Reyes and Cesc: a tale of two Spaniards
One thing that stands out in football players is the mental strength it takes to play this beautiful game. Ability it seems is nothing without will power.
Jose Antonio Reyes came to Arsenal as a virtual unknown teenager and smashed the transfer record at 17 million pounds. Every Arsenal fan was excited as we watched this kid hold up the red and white. It was unheard off for Wenger to splash out that much money on a kid, no matter how much talent there was.
At first Reyes struggled to adapt but the patience of an Arsenal fan is renowned and we cheered every time he touched the ball. I remember a through ball on his debut and Highbury erupted at the thought of a goal in his first game. It never happened but the signs were there. Even on a cold night in the Carling Cup where Reyes undoubtedly had his worst ever game in his career, ending the night with a goal in his own net, had the faithful Gooners singing his name. We all knew the possibilities and no Gooner out there was about to heap any further pressure on a player that was at that time a crowd favourite.
Then to a FA Cup tie against Chelsea. A game that, if we look back, Chelsea deserved the lead they had. That is until Jose Antonio Reyes announced his arrival with a goal that will forever live in the memory of every Gooner from that time. An absolute screamer that flew into top left hand corner of Chelsea’s goal. Ljungberg was speechless, Vieira was rooted and the Arsenal faithful were practically crying from pure joy for the kid. As we know he even went a step further and wrapped it up for us with a well taken second. And so the relationship began. He got better and better and by the start of the following season had scored 6 goals in as little games.
Suddenly 17 million was a bargain. Reyes had everything! He was loved by every Arsenal fan the world over. So what went wrong? How does a player go from being so settled and fired up to wanting nothing more than a ticket home? Family! He missed his parents, so he bought a house and brought his mother and father over to stay with him. His home was turned into a Spanish castle and everything should have settled. But then we here small things start leaking through the woodworks. His radio interview with the Spanish media. This is what gave it all away. While talking to the DJ there was a quote from his mother in the background repeating a certain phrase “Bad People�. It was not Reyes that despised living in England, it was his mother and possibly his father.
Imagine coming home every night to someone continuously moaning about the whether, the people, the food and everything else. Of’ course it was going to affect him and it got so bad that all he could focus on was getting away. He instigated everything from continuously talking to the Spanish media, refusing to play and even wearing the Real Madrid shirt in public. Did he care that even after everything the Arsenal fans, the players and even Wenger still tried everything to keep him? No. He did not have the mental strength to deal with his issues and get on with the game. He is back in Spain now and playing for the team he wanted. But what is he going to do if Real are not interested in a permanent deal for him and Arsenal doesn’t get a sufficient offer for him come summer? It poses a very interesting question.
Perhaps Reyes can take a leaf out of Cesc’s book? He cost Arsenal virtually nothing and continues to demonstrate a mentality that is both admirable and mature for his age. We may have broken all transfer records with the purchase of Jose Antonio Reyes but Cesc is worth 10 of him both on and off the field.
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A player like Reyes will always improve your team, no doubt about it. But attitude is always key and for one reason or the other, Reyes just didn’t have the bottle to stick it out in London. A pity, really.
However, removing the unhappy elements from the squad (Campbell, Reyes, Cole) - talented though they might be - will eventually prove beneficial for Arsenal in the long run.
Plus Arsenal seems to be on the right track (after a long time) in terms of attitude on the pitch - will be interesting to see if they can overtake Liverpool.
I’m always of the view that if players want to leave, then we’re best off without them - even though I liked Reyes. What we need now is for Cesc to find himself a nice English girl, like TH, who wants to stay in London - then we’ve got him forever!
Get Cesc laid - yea, that’s a good strategy
Reyes scored his first goal against Man City, I was at the game, it was great. I remember practising the “Jose-Antioniooooo-song.” I had to leave straight after the fine whisle because there was an underground problem (and otherwise I would miss my flight). Can you believe that? Anyway all the fans,players and Wenger did his best but it wasn’t meant to be
i dont think reyes’ attitudes were necessarily bad. you got to believe that he wanted to make it big at arsenal. or else, why should even first be bothered to come over to london, besides it’s wenger that first wanted him. maybe, rightly, the difficulty in settling into a foreign environment and different culture didn’t help him, (and it CAN be difficult) …. plus the speculations of not being really “accepted by” some big names at arsenal … no doubt the fans were really marvelous. i would like to think that he would have made a bigger impact at arsenal had he stayed on, but we just have to accept that he couldn’t get adjusted. By the way, not every great player will want to move to england; does that mean they’re lousy?? there are other reasons involved. nevertheless, as for reyes, we should be thankful that at least he came and he tried. Thanks, reyes, for all your contribution made.
To be honest Reyes is a good player, but isn’t Vanpersi, to be perfectly honest all he’s got is pace (an Unbelievable one) but looking at Vanpersi he has got ability, clinical touch and finish. He could have developed as a player under Wenger should he stayed. He was not settled here fair enough if he doesn’t like it here it doesn’t mean his mental strength to be questioned, he doesn’t like it period. What I am saying is he is not a big loss. There are lots of players better than he is at AFC.
I am a big Real fan, but I must say that I simply don’t believe that Reyes had the physical presence to survive in England. Whilst he is strong, his game is so much better suited to the Spanish game, in which he has far longer on the ball and his technical ability can flourish.
don’t forget the racist comments from the Spanish coach that Reyes refused to condemn because he didn’t want to lose his place in the team… I don’t think Henry’s relationship with him ever recovered - it was very noticable on the pitch that Henry didn’t like him & who can blame him? I think every gooner was willing to give Reyes the benefit of the doubt for a while but we all got so bored of his whinging - can’t wait till Baptista signs permanently
Jose Antonio Reyes is a good player definitely, but I don’t think he is clever enough. He has ability to send the ball into the net and pass the ball to the right person, but what he said and what he done at Arsenal is unacceptable. He said “there is some bad peope in Arsenal’s dress-room” and he weared the real-fucked T-shirt. I really hated that. And when he was exchanged to Real, he said he wanted to stay at Spain forever and never wanted to come back to England without takeing a little think. If he isn’t asked to do that by some people, what can only explain for what he said and done is that he has a very low EQ.
I don’t like him, really~~
Completely agree with your comments sig. There was a very noticeble rift between Henry and Reyes.
Hugo. Perhaps you can shed some light on Reyes development thus far at Real. Looking at the stats on skysports it shows 10 appearances for Real, including 1 in the Champions league. He has managed to score 3 goals in the league and 1 in his appearance in the CL. Sounds like he is currently a bit part player, like Baptista for us. Will Real make the move permenant? Because if they choose not to it poses a very difficult situation for Arsenal. Our team is finally settling and the last thing we need is an unhappy player back on our books!!
How easy it is to twist the minds of others.
I dislike Aragones with passion, I think he is a horrible coach, terribly over-rated, and has no business coaching Spain. He’s lost the plot terribly.
But what he said that day was not racist. The English press, in their ignorance of the Spanish language, did their very best to paint him as a racist, the comments coming when they did (immediately before a Spain-England friendly). But I stress that what was said, was not racist.
Aragones called Henry “a black shit”. Tell me how that is not racist and I will get you a job at Endemol
I dont know, I’m not a gooner but i never really thought of Reyes as this great cult hero you make him out to be. To me he was always more promise than show. Yea the kid was good but your entering a whole other league, like it was the birth of another Henry or something. For me it never really seemed like he enjoyed his football. You could see it on his face. And like you said, look at cesc. He is loving his football and it shows week in and week out. Skill without will power is nothing.
avrv: If that wasn’t racist what was, I am not having a go at Reyes (regarding his comments) cos he is a stiupid school boy, who was only thinking of his place in the National team at the expense of his team mate (Thierry), but the old fool is a disgrace, he is about 70 and he should have known better. the words he used were typical of a racist tug. And to be honest I am glad Reyes is gone, he didn’t contributed anything to AFC. and he is pretty much a pedestrian @ Real. I went back home recently and saw him play couple of times for Real, and he is not doing much. I don’t think they would want to make his stay permanent, cos he is not Cappelo’s choice, and failed to impress so far, Wenger should sell him either to Atletico or Villareal.
The difference btw Reyes and Cesc is just too enormous to list but the most outstanding feature is ATTITUDE. Whilst Cesc was just a youth player when he came over, he worked his way to the top and earned respect not just from his skils & talent but his commitment. Reyes on the otherhand, was an established player and came into the first side with a track record of performance. Although, we do not doubt his skill and talent, what he lacked was the character and attitude to overcome any difficulties. Be it the change from Spain to UK, his mother complaining or Aragones being a racist fool - Reyes failed in every aspect to overcome these problems.
We can all watch video clips of players and coo over their moments of skill but in the long run, we will only truly admire those players that have the moral fibre or backbone to overcome adversity and shine.
It is so easy to forget the little things that a player does for a club when they finally move on, especially when that move was not enforced by the club. I personally will never miss Reyes, even if he goes on to win World Player of the Year 5 times in a row. He was never committed to the cause and was never really an Arsenal player. I will never though, forget that goal he scored against Chelsea.
Sig - in Spanish the expression “de mierda” is used as an insult, no doubt, but the translation used by the English press and widely thought to be what was said is incorrect. He did not call Henry a “black shit”.
The exact words used were “eres mejor que ese negro de mierda”. If you have studied romance languages you know that basic sentence structure differs greatly from English, this is crucial to this issue.
First of all in English you cannot use adjectives without an accompanying noun that is being modified, in Spanish you can. The word “negro” in this sentence, is not used as an adjective but as a noun. Also in Spanish you can put adjectives either before or after the nouns they modify, which sometimes alters the nuance of the adjective and sometimes doesn´t.
If negro were used as an adjective (describing “shit” - i.e. a reference to Henry) then yes, the statement would have been racist - however this phrase would have been “eres mejor que esa mierda negra” which is NOT what Aragones said. Translated to English, what Aragonés actually said was, “you are better than that shitty black (guy)”.
In other words trying to motivate Reyes by calling Henry a shitty player. And while it may not be appropriate for a national team manager to use language like that, it is even less appropriate for a jingoistic press to twist words in order to label a person (or as happened, a country) as racist.
Absolutely agree Avrv. Thanks for clearing that up for some ignorant english i-believe-what-the-sun-write guys… But nevertheless Arsenal is better off without him… If he cant consentrate, he cant give us what we need.
Arv - what did Aragones say that you believe wasn’t racist?
The term “shitty” was used in conjunction with the word “black” in a blatantly demeaning way - both words used as derogative adjectives. Why reference Henry’s skin colour and not simply mention his name? Even in your explanation it is still a racist slur.
Reyes showed small glimpses of potential but once he became unhappy his confidence was affected and his game became blighted by basic errors of judgement. He had a great opportunity to develop under a manger with a proven reutation for developing talent but due to his weak character he has taken the easy option and returned home.
The main reason why Reyes has not played so many games is that he has been injured for about a month overall. However, in most of the games he has played he has been Real’s best or second best player, and the goals he has scored have been crucial winners. I imagine the move will be made permanent. He also fits in with the new policy of youth and verve.
No Law, in my explanation it is very clearly shown why it was not a racial slur. For it to be a racial slur as it was understood and “translated” by the English press he would have had to say something which he simply did not say. And you’re coming on here to make a statement to the contrary without any explanation behind it won’t change that fact.
it relly annoyes me he seems like he would like to go anywhere exept the club hes ataully part of ! maybe when he comes back hel be better and more mature
Luis Aragonés is not any racist. He has trained with black players, he has had black players in their teams, he has invited to eat to their house to many black players, then…. stop to be invented foolishness. For racists are the Englishmen, ok? and because reason you don´t speak of the racist songs that are listened in the English stadiums against the Turkish players and also against the black ones? why? hypocrites.
Aragonese Luis is a great trainer, he is mad when he speak against that English journalist, that insolent one without education that dared to call him racist. Luis called him stupid. You the Englishmen go of educated but outside of your country you are some brown beasts, and of that you remember the final one in 1985 between Liverpool and Milan you remember? there they didn’t have Spaniards.
The Englishmen are not an example of cordiality and racial coexistence in the world
Regarding Reyes, he it disappoints me, i hope he stayed in England and demonstrated that he has more talent that any English player. With two years that it was the it demonstrated. It is a pity that goes to Spain, where he won’t have the same opportunities. Be possibly an error of which is sorry all their life.
Until another.
And Excuse me for my bad english
Reyes is a good player an as a gooner i respected him he started great but something happened yeh it was his perants but something else happened..
I hate him now he says in interviews he wants to stay in spain and not leave Madrid and not to return to the Emirates, he should grow up and be more like Cesc, he is my hero as he is great on and off the park and is not a big headed wanker, him staying with the gunners through thick and thin ment alot to heaps of Gooners fans i know, He is great and every Gooner i knnow loves him..Reyes fuck off you fat twat stay in Madrid as long as we get our money back
As a gooner I hate Reyes, because however much he wanted to play for Real, Arsenal made him big. But I didnt know that bit about his parents and their dissatisfacion about London, so maybe he had a valid reason, still no reason to bitch about your team mates. And yes like someone mentioned, I think Henry gave him a hard time on the pitch and maybe it was because he refused to condemn his national coach…………….
That the Arsenal made big to Reyes? please, to leave you of foolishness, Reyes were already a great player in Seville, for that reason it hired him the Arsenal. What happens is that in the Arsenal Reyes it is given to know at the world, but their level like player already had it from his time in Seville.
And you can hate it if you want, but Reyes don’t hate to the Arsenal, he doesn’t simply like life of England: Food, customs, schedules, climate …
So where is he going to go now? Real has made no attempts to buy him, where to now? Athletico Madrid? Thats a dumb move and you know it………