By Myles Palmer
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JOSE REYES is a natural.
Amazingly, Reyes looks like a composite of every electric footballer I have ever seen.
He is a compact predator with an instinctive games-sense, so he won’t run offside every two minutes.
He can dance through puddles like Jimmy Greaves.
He has a low centre of gravity, so he can ride tackles like Paulo Futre.
He looks as resilient as Kenny Dalglish. As fast as Claudio Lopez. As combative as Jurgen Klinsmann.
He looks like a lethal Latin who is testing you all the time, like Maradona, always ready for a preposterous slalom.
He’s got the sexual charisma of George Clooney and the endorsement charisma of David Beckham.
Crucially, Jose Reyes is a warrior. And you can never have too many of those.
A man with a boy’s birth certificate and a boy’s fiery enthusiasm. He’s 20 and he’s so hot his boots might burst into flames any day now.
He doesn’t treat the penalty area as if it’s a radioactive zone. He won’t be allergic to crosses.
A natural gladiator, Reyes is the most-fouled footballer in La Liga. He will get kicked every week, so I hope he doesn’t get badly hurt.
Sure, he will get into trouble, on and off the field. All young people make mistakes.
But Reyes will raise Arsenal, no doubt about it.
HE WILL BE A CATAYST.
He will change Arsenal’s style, change their chemistry, change their pecking order, change their potential.
So put Gelsenkirchen in your diary now : May 26th.
Being left-footed, Reyes tends to drift to the left, where Arsenal often have three players, so the interchanges need to be rehearsed and fine-tuned.
But he can fit in quickly. Great footballers can play with anybody.
He can give Arsenal more spontaneity within the framework.
Ball-players create unusual situations, and fireball players create havoc,as he did when Seville thrashed Real Madrid 4-1.
QPR hero Stan Bowles, a left-footed genius, used to spend most of his time around the right side of the box, taking the ball with his back togoal, wriggling past defenders or making precise, perceptive passes.
Reyes, who is much faster, could play a Stan Bowles role.
He is one of those rare kids with a freakish degree of eye-foot co-ordination, like Stan, like Wayne Rooney.
Reyes can make up the game as he goes along, change his mind at the last moment – decide on one shot or pass, then, a nanosecond later, choose something better.
APART FROM REYES, Arsenal 2 Man City 1 was just another game.
Another wet Sunday, another session of attack v defence, another 4-5-1 line-up by the visitors, another home win, another three points, another stat in a 23-match unbeaten run in the Prem, another Henry wonder-goal .
Ref Alan Wiley should have issued three reds or three yellows to Anelka,Cole and Edu for that argy-bargy after Anelka’s goal.
KEEGAN’S GAME-PLAN worked for 76 minutes. He was only 1-0 down and Anelka was dangerous.His wingers defended well.
But he blew it when he took off Reyna and brought on the slackadaisical git, the mouthy Macca, who always plays as if he’s 3-0 up at the Bernabeu.
Sven sussed McManaman out in 10 minutes.
KK is not the worst manager in the Prem. But he signed an old crock as a goalkeeper and paid a high price for that blunder. Seaman played a huge part in putting City where they are now : 15th.
And Distin is never a centreback. Distin, captain of Man City? YOU CANNOT BE SERIOUS !
You’ve bought a brave keeper who can do the job, Kev. Now sign a centreback who can do the job.
HOWEVER, none of that is important.
What’s important is that Jose Reyes now plays for Arsenal. Remember the date of his debut : February 1st 2004.
Clearly, Reyes is the real deal.
In sport, in theatre, in ballet, in rock, in jazz, in any field you care to name, the most exciting thing is major talent, and the opportunity to workwith major talent.
Not all major talents have major careers, of course. Not all major talents can grow with fame and survive success. Not all major talents are good listeners. Not all major talents have the right friends, the right parents,the right brothers – as Anelka could tell you.
But Reyes has a huge advantage over many young footballers. He has joined a well-organised club full of good pros who are enjoying big careers.
As I said last week, Reyes is exactly the player Arsenal need. And Arsenal is the perfect team for him. And the perfect club for him.
Arsenal is made-to-measure for Reyes – he can’t fail in this team.
IF YOU LOVE FOOTBALL, you are lifted by exciting players and depressed by bad players.Watching Perry Groves for six seasons made me feel 10 years older. And watching Wiltord for four years made me feel another 10 years older.
But watching Jose Reyes for 20 minutes has made me feel 20 years younger.
He will enjoy himself, and improve from game to game.
The younger you move, says Arsene, the quicker you adapt.
February 3rd 2004.