Dos Santos’ situation is similar to Vela’s. In Dos Santos’ final game for Barcelona he scored a brilliant hat trick and Spurs fans were rubbing their hands together with glee when Juande Ramos brought him over. However he too has failed to make an impact. Redknapp clearly doesn’t intend to use him and because of the clause in his contract stating that any sale previous to this year would have had to be split with Barcelona Spurs have, as of yet, refused to sell him. Moments like last year’s goal for Mexico against the U.S showed that Dos Santos has what it takes to perform when it really matters.
The goal was one of the best of the year and was a vindication of the hype that surrounded him. He, like Vela, perhaps suffers from the tactics employed at his club. He is neither an out-and-out striker nor a wide midfielder like Lennon or Bale. He needs to be playing in a formation like that at Arsenal or Barcelona where less is expected of him defensively.
You still get the feeling that Dos Santos could make it England but perhaps Redknapp simply isn’t the right manager to get the best out of him. His raw talent is obvious enough but the mere fact that Barcelona were willing to let him go perhaps suggests that he doesn’t quite have what it takes to make it at the top level.
The problem with all of these players is that whilst they display considerable talent in certain areas of their game they have too many flaws. Vela and Dos Santos offer very little defensively and that is simply not an option in our league. Everyone must be capable of performing all duties if they are to make it at this level and unfortunately not all will get the chance to show they can do this. What you will say for all of these players is that whilst not all of them have been given enough playing time all have had enough time at the club to prove themselves. So many people say that it is the physical side to our league that players can’t cope with.
I disagree, if this were true then how can players such as David Silva, Ashley Young and Samir Nasri be so successful. No it is not the physicality that defines a player’s success but how accomplished there entire style of play is. You get the feeling that the best players in this league such as Rooney or van Persie could play anywhere in midfield or attack (you could probably even play Rooney at full back and he would be decent) yet players like Vela, Dos Santos and Mikel can barely play more than one role. They simply lack the adaptability that such a fast paced league requires.
For more news and stories follow me on Twitter @H_Mackay
Written by Hamish Mackay for FootballFanCast.com