Is Carlos Vela's Arsenal Career Over?

Carlos Vela

In November 2005 the father of then 16 year old Carlos Vela announced that his son was on his way to Arsenal, having signed a 5 year deal, commanding a transfer fee of around £2m. Albeit not really starting at the club until 2008, due to work permit issues. Five years after originally signing, his Arsenal future was in doubt. A year after that it appears to be non-existent.

In a question and answer session at the Emirates today, Arsene Wenger had this to say about his strikers: "We lose players like Chamakh and Gervinho to the Africa Cup of Nations, so hopefully touch wood we do not get any injuries to our strikers. But if an opportunity turns up in that department then we will buy." Vela is undoubtedly a talented striker, a glance through his goals in an Arsenal shirt show that much, but he has never seemed to be able to put in the right performances at the right time. Arsenal fans have often only seen his best when he has been wearing a Mexico shirt. Currently on loan at Real Sociedad, Vela seems to have found his feet in Spain, with two goals in three games, including the fantastic overhead kick against Malaga, pictured below. 

Vela scores a stunner on loan at Real Sociedad

Capable of playing through the middle or wide left, Vela still is an exciting talent, but things have never really clicked for him in N5. A hat-trick against Sheffield United and numerous cheeky chips have shown the Arsenal fans what he can do, but he's never really had a run of games to prove himself. With such a talented player on the books, I can't help but feel that Arsenal would be better placed to look to recall Vela from his loan spell, rather than looking to splash the cash on a new player. Prices are, of course, always inflated in January.

With Marouane Chamakh being reported as increasingly unsettled at the club, Niklas Bendtner wanting away and Park unproven there may be opportunities for Vela through the middle at some point soon. Andrei Arshavin also seems increasingly likely to leave, being well and truly behind Gervinho in the pecking order - though he will have the ACN period in January to prove himself - there may also be opportunities for Vela on the left of the front three in 2012/13. Personally, I feel that it would be a real shame to see him leave, I have always liked him as a player and still believe that he can make it at the Emirates; so long as he gets a run of games. If he doesn't get the chance to succeed at Arsenal, I can definitely see him becoming a top player somewhere else, another one that might get away.

Should Vela be given another chance at Arsenal? Comments or Twitter as always!!

The Arsenal Back 4

Santos clutches his injured right ankle vs. Olympiacos

Yesterday Arsenal confirmed that summer signing Andre Santos will be out for around three months, following the decision to send him to Brazil for surgery after damaging ligaments in his right ankle in the Olymipiacos game last week. This news compounds Arsenal's defensive problems, with Kieran Gibbs and Bacary Sagna all out injured too. Both Jenkinson and Gibbs are around two to three weeks away from any return to first team action and Sagna is unlikely to return before January - although he tweeted yesterday that he expects to be back running soon.

In the 1-0 victory over Everton, Arsenal fielded 4 centre backs and it showed. There was a real lack of width, the Gunners struggling when attempting to work the ball wide. Many are also unconvinced by the pairing of Per Mertesacker and Laurent Koscielny in the centre of defence. It must be said that they played much better as a duo on Saturday than in their last outing together. Koscielny had been providing cover at right back in recent weeks, but was shifted into the centre of defence to allow Thomas Vermaelen to provide cover at left back. This combination worked alright, but Johan Djourou did not look comfortable at full back. I personally feel that reverting back to the centre half pairing of Mertesacker and Vermaelen with Koscielny at right back would be a sensible move. Koscielny definitely is more comfortable going forward and providing the width to work with Theo Walcott in attack. 

In order to do that, the issue of who plays left back comes to the fore. From an attacking perspective I think that the solution is simple and is Ignasi Miquel. From what we saw against Olympiacos he is comfortable going forward – he provided the original cross in the build-up to Arsenal’s goal – however he is an inexperienced player. If the game this weekend was not against Manchester City, then I would have no issue whatsoever with starting the young Spaniard. He has had some game time this season, getting a good run out in the 2-0 reverse against Liverpool and some good performances in the Carling Cup. All these things suggest that he is ready to be given a chance at the weekend, his assured performance against City in the League Cup can only count in his favour, and I feel that he would help to provide some of the width that Arsenal will need to create chances at the weekend. It will be a very tough ask to work opportunities on goal if everything is going through the middle of the pitch.

Looking beyond this weekend though, I believe that it would be sensible for Wenger to look to bring in some cover in the full back position for the second half of the season. With two capable left backs in Santos and Gibbs a loan move is probably most likely and most sensible. I have seen suggestions that Wayne Bridge should be brought in from City temporarily, and I feel that this could well be a sensible option. With a sizeable amount of Premier League experience, and some in the Champions League he may well represent the best short term solution with Gibbs unlikely to be fit until January (and an unconvincing injury record) and Santos now out for the majority of the season.

Who do you think should be brought in as cover? Is it even needed? Let me know on http://twitter.com/#!/Goonernl or in the comments below.

Mixed Messages from the FA

On a day when many have screamed hypocrisy at the FA about Wayne Rooney, this isn't really about that, this is to talk about some of the other things that the FA is saying one thing about, and doing another. Like coaching.

To start this, I need to give you some of my own background. I am 17 years old and a Level 2 football coach. Almost all of my coaching is on a voluntary basis, though I occasionally do some paid work for my local football league club's community department. I give up my Saturdays to coach at my local grassroots club, my lunchtimes to coach younger kids in my school and I give up any afternoons I have free from lessons to coach kids at my old school. I do this for nothing, yet it has cost me nearly £300 to get to the level of qualification I have. Some people will be thinking that that is a lot, which it is, but my county FA offer courses to under 19s for half price. The reality is that with a Level 2 you're not going to be coaching much more than grassroots football, but will have spent £500 or £600 to get there.

I can understand the cost of these though, the need for administration fees, the need to pay for a course venue and for a course tutor. Where it becomes ridiculous though is when you look to progress further up the ladder, to get your UEFA B Licence. That will cost you somewhere in the region of £1000. The FA talks of how it wants to increase the number of grassroots coaches there are in England, yet the UEFA B costs that much. To put things into perspective, until January 2011 the UEFA B equivalent Level 3 Certificate in Coaching Football could be completed with a county FA for less than half the cost by an adult, and for me, I would have been able to do it for £200. What justification can there possibly be for that increase? Not only is the course now far beyond what I and the vast majority of grassroots coaches can afford, but I am no longer able to go on the course, because of new age restrictions. You must now be 20 years old, rather than 17 a year ago.

The FA says that there is fewer than 10% of the number of UEFA B qualified coaches in England than countries such as France, Italy, Spain and Germany. I can't understand why. The cost in Spain is almost exactly the same, so it's not that. The FA must be getting something else wrong somewhere though for there to be such a significant difference.

Another cast that has gone up recently is for the re-branded FA Coaches Association. In it's new guise as The FA Licensed Coaches Club, it costs £20 more than last season for the same package, with nothing really different other than the look of the website. The website is - by the way - woeful, it looks nice, but the content leaves much to be desired. I read part one of an article on the guided discovery approach to coaching, which was informative and interesting, and promised part 2 next week. A month and a half later part 2 still hasn't materialised and my email moan 2 weeks ago hasn't even been acknowledged. That is poor.

Another issue with FALCC is the necessity for CPD. I was of the opinion that this was a really good idea, but then I saw how much it was going to cost to do the relevant CPD each year. As with everything else the FA does, it's not cheap. Last weekend it was the FALCC's annual coaching conference at Wembley, for which tickets were originally on sale for a mere £69.95 for Level 1 and 2 coaches or over £100 for UEFA B, A and Pro licence holders. Cheap. Obviously not a best seller either, as halfway through last week I received an email offering me a ticket for half price. For the FA's big grassroots coaching event, that should be the envy of everyone, the top ticket in town, to be offering the tickets at half price, six days before the event, something must be going wrong. It's not like the conference had a bad line up either, with speakers such as Sir Trevor Brooking, Gareth Southgate and Stuart Pearce. I think that the FA have gone wrong with the pricing. Again.

In the world we live in, life is more and more expensive. I've been making a loss even when I've been doing paid coaching paying for my petrol to get to work and back, yet the FA has increasing revenue streams, with their foreign TV deals being renewed for a reported £48m this week. To me it seems that they have the resources to be able to offer the likes of the FALCC conference to members for nothing, to provide free CPD opportunities - after all, it's the FA that will benefit in the long run, with better players coming through the ranks and into the England set up.

So I really do think that what the FA is saying is all posturing, sounding good for the press. I'm yet to see any evidence to back up their claims over how hard they're trying to improve grassroots football. They're all about making money. I just think that it would be nice for the press to start asking the FA what is actually happening to improve the quality of coaching at grassroots level and the number of qualified coaches at grassroots clubs. It would be interesting to see what they could come back with.

BREAKING: van Persie enters contract negotiations

van Persie has 104 Goals for Arsenal

Arsene Wenger has informed BBC Sport that the club has entered negotiations with star striker Robin van Persie.

The 28 year old Dutchman has hit nine goals in 13 games so far this season, and 30 goals from 36 games in 2011. With just 18 months left on his current contract, speculation has been rife that Arsenal's latest talisman would be on his way out of N5 at the end of the season - or possibly even in January.

The news will be of great comfort to Arsenal fans, since his return from injury after Christmas last season, van Persie has been truly on form, reaching 100 goals for the club just over a month ago.

Following the sales of Cesc Fabregas and Samir Nasri over the summer, speculation over his future intensified, numerous papers suggesting that he was wholeheartedly dissatisfied with the situation, and would be refusing to sign a new deal. Arsenal's #10 has been linked with moves to the likes of Real Madrid and Manchester City.

If he does resign, this will be a major boost for Arsenal fans, especially following Thomas Vermaelen's recent decision to extend his contract and Theo Walcott's indications that he wants to do the same. According to the BBC Wenger said of van Persie's contract: "He has 18 months to go and I'm confident he'll sign a new deal. I'm always confident." All that now remains, is for Arsenal fans to wait nervously to see that he does put pen to paper.

How long should Wenger try and tie van Persie down for? How much should we be offering? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below, and through Twitter; @Goonernl

Arsenal 2 - 1 Bolton Wanderers; The Good, The Bad & The Ugly

Arsenal yesterday made it through to the last eight of the Carling Cup for the ninth year in succession. A Gunners side with 11 changes from the weekend managed to overcome a strong Bolton side, with goals from Andrey Arshavin and Ju-Young Park cancelling out Fabrice Muamba's opener.

Newly resigned, Thomas Vermaelen made his return from injury, lasting 84 minutes before being replaced due to a slight calf problem. And Nico Yennaris put in a solid debut display at right back. Bolton also fielded an understrength side, with 9 changes from their 2 - 0 loss at Sunderland at the weekend, Garry Cahill and Darren Pratley the only ones to survive.

The first moment of danger came when Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain was set free by a magnificent ball from Emmanuel Frimpong, but he slightly overworked the ball, taking a couple of touches too many, and wasting the opportunity. He ended up harmlessly crossing over the roof of the net.

 

Former Gunner Muamba

celebrates after making it 1-0



Arsenal's next chance came from Ju-Young Park, who exchanged a neat 1-2 with Yossi Benayoun near the halfway line, before driving deep into the attacking third, drifting towards the centre of the goal, before testing Adam Bogdan from fully 25 yards, the Hungarian pushing the ball away with a good save, down to his right.

Arsenal then won a free kick, about 30 yards out, on the right hand side of the Bolton goal. Arshavin set up Vermaelen for the pile driver, which he hit with tremendous force, with his left foot, which scored so many goals in 2009/10, forcing Bogdan to make another good save from a shot with real sting in it. The first half was all Arsenal. 

Arshavin giving advice
to AOC as he celebrates

That changed after the break though, Bolton scored just two minutes after the restart, Frimpong losing the ball to Muamba in the midfield, who then drove forward, exchanging a 1-2 with Pratley in the box, before fiercely lashing home, into the roof of the net from 10 yards.

Arsenal responded just five minutes later, Oxlade-Chamberlain dinking a delightful ball over a defender to Benayoun, who then freed the influential Arshavin who carried the ball into the space that the retreating Zat Knight left. The diminutive Russian eventually slotted the ball between Kinght's legs, and in at the far post. 1-1. With better defending, the chance would never have been there, Knight should have held his line, rather than retreating and giving Arshavin the space to shoot. On yesterday, I can see why Bolton are having a poor season so far.

Just  three  minutes  after that, and nine   minutes  after  going  behind,   Ju-Young Park scored his first goal in an Arsenal shirt. Park made a run, but Arshavin didn't release him, he then got back onside, and made a good run to Arshavin's left, the ball was played to him, and he made no mistake, curling home a beautiful effort from 12 yards (If you haven't seen it, think finesse shot on FIFA!). Bogdan - who had a decent starting position - could do nothing about it, the ball nestling in the back of the net, in off the post.

Park celebrates his first Arsenal goal

No more goals were scored, but Arsenal rode out a couple of defensive scares before the end, Lukasz Fabianski came worryingly close to yet another goalkeeping howler, flapping at Chris Eagles 35 yard drive, only deflecting it onto the roof of the net, a save which should have been bread & butter for a Premiership goalkeeper - either palmed down and caught on the bounce back up or caught first time.

Fabianski did find time to make up for that save (which the BBC have down as "unorthodox") denying Klasnic superbly at the near post, after his defence had gone missing; again. Moments later, Klasnic again threatened, finding space in the box, but firing miles over under pressure from the arriving Ozzy Ozyakup (on for the injured Frimpong), from seven yards - think Bendtner versus Burnley.

Bolton again threatened, when Japanese substitute Ryo Myaichi was forced to make a sublime recovering challenge, stopping Garry Cahill from shooting, having found space in the Arsenal penalty area.

Despite these late scares, Arsenal did manage to hold on, and have now progressed to the quarter finals for each of the last nine seasons. Not a bad record given the teams which have been fielded in that time.

The Good: Andrey Arshavin; he had a really good game, tracking back and working hard throughout. He got the goal he deserved for his performance. Now it's up to him to carry that type of performance on for the rest of the season.

The Bad: Thomas Vermaelen's injury; sadly he was forced off in the 84th minute (handing a debut to Daniel Boateng) Wenger said afterwards that "he wanted to come off - I think he was just a little tight having not played for a while... he will be a bit short for Saturday." It does sound like he will miss the Chelsea clash, although others have returned quicker than expected in the past.

The Ugly: Seb Squillaci and Lukasz Fabianski; both have easily got enough experience to be playing better than they are. Fabianski had another couple of nearly-howlers yesterday, and was at fault for the Shrewsbury goal in the last round. Squillaci is even more experienced, yet went missing in defence yesterday on numerous occasions, it could be argued that all the Bolton chances I've mentioned he was at fault for. The spaces being exploited were in his section of the defence.

Another thing that wound me up yesterday was that no-one went to close the ball down when it was passed back to Bogdan, he had all the time in the world to make his kick and they were consequently fairly accurate. Bolton didn't afford Fabianski that pleasure, and were closing him down before the ball even reached him. Consequently his kicking was decidedly dodgy and inconsistent.

Were you at the game? What did you think? Follow me on Twitter (@Goonernl)

Arsenal 0 - 2 Liverpool; Thoughts + The Good, Bad & Ugly

Today, we saw yet another weakened Arsenal side, but a side which looked like it might manage to get all three points right up until the 70th minute. With an understrength defence which handed a full debut to youngster Carl Jenkinson and played Bacary Sagna at left back, and a midfield containing only one player with any real experience and another player making his full debut - Emmanuel Frimpong - few expected the Gunners to mount much of a challenge. For Arsenal supporters the subject of defeat and what would come next was being discussed before the game had even kicked off. Transfers too, were again a topic of conversation especially about Samir Nasri, a man about to start a match which many think will be his last in an Arsenal shirt.

Despite their much hyped problems, Arsenal began well, playing the ball around better than they have for a long time, they looked more assured than recently, their passing was slicker and they grew in confidence as the game went on. Emmanuel Frimpong slotted in nicely, he looked as good as suspended Alex Song, but was naive, not yet experienced enough to know what he can get away with and what he can't. This naivety resulted in two silly bookings, reducing Arsenal to 10 men, and (in my opinion) costing Arsenal the game. An injury to Laurent Koscielny early on resulted another youngster, Ignasi Miquel, being introduced into the Arsenal defence. Liverpool were wise to his inexperience, and striker Andy Carroll immediately started to play on him, putting him under pressure, but on his league debut Miquel coped fantastically, looking solid throughout, impressive enough, I think, to call into question Arsenal's need for another centre back. Samir Nasri too, showed why Arsenal are so desperate to keep hold of him, putting in a very good performance in midfield, the best he's played for a while too. A man who looked under pressure before kick off, squatting - seemingly praying - in the centre circle, something I've never seen the Frenchman do before. Despite this his performance was more than one would expect from a player who apparently wants out, creating his fair share of chances, nearly back to his tricky, lively best.

The game was fairly even until the red card, which from where I was sitting looked 50:50 but not too bad, those with the benefit of television replays suggest that it was a poor challenge for which Frimpong deserved to go. The pouring rain summed up the mood amongst Arsenal fans and players, the fight seemed to desert them a little and despite Henri Lansbury's introduction to add some steel to the Gunners' midfield again, Liverpool soon found a way through, Miereles and Suarez combined in the box, Miquel tried to clear the Arsenal lines, but his clearance only ricocheted off Aaron Ramsey, looping over Szczesney to nestle in the back of the Arsenal goal. An undeserved, but expected lead for Liverpool. Replays, apparently, showed that Suarez was offside in the build up. Luck, again, deserting Arsenal. Wenger cutting an agitated figure on the touchline.

Minutes later, Suarez compounded Arsenal's misery. Arsenal had been throwing everything forward in search of an elusive equaliser - even throwing Nicklas Bendtner on, in what could be his final Arsenal appearance - leaving themselves stretched at the back. Carl Jenkinson now struggling with what appeared to be cramp making things even more difficult. Liverpool capitalised, breaking down the Arsenal left with Miereles (the only player to step on the pitch with a worse haircut than Frimpong) arriving in the box, and cutting back to an unmarked Luis Suarez, who made no mistake, sweeping the ball home, sending the away fans into raptures, the Arsenal fans to the exits.

Liverpool sit second, Arsenal 15th. Arsenal failed to score in their opening two league games for the first time in 42 years. With a squad which looks paper thin in August, Wenger is under ever increasing pressure to strengthen - even if only to add depth.

The Good: Frimpong, Jenkinson & Miquel. All looked comfortable and composed on their (full) Premiership debuts.

The Bad: Naivety. The younger players don't yet know what they can and can't get away with - both in terms of discipline and positioning.

The Ugly: Frimpong. Haircut aside, getting a red card on your full debut isn't ideal, and leaves Arsenal with problems ahead of next week's visit to Old Trafford. I expect Henri Lansbury to be the 3rd player to try the holding role in three Premiership games.

For updates on the latest N5 articles plus other Arsenal related content, follow me on Twitter: @Goonernl

Latest Transfer Rumours; Gonzalez, Polo & Hazard

Lucho Gonzalez: Arsenal have apparently had a loan move for Lucho Gonzalez of Marseille turned down. Marseille boss Didier Deschamps says that he "spoke to [Wenger] and the one that really interests them is Lucho Gonzalez." Deschamps then said that Arsenal were only interested in taking him on loan and that there are "no negotiations." The 30 year old Argentinian would not have been a typical Wenger signing and could have brought some of the experience to the squad which the fans are crying out for. Reportedly linked with numerous clubs over the summer, Gonzalez wants out of Marseille and a permanent deal with a low price tag might be manageable. It remains to be seen if Wenger will return with a more agreeable offer.

Andy Polo: Sky Sports have suggested that Arsenal are in advanced talks with Peruvian side Universitario over the potential transfer of talented youngster Andy Polo. The 16 year old wonderkid is already  playing with the first team, touted as the new Alexis Sanchez, Universitario say that they are "open to negotiate but on concrete conditions." A move to N5 is possible for La Joya (the Jewel) but he would be another player for the future who would probably have to spend 3 years in Spain, in order to earn a work permit - though he has seemingly been called up by the full national side for the friendly Peru against Bolivia soon. This may mean that he could get a 'special talent' visa - like Ryo Miyaichi.

Eden Hazard: Arsenal have also reportedly agreed a deal with Lille to bring talented winger Eden Hazard to the Emirates for £23m. Personal terms have not been agreed with Hazard himself, talks haven't even started and are not likely to until after the Udinese game. Arsenal's qualification for the Champions League group stages apparently being key to the deal. Personally, I can see Hazard coming into the club as Samir Nasri's replacement - if he does actually leave - but I can't see where he would fit in with the current squad as it is. I think that we already have 7 or 8 wingers in the squad.

Are any of these the right man to sign? Let me know through Twitter (@Goonernl) or the comments below.