striking to me the attacking intent of most teams. Chile, Netherlands and Mexico come to mind. None of that cagey 1:0 approach to an opening game.
On the other hand it is noteworthy that teams who are stuck to rigid, orthodox tactics that served them well in the past did not have very convincing games. Spain and Brazil come to mind. While neither of these teams can be ruled out of the finals, imo age seemed to have caught up with Spain. Adding Costa doesn’t make them a better team as he thrives in a counter-attacking setup, not in Spain’s Barca-like tactics of controlled possession.
Very dissappointed in Cameroon. That 4-5-1 formation versus Mexico was abject. Apart from a couple opportunistic attenpts by old man E’too, they never seemed like scoring. Alex Song playing a Central Attacking Midfielder? How did AW snaffle £15M from Barfa in that transfer?
The only negative about the world cup is it is a feeding frenzy for the transfer whores. Once a player has a great game they literally drop their pants. Speaking from experience, all that glitters is not gold.
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Mario Balotelli is too much of a headache for what he’s worth. He has all the volatility of Suarez and half the genius.
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Gains and Coll,
While he is incredibly talented, my impression of Mario he is overly individualistic and self-absorbed. As Coll noted he doesn’t wok hard enough especially when things aren’t going his own way. He would be a very huge risk for AW. I wouldn’t be surprised if we passed but it is noteworthy we made a run for Suarez. So obviously we have an appetite for taking the chance with very special players.
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I was thinking the same thing about Song when I was watching the game yesterday, Shotta. Song, Cesc and Hleb looked fantastic for us and petered out once the checks from Barcelona cleared. Why is that? For starters, Wenger looks for qualities in his players which suit his tactics. He never buys a player just for the hype of it like everyone else. This is why I trust that there must have been something off about Cesc for Arsene to pass on him.
As far as the Vela transfer is concerned, Wenger would have to be a moron to pass on him when he’s worth perhaps three or four times what he’s being bought for. This transfer is so good that it’s going to make the club eight or nine million. How the eff does one make money when buying a player? In Wenger I trust.
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Interesting quotes from Del piero on Ballotelli. Who knows? Not me.
Perhaps the appeal of following in Wright & Henry’s footsteps, the mentoring by leaders (sssssshhh, it’s a secret!) like Arteta, Mertesacker (obviously Del Piero and others have helped encourage him to perform for Italy) and not forgetting the gaffer would all help him find his focus? But as Anicoll says above that’s a lot to hope for from an experienced player. I think he is still younger then Wrighty was when he signed from Palace, so perhaps he does have time on his side?
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Suarez is a petulant little shit, buNguyen fact that he has a family makes him stop before going completely off the boil. Balotelli is a spoiled rich kid who lights fire works inside his house. Mario is going to be a hell of a player when he settles down.
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Hleb, Rosicky and a younger Flamini provided the oil for the F word to excel in that team of 08.
Hleb was crucial for that midfield, his dribbling would distract opponents and create the time and space in the final third for the others to do their stuff. This player, one of the most unique dribblers I have seen play football in England ended up at Birmingham Fraud FC under the cleaner and Specialist in what Moyes might describe as Fergussion Football, McLeish. What an absolute plonker. When will they learn *shakes head*
Which is what made having players like Arteta and Mertesacker, professionals who’ve seen the game and who understand what The Arsenal is and what it represents, so good.
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Shotta,
I’m curious to see how Germany line up. Rumours are they are going to play four CBs at the back with Lahm in midfield. Seems strange to me that they’d move him when they have other options, but there have been injuries to others like khadeira and Gundogen in CM for them, so we can see and understand the logic. Losing Reus is a big blow (Pace!!), but they have some other options.
Belgium under the unimpressive Wilmots have also been playing four CBs. And not playing Vermaelan at CB. Clearly TV5 is back in reasonable form after so long with injury trials, clearly he’s proven in the he past he’s a better CB then the other options Belgium have chosen in the recent warm up games. Could that be a call that scuppers any hopes for Belgium making decent progress, or is it simply a case of TV5 being the best option they have at LB? Surely you’d play your best CBs at CB?
Can either of these teams progress without decent FBs? As Henry pointed out yesterday when he sliced through the hype, both passes from Blind were brilliant. It was the performances from the Dutch No.7 (?), Blind and Robben that really turned the game in their favour. Credit to the coach I guess.
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“Hleb’s shins would be left black and blue after every game”, so within reason it is fair to conclude that it wasn’t just the ice creams that appealed to him. Which takes us back to Jack’s “injury” problems (yes, I am aware that young midfielders returning from long long injury strife may have a little less confidence and may tend to dribble into dead ends at times, rush passes etc. – see Ramsey). It is something we have seen before.
When will the self-declared Redzone Experts be able to discuss this excessive and hacking, beyond the norm, that we see consistently in Arsenal games (and recorded now in the stats compiled by various refs, most not Arsenal fans, on Untold Arsenal / Referee Decisions)?
Not anytime soon is the correct answer.
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So, if Arsenal do sign Mario marriage and kids have to be included in the contract. Hehe.
This transfer malarky is easy. Sign him up!
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Now Cesc is going to have Hazard and Willian creating space for him. And once he has that space he has a plank like Costa waiting for a pass. Hahahahahaha!!!!!!
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Colombia-3 v Greece-0. The transfer gigolos must be creaming over James Rodriguez, clearly the man-of-the-match. But he is owned by deep pocketed men at Monaco. Interesting player in a very athletic Colombian team.
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Brilliant article, foreverheady, really well thought out.
@ G-P
” What happens to some people when in comes to football?”
I ask myself this every day.
@ Aman June 13, 2014 at 10:01 am
@ merlot
Excellent point
Sums it up.
@ foreverheady June 14, 2014 at 12:54 am
“Obviously early days, but Chelsea not looking quite so special having signed Costalot and Poisongas after tonight’s result”
Costalot and Poisongas – ha ha ha ha ha! Love it.
Looking forward to seeing Joel Campbell in a bit.
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I see Uruguay are up to their usual tricks, but I don’t hear the same handwringing that accompanied the Brazilian going down easily the other night. Instead Andy Townsend is lauding him for going down as soon as he felt the arms around his waist.
Campbell is looking good so far – I hope he gets a goal before one of his team mates gets sent off!
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if cambell doesnt play for us next season, i will lead a one man protest to the emirates. this guy is the suares we’ve been looking for.
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Anyone watching Costa Rica v. Uruguay? Campbell has been really superb the first 35 mins. Very talented. Hope he gets a goal as he certainly deserves it. Best player so far in the match. Quick running, hold up, linking, sizzling shot, decent in the air, full of energy and physical threat, even some good dribbling. I like what I am seeing!
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Someone needs to create for him–he’s created afor himself and others. If Ruiz can play better, Campbell will score–he really is showing quality.
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I think Cavani is a bit overrated. Lots of his goals for Napoli were penalties and he got one here too. I think Forlan is the real star.
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Layksite, Campbell’s game looks more refined than Sanogo’s, I think. But too early to really say as I’ve hardly watched him.
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Good game in Fortaleza – very even, Costa Ricans playing with growing confidence as the game goes on – Uruguay disjointed
Just a little bit of luck for the Costa Ricans and this game will explode
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I agree Campbell is really standing out on that pitch. As for Cavani, I’ve never understood the hype about him. Had Olly G made such a swing and a miss at a good opportunity we wouldn’t hear the last of it.
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LSG
i have been waching him since he moved here. i dont miss any oppurtunity to see his game especially in the national team. i remember saying it back then at aclf that he is the closest thing to thierry henry among all our players. i repeat it again, this is the suares we have been looking for. infact suares wasnt this good at his age.
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Fantastic goal from Joel!
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No luck at all there – excellent goal
Costa Ricans roaring
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campbell gets his goal. what a super talent!!!!!!
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Fantastic stuff from Costa Rica!
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No luck there either
Football eh ?
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second for costa rica!
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Joel Campbell has announced himself at this world cup – England better beware.
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It’s been a while since I’ve said this but Cavani needs a bloody good haircut
Come on CR – get the third and make it safe
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Herr Brick a fine referee
One for the final if the Germans don’t make it
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Fantastic from Campbell–big entrance onto the world football stage!
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My word – Joel Campbell. He’s put the expensive Cavani to shame!
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