Ready Or Not: Jay Emmanuel-Thomas
207 guns July 19th, 2010
Hello all and welcome to the first in a new series on Gunnerblog - ‘Ready Or Not’, in which I’ll be getting the lowdown on a few of last season’s loan rangers. This time, I spoke to midnitecaller of Doncaster forum Rovers till I die to find out how Jay Emmanuel-Thomas got on there last season:
How big an impact did JET make at Doncaster?
A good impression, with some ups and downs - on his debut he reportedly turned up for the game having forgotten his boots, and had to rush in to the town centre to get some new ones!
There were times during the season when he frustrated me and I felt like packing him back off to Arsenal, but overall he was a good addition to the squad.
His work ethic needs to improve but he is dynamite on the ball with a good goals to game ratio. The major bonus of having Emmanuel-Thomas in the side is that he’s not afraid to run at defenders or try a few tricks. When they come off, they look great. Occasionally he ends up tripping over his own feet, but he has that self belief which is so important to the progression of a young player.
What are his main strengths and weaknesses as a player?
His main strengths are his trickery and a rocket shot. He also looks like he could be something of a dead-ball wizard, and possesses a long throw like Rory Delap. His weaknesses? He’s still very raw, prone to poor decision making and can be slightly greedy. He needs to track back more - if he could learn the art of distributing the ball at the right time and work a bit harder for the team he could be a real player.
What is his best position?
I think he joined as a striker but played a little on the left for us - I’m not sure what his best position is if indeed he has one. He is the type of player where you don’t give him a position you just tell him to go out and do what he does best.
Which top flight players does he remind you of?
Although JET is very unique in his own style my first impression of him was that he reminded me of our very own Mark Mcammon from a few years back. Out of the current top flight lads I’d have to go for someone mercurial - like Hull’s Geovanni.
Do you think he could be an Arsenal player?
I personally don’t think he’s quite good enough, but the then you never know. Wenger may bring him on leaps and bounds - he certainly has masses of potential. He seems a different case to a lot of players - his natural talent will carry him through; it’s about getting the mentality to match.
—
So there we have it - a mixed review for our JET.
I have to say I’ve always rated him and hoped he’d succeed: it’s rare you see a young player with such a potent combination of pure physical gifts and technique. He reminds me very much of Abou Diaby, and like Diaby his greatest challenge will be psychological. The stepovers and laziness that crept in to his game at Doncaster may have been a function of playing alongside footballers who didn’t share his natural talent. He’ll have to cut those out if he’s to have any chance of making it at Arsenal.
15 Comments Add your own
1. Kayo | July 19th, 2010 at 9:01 am
I don’t believe JET is ready for the Arsenal yet. He strikes me as the kind of player that needs to be playing regularly to improve. As some of his faults are mental based they are the kind of things you can only put right on the pitch.
I do hope he makes it here he definately has the raw talent to do so.
2. h | July 19th, 2010 at 9:34 am
how Jay Emmanuel-Thomas got on THERE last season
3. livearsenal | July 19th, 2010 at 9:34 am
Good idea for a series of posts, so many of these guys won’t make it, but we all live in hope. Hope you’ve got one planned for Nordtveit and Lansbury.
Sounds like JET needs to buck his ideas up a bit if he’s going to make it at the Arsenal.
4. JT | July 19th, 2010 at 10:12 am
Would have him back at Doncaster this season. Don’t think he will make the Arsenal team this year, another season with us will help develop him further (and by all accounts he enjoyed his time with us) Then maybe he will have improved enough to have a chance of getting a place in Arsenal’s team in future
5. Paul wellington | July 19th, 2010 at 12:22 pm
Good idea however if you look how opinions vary on players like Theo, Vela .etl still doesn’t tell us much. Someone else might say exact opposite. I think poll would go well with this kind of analysis! Cheers
6. paul | July 19th, 2010 at 1:34 pm
he did well at doncaster, althogh on some acassions he did look a lazy, agreed that he is not ready to appear i the arsenal team at the moment, he does have some great skill and this will only get better with confidence and matches under his belt, another loan spell will do him good and get him regular football to build on his tallent, and then could hopefully push for a place in arsenal’s team
7. John | July 19th, 2010 at 2:18 pm
Good blog. However you missed a good chunk of his development last season. He spent half the year on loan at Blackpool, and from what i heard he was a good player for them. However being a good championship player dosn’t a premiership player make.
8. james watson | July 19th, 2010 at 4:54 pm
He was a bit hit and miss as a player at Doncaster sometimes you would see touch’s of brilliance and other times he didn’t see to know what to do and would look awkward i am sure if he gets his head down and has a true thirst to improve his game in all aspects he would be a fine squad member for any football team.
9. Steve | July 19th, 2010 at 8:02 pm
Someone on a DRFC forum hit the nail when they said it was hard to tell if he was about to be England’s next superstar or Barnet’s next central midfielder. Some games he looked head and shoulders better than anyone else on the pitch, others (Peterboro away in particular springs to mind) he was about as inept as i’ve ever seen.
Would i have him back for another year? In a heartbeat - yes, i would love to see if SoD could find the consistency in him to get us to the Premiership
10. asc | July 19th, 2010 at 10:50 pm
Seen him down at the rovers a few times last season doubt if jet will make the grade at arsenal as he must be one of the slowest players in English football
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14. jmotion | August 2nd, 2010 at 8:45 pm
He looked good in the pre-season friendlies.. just needs more time with the first team.. Arsenal could do with a another big striker on the bench as cover.
15. paul silvester | August 24th, 2010 at 6:00 pm
JET could sometimes be a little frustrating but at the same time he s the type of player who gets your hopes up when in the final third due to his ability to make things happen. He was an obvious talent and really hopes he will come back to doncaster this season as i think with a reported good pre season at aresnal he will be one of the best players in the championship. Looks like he will be returning so will be excited to see him in action as with that extra experience he will be a real threat. As far as being a top player at arsenal is concerend im not too sure, think he could have a good career but dont think it would be at a top club like arsenal, would be pleased to be proved wrong as i do rate him and will score some great goals with his rocket left foot shot!
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