A GUEST POST BY PATRICK:
When Arsenal signed Lucas Perez two seasons ago, I was very excited, having watched him play for Deportivo La Corina for few seasons. The excitement was not based on the fact that he was a very prolific striker, no! What caught the eye was his energy, his desire, his effort, his directness.
He had everything that fans desire from an Arsenal forward. There was a hope that his along with Sanchez’s pressing would prove infectious to the rest of the players who didn’t seem to have the desire to fight for the team.
Sadly, the excitement soon turned into agony as the player wasn’t to Wenger’s liking, Perhaps. He started the first game of the season and, as expected, didn’t impress, and that was the end of him, with the manager making unwarranted comments about the Spaniard, accusing him of ‘perhaps being too left-footed for my liking’! Wenger barely picked him thereafter, except for cameo appearances and a few outings in the League Cup.
Even after his astonishing performance against FC Basel, a game in which he scored a hat-trick, Wenger kept him on the bench the following game in the League. We all know for any player to perform, they need the confidence of the manager. Perez didn’t get that, was then shipped off to Deportivo on loan, with his confidence shuttered.
That explains why he failed to repeat the same performances that resulted in him signing for Arsenal in a £17.5m deal. But even then, he was able to chip in with 9 goals in a dismal season for Depor that ended in relegation. For a manager of Wenger’s experience, he should have known that no player improves their form by being kept almost permanently on the substitutes bench, sadly, he didn’t mind that confining Perez there, despite the former Deportivo man having the best minutes-per-goal ratio of all the strikers Wenger had at Arsenal!!
That actually reminded me of Carlos Vela, who, despite his apparent talent, was denied playing time at a time when the club was giving so many young players a chance. Vela eventually left for Sociedad, where along with Antoine Griezmann, made a name for himself, prompting speculation of Arsenal activating his buy-back clause to return him to London. Watching him play for Mexico at the World Cup in Russia, I confirmed what I had thought over time: that Wenger had clearly mishandled his talent.
I cannot forget to put Joel Campbell in the same bracket. For me, the Costa Rican showed enough to warrant an extended run in the team, showing more effort than most at the club, but Wenger never trusted him and sent him almost all over Europe on loan.
Because of that, therefore, Lucas Perez deserves a chance under Unai Emery!
