Gervinho may be the Premier League’s most ridiculed player. But, I’d argue he’s also one of the most naturally gifted players in the game.
It’s only when he’s forced to think on his feet, that things start to go pear-shaped. He’s the Premier League’s most ridiculed player because he’s the Premier League’s most frustrating player. He’s a man who has spent his time in London spurning his talent, by making poor decisions and failing to capitalise on opportunities as they arise.
I realise that I have set myself up for potential ridicule by claiming that Gervinho has great natural ability. So I’ll cede this part of the article over to his former Lille teammate, Eden Hazard:
“Great players inspire you. The best player I played with was Gervi (Gervinho). We didn’t have the same qualities, but we both tried to make the difference. He taught me some things. He makes the right runs.” (Source: The Daily Mail)
Hazard is the real deal. The fact that he’s so complimentary about Gervinho is telling. When Gervinho’s playing with full confidence, he’s a real handful. The way he’s able to change direction so quickly is remarkable. He scampers about with great pace, cutting in and out, weaving past defenders and getting in behind.
Unfortunately, his final ball is lacking and he suffers from some serious stage fright. He’s had many opportunities to prove himself at the Emirates, but he’s blown it. This was never more clear than when he sent a would be tap-in sailing over the bar during the Gunner’s costly defeat against Bradford City last season.
According to The Daily Mail, there are still clubs interested in giving Gervinho an exit route out of North London. It’s thought that Roma coach, Rudi Garcia, is looking to bring Gervinho (who he worked with whilst they were both at Lille) over to Italy.
He’s looking to tie up a loan deal, with a view to a £7m move in the future. This is a good fee for a player who has offered nothing but diminishing returns since his £10.8m move back in 2011. If this offer really is on the table, Arsenal should bite Roma’s hand off.
Arsene Wenger has been shipping out the deadwood this summer (Denilson, Andrei Arshavin, Sebastien Squillaci have all gone, Bendtner looks set to follow) and Gervinho should be next to go. £7m is a good fee for a player with serious confidence issues.
Gifted or not, Gervinho’s got to go.
What’s your take, is it time for Arsenal to cash in on Gervinho?
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U said it all
Gervinho is a talented player but lacks confidence. He should be loaned out so that he is given more playing time and build on his weakness. He is still young and has got some great potential so we a better off to keep him than to give away when it appears to early to do so.
While I understand the nature of the article, and do agree with the overall point of it, the criticisms are well over the top. Eg “for a player who has offered nothing but diminishing returns since his £10.8m move” – that’s really not true. He had a better season last year than the one before, and if you look at it, we might have been in a bit of trouble early in the season were it not for the goals he scored and created – he was our most consistently dangerous player for a period, really until Walcott got back into the starting lineup. The other thing to note is that he works extremely hard on the defensive side, particularly compared to the other wingers we have, and so has been massively important tactically from that perspective in certain games. He’s really not a bad player at all (easily our best player at getting into dangerous positions but probably the worst at making something from them – as you say, frustrating) but I do agree that a move would be beneficial to both him and the club. That said, he would need replacing. I’d feel more confident with him in the side than Oxlade, who would likely be next in line. Obviously Ox is relatively young and he did do well overall last season but he’s simply not been as consistent or as dangerous as Gerv so far, so selling Gerv and not replacing him would certainly weaken the squad.
Thank you god. I´m so sick of these idiots blabbering on and on about how bad he is. He carried us for about 6-7 matches late in the season, made some HUGE assist and can skin ANYONE. My mom can finish a tap-in, I wouldn´t worry about Gervinho blowing sitters. That will come, it´s finding players that can do the other things that is difficult part of football. Walcott, and Podolski have shocking work rates, and to be honest after Theo´s contract year effort waned, he was almost unplayable. Gervinho is box to box lightening quick…and frankly Wenger knows more than the silly author of this article. The fact that one of his former coach wants him should have told you something…but you wanna bite for chump change…and less than what we paid for a player that has been improving whilst learning to play in England. Again, thank you Davi for showing that common sense is still used out there!!
Dont sell him,but kindly allow him to operate as a winger and gradually let him graduate to being a central striker.Part of the problem with him is the desire to make everything stylish,goals inclusive,this has cost him and the club severally,let him know that putting the ball in the net is better anyhow than fluffing it in style.The problem is that of our desperation having allowed to RVP and his replacement,Giroud, not measuring up,we were forced to place our hope on Gerv and others.Lets remember too that Gerv has only been a striker for a season.The coach needs to sit him done and improve him ,that is why is the coach.Again we should also not forget that it was his skills that created many of the chances he spurned.Again can somebody tell me how many years we have tolerated walcot why not Gerv?.The coach should work on him and fans should be more patient with players and not ridiculing them for any small errors