Ready Or Not: Jay Emmanuel-Thomas
848 comments 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.
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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.
