Arsenal, Premier League
Could Carlos Vela be Arsenal’s next Henry?
What could another eighteen year-old possibly add to Arsenal's game? Eddy van der Kloot says young Carlos Vela could be a replacement for the departed Thierry Henry.
Arsenal are, without a doubt, one of the offensive powerhouses of English football despite having lost talismanic striker Thierry Henry to Barcelona during the summer.
The Gunners are currently on top of the Premier League and its goalscoring charts, having notched up 27 goals in 12 league matches. Outside of the Premier League, Arsenal have scored 19 goals in seven outings, including a 7-0 drubbing of Slavia Prague at the Emirates.
Arsene Wenger has three quality forwards (Theo Walcott, Eduardo, and Nicklas Bendtner) at his disposal in addition to the impressive first-choice strike force of Robin van Persie and Emmanuel Adebayor. Nonetheless, the Arsenal manager is reportedly bringing young Mexican striker Carlos Vela back from a loan spell at Osasuna this January, now that the youngster has cleared up issues with his work permits.
What could another eighteen year-old possibly add to Arsenal’s game?
To answer that question, let’s look back to the 2003/04 season. Arsenal fans will remember the season as the one in which the Gunners went undefeated in the Premiership, finishing 11 points clear of their nearest rivals, Chelsea. Anyone remember the name of our top scorer?
The great Thierry Henry scored 30 Premier League goals that season. That’s one and a half times as many as Didier Drogba scored last year to win last season’s golden boot. Last season the injury-ridden Frenchman only managed 10 goals, one behind Arsenal’s top-scorer, another injury-plagued player, Robin van Persie.
Now don’t get me wrong, Van Persie is a great player. He has a powerful left foot, and his finishing is excellent. He could feasibly win this season’s golden boot and, at 24, the Dutchman still has quite a future ahead of him.
But can he fill the void left by Henry’s departure? The unfortunate truth is that it’s unlikely.
That’s where Vela comes in. The Mexican wunderkind is one of the most prodigious talents in Europe. Vela won the golden boot and player of the tournament at the U17 World Cup, and has already spent a full season playing first team football, making 31 starts (and scoring eight times) with UD Salamanca in the Spanish Segunda Division. He has also featured twice for the senior Mexican national team, scoring in a 3-2 loss to Guatemala.
Clearly he has quite a pedigree for a youngster. But what makes him stand out from the rest and why might he become the next Henry?
First of all, he has the talent. His intelligence and pace are unrivaled by anyone his age and his first touch, dribbling ability and finishing technique are all excellent. He also has a huge amount of first-team experience for such a young player, which will only add to his usefulness once he arrives in Britain.
What’s most important though, is that he fits right in to the Arsenal mould. His first goal for Osasuna saw the young Mexican play the ball to a teammate before running into space to pick it up again a few yards outside the penalty box. Upon receiving the return pass he seamlessly integrated the ball into his stride, showing excellent close control before finishing with his left foot on the edge of the 18 yard box. The finish was Henry-esque, flying past the keeper into the roof of the net. The way Vela’s qualities were tailor-made to Arsenal was uncanny.
We will have to wait quite a while until we see Vela nail down a first-team spot under Arsene Wenger, and Arsenal will continue scoring goals with the current form of Alex Hleb and Cesc Fabregas complementing our forwards, perhaps eventually winning the Premier League or Champions League.
But when Vela does come of age, which may be sooner than most people think, he might provide 20 or 30 goals a season. And when that rings true, we might have on our hands a repeat of the unthinkable - a second undefeated season.
The author of this article writes an Arsenal fan blog at lazy-arse.blogspot.com. Feel free to visit, show some support, and find similar articles if you enjoyed this post.
Tags: Arsene Wenger, Carlos Vela, Eduardo Da Silva, Mexico, Nicklas Bendtner, Theo Walcott, Thierry Henry
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This is very interesting, but there is one problem with your points about RVP11. You say,
“can he fill the void left by Henry’s departure? The unfortunate truth is that it’s unlikely.”
The problem is that Van Persie is not the replacement for Henry, Adebayor fits more into that role. Van Persie fits better into the Bergkamp role as a striker who creates and links play. Arsene has said, van persie is the link man, and this is evident as when he is injured Hleb normally replaces him in the role as link man, but playing further back with a 5 man midfield. Vela may be recalled, but remember Van Persie is a class act and very young, we haven’t seen his best yet, nowhere near..
I dearly hope you are basing your whole argument on more than looking at a few of his goals on youtube. Have you seen him in the flesh? Have you watched him play for a whole 90 minutes? I doubt it. Lazy-arse indeed.
well i think u are going over board here with ur praise for Vela, we all saw what he did at the U17 championship. but how many of these youngsters promise that much and indeed deliver? lets all not forget quincy owusu………can you tell mi where he is now? RVP is in a class of his own…………
All true what you say, James. Adebayor however is the weak link in the Arsenal squad and even though it may be a tad harsh I’d rate him as a 3rd class player. And that’s where Vela comes back in!
Are you sure he’s coming in January?
It was only rumoured that he’s coming but there are no valid sources which say he’s definitely coming yet the Osasuna site claims they have him for a whole year on loan…
I think u will find with vela that he would fit more into the role of dennis bergkamp, his assists by far outway his scoring. I dont know the exact stats but according to salamanca he got 8 goals and set up 53, that “set up” might not be direct assists mind u but it does sound quite interesting
Yes he could
he is great,the pace,the skills,some people learn football and others are born with it and this kid is deffinetly born with it, Owen is a player that has learn football and Messi is a player thats born with it thats why some player never can and never will be best in the WORLD
Well you’ve disregarded RvP’s scoring capabilities for no specificed reasons at all and explained that Vela can be the next Henry going on a goal you’ve seen him score. Don’t get me wrong maybe all this will turn out true, but this is seriously premature and unfounded and can only be seen as very poor journalism.
Just a small correction: Vela was the Top Scorer of the U17 World Cup, but the Player of the Tournament was Anderson.
Im a season ticket holder at the emirates, so i enjoy positive news. But this is way to biased to be believed. It undermines the achievements of Henry and puts too much pressure on a teenager that hasnt even played for us yet.
If Vela is the next Henry, Van Persie IS Johan Cruyff.
Sorry but this is pathetic. I, like all Arsenal fans, hope that Vela turns into an Arsenal legend, but he’s only 18, and doesn’t even regularly get into the Osasuna team. Like a previous poster, I’d really like to know how often you’ve seen him play. Personally I’d be very surprised if Wenger didn’t leave him at Osasuna until the summer, but I could be wrong. I thought his 1st goal for Osasuna was very good, but also thought it took a deflection? Sorry but this is v. poor journalism for me-let’s hope he’s very good rather than expecting it in January!
Why does every single new striker for Arsenal have to be the “new thierry henry”? It’s pathetic and simple-handed. And when he scores a goal that’s half-decent it’s henry-esque.
Carlos Vela may or may not be a good player for Arsenal but lets wait till he actually makes a consistent impression at Osasuna before we say he has more talent than Van Persie.
By the way, he’s not coming in January. Just papers trying to fill up a column.
First of all, I am not saying that Vela is the next Henry. Nor am I saying that he will achieve what the brilliant Frenchman did. Contrarily, I am simply proposing that he MIGHT have the skill and talent that it would take to have such a great impact on our team.
Second, I said that Henry scored 1.5 times the amount of goals per season as Didier Drogba, and even proposed the idea that having an Henry-esque player in our current squad of evolving youngsters could lead to a second season of the invincibles. I don’t think that that undermines his abilities nor his achievements.
Third, I spoke of Robin van Persie’s ability to feasibly become the winner of this season’s golden boot. Do you really think his scoring ability deserves more attention than that? It’s the top striker’s award in the Premiership…
As to the fact that only watching Vela’s first Osasuna goal makes everything I say unfounded, I’d have to say that everyone who said that is unfounded in their arguments. Who are you to know which of Vela’s games I’ve watched? An example is just that, an example. It does not represent every single good and bad aspect of his game, but it does roughly sum up the talent that the boy has. And for your information he’s featured 8 times for Osasuna this season and played two games for Mexico as well as the U17 world cup. No, I haven’t watched every single minute he’s played, but I have seen enough to have some idea of his capabilities.
In any case, thanks to all of you who enjoyed the article, and to the rest of you, feel free to disagree, but I would appreciate it if you did so in a more respectful and kindly manner.
Just as you wouldn’t appreciate it if I called your integrity into question, nor do I, so please refrain from the insults and keep up with the football talk.
[...] linked with another Spanish defender, and there’s some speculation on the amazing 57 goals Carlos Vela will score upon his triumphant arrival to Arsenal. Hype, much? All for now. All I can leave you with is some [...]
Van Persie is on the verge of greatness he just needs to put a full season together. Last year he was starting to really come of age and then he broke his foot. He is our only real quaility striker in the team. Ade I was not and still not that convinced by but he has stepped end of last year and this season and he is the 2nd leading scorer in the EPL he needs to work on his finishing by that I mean the easy chances which he always seems to bomb.
Vela looks like to big prospect but that is all at present, I have only seen him on youtube and from that you would have to say that he has a very good chance of being a big player for us. He is a number 9 natually but he has been played on the wing for salamanca, not sure where he is playing for osasuna.
There is no new Henry and there never will be he is the best player we have ever had …one of a kind.
Thanks for taking the time of writing the article. I think the actual people who have failed to see any of Vela’s games are the ones who are doubting his ability.
He does feature regularly for Osasuna, who had to fight several clubs to get him on loan and who have been quoted as saying he is one of the best prospects in the world.
Any youngster that is the main main and the main talk of a team that has included Giovani dos Santos and Guardado has a place at Arsenal in my books.
At the end of the day Arsene knows and he would not go to so much trouble to get Vela a Spanish passport with know valid reason
Watch this space
I agree with your article, I think a lot of people are guilty of reading the headline and then deciding what the rest of the article is all about.
In one of the posts there was a comment about Adebayor not being good enough. I agree. I know he pops up from time to time with a few crucial goals. Eg Man Utd last year. But he never fills me with confidence. But since he signed a new deal at the start of the season I guess he is going to be around for a while.
Vela the next Henry i think not. they are very different
But dont be suprised if he doesnt play upfront. i am 90% sure that he will play on the left of midfield. With hes pace, intelligence and hes natural eye for goal he will replace Rosicky in a couple of seasons.
This is the reason why wenger has not bought a winger.
Make sense doesnt it
Eddy, I wasn’t being personal in my criticism. I really hope you are right about Vela, but you chose a bad time not to give people the impression that there was nothing else worth writing about (international week). My hopes for Vela are as high as those I had for J Reyes, and look what happened there. He was supposedly the player who would take our great team to an even higher level. If you want to defend your argument, why don’t you answer the questions posed eg did Vela’s 1st goal for Osasuna take a deflection? How many actual starts does he have for Osasuna. I sincerely hope he and Walcott can terrorise defences for years to come in future, but they are both just 18 and personally I don’t think Walcott currently warrants a starting place, just as Vela doesn’t seem to for his team. Thanks for giving me something to read, but it sounds more like fantasy than fact.
Got news for ya, Gio Dos Santos aint that good.
re van persie. the only thing he has in common with dennis bergkamp is that he is dutch. at best he is an impact player who scores great and often important goals. he is not a team player as anyone who watches him week in week out can see. moves break down because of him, he has limited vision for passing, makes no decent runs as a striker, has a poor first touch (i assure oyu this is so, just watch him, dont assume that because he is dutch he has instant control, he remains petulant, lacks courage as a striker, etc). i have no idea if vela is any good but am impressed by what i have seen of bendtner, who looks a better long term propspect than rvp or adebayor.
THANKS ALOT WNEGER BRINGING CARLOS VELA BUT WE THE ARSENAL FANS STILL NEED MORE PLAYERS IN THE LIKE OF ETO’O AND SAMIR NASRI AND MAY BE LUKA MODRIC
THANKS
ARESNAL OOOOOH YEEEEEEEEEE?OOOH YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE
BOSCO UGANDA
i wil b plizd 2 c The Proffesor tapping in a powerful Francsec(Fabregas) type midfielder. u c the past 4 games four Arsena lhave been a nightmare having noone to assist Adebayor up front, even if Persie comes back who will give them the balls to score we nid a player like Diego of wender bremen and i asure u if he is a bad player so is Fabregas with his maturity and brazilian bag of knowledge and tricks. This player is aperfect example to see Fabregas’ full potential so pliz here me on this noe dear fellow gooners, DIEGO FOR ARSENAL
to even thick of it tresor mputu is agood player and the addition of two midfielders and two defenders will be good as long as you have a pushing midfield that helps and rediscovers forwards the team will be a power house just like barcelona their weapon is the midfield, arsenal need this player.
i wil b plizd 2 c The Proffesor tapping in a powerful Francsec(Fabregas) type midfielder. u c the past 4 games four Arsenal have been a nightmare having noone to assist Adebayor up front, even if Persie comes back who will give them the balls to score we nid a player like Diego of wender bremen and i asure u if he is a bad player so is Fabregas with his maturity and brazilian bag of knowledge and tricks. This player is aperfect example to see Fabregas’ full potential so pliz here me on this noe dear fellow gooners, DIEGO FOR ARSENAL!!!!, fom Jt
To those that say Adebayor is 3rd class, you obviously have no idea about football whatsoever. He is the very reason that the others get the space they do, because his movement is second to none. He has been the surprise package for me this season. Forget about Vela for a moment, he is just a kid, Eduardo and RVP will be the 2 strikers complementing Adebayor. Hopefully we will see all 3 together in a lesser game.
I think arsene wenger needs to bring in some new players like diego or giovanni who works well with carlos vela.I know his plans are to bring in the youth team but the supporters of arsenal football club deserve some silverware the youngsters should be allowed to play in friendlys but not anything else these players can bring that silverware in but the youngsters cannot adebayor is good but not consistent like most players at Arsenal but we know arsenal have the money so please use it
Vela isn’t a striker he plays more of mid.forward.!
with osasuna he plays left wing and has showed he has what it takes to play with Arsenal. Against Real Madrid he took on one of the best defenders Sergio Ramos, and Vela embarrassed him in front of Sergios crowd. Now nobody knows if hes really gonna be one of the best. But hopefully he does become well known. and proves to Arsenal that he can play anywhere.!
I dont really know carlos vela very well but i think i trust the boss in whatever position he decides to play him.As for adebayor he scores some crucial but is not in anyway convincing.He has grown,no argument compared to his baptista era.As for the other forwards they are top class&can surpass rvp if played correctly&consistently.
He has acquired a work permit and will be involved with the Arsenal first team, whoever doubted it is wrong hey even with the youtube videos also the fact that he had 31 appearances with Osasuna first team he is one hell of a player and he will be very good for Arsenal for the years to come. Remember the fact that Henry was nothing, Veira was a nobody, but Le professor changed them into world class acts. My question is “What makes you think he will not do the same thing with these players?????”
In my Opoinion i think that vela has what it takes to be one of the best players but Arsenal also needs to teach him what to do with the ball when he gets face to face with the goalkeeper,and i say this because i saw Vela playing against BElize and he din’t know what to do with the ball some times and he misst a good number of goals. but like i said he can be a first class in the future..
[...] Star Theo Walcott, Ramsey and Nasri are amongst many possibilities, but now, finally, Carlos Vela will have a season at Arsenal after being parked in Spain for two years. It has been clear from [...]
[...] in November 2007, Eddy van der Kloot wrote on this website that Mexican Carlos Vela was making all the right noises and had all the suitable skill to emulate [...]
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