The Class of Danny Welbeck

Danny Welbeck.

Galatasary.

6 chances.

3 goals.

Man of the match.

Danny Welbeck.

Chelsea.

0 chances.

0 goals.

Non existent in the match.

The two sides of Danny Welbeck beautifully illustrated in the space of 4 days.

From the moment Danny joined Arsenal we have seen his career perform like a heart monitor.

Shot up after his two goal salvo for England against Switzerland.

Straight back down for his debut miss at Manchester City.

A hat trick in the Champions League.

Then absolutely nothing during the game with Chelsea.

Never more beautifully did he illustrate how he is such a class player - just not a world class player.

Danny can produce brilliantly like against Galatasary on Wednesday when he became only the sixth Englishman to score a Champions League hat-trick.

Then get completely nullified four days later on Sunday when he played against a top quality side.

Just like last month when he scored against last season’s fifteenth placed Aston Villa.

And was then completely shut-out when he played the champions Manchester City.

A lot has been said of one of the most surprising deals of transfer deadline day in recent weeks.

Mainly from Arsenal fans.

Who reacted on twitter with many feelings - bewilderment included.

Their team had just spent £16m on a player who often attracted derision from fans outside of the Old Trafford.

Derision from fans inside at times too.

They needed a striker, badly.

With Arsene Wenger off refereeing a charity match in Rome, the Gunners faithful feared the worse with just hours to go before the window closed.

No mention of a striker for weeks until suddenly Danny Welbeck’s name cropped up.

He was a striker alright.

Just not a very good one.

Or at least that’s what they had thought.

His record suggested he wasn’t what their team needed.

Games for Manchester United - 142.

Goals for Manchester United - 29.

Hardly figures to set even the most optimistic of supporter’s imagination alight.

The reaction of Manchester United’s fans suggested otherwise.

Respected pundits such as Gary Neville questioned the sale.

Paul Scholes, Dwight Yorke, David Beckham too.

Even Mike Phelan, Sir Alex Ferguson’s right hand man came out against the decision of Louis Van Gaal.

A decision make entirely by Louis Van Gaal.

For Louis Van Gaal.

And for Manchester United.

Louis has come in to this massive club and now needs to stamp his authority.

He will have looked at the reactions of said former players and known every one of them came from the Sir Alex Ferguson school of thought.

And under the great Scotsman, Danny would not have been sold.

At least not yet.

But life is different now and Louis is not cut from the same cloth.

He has no sentimentality towards players who came through the ranks at the club having been there since the age of 10.

He is a lot more black and white than that.

He will have seen the stat of 29 goals in 142 games.

The problem for Danny is he will have looked at the stat of 155 goals in 200 games as well.

Radamel Falcao’s return since he came to Europe is astonishing.

He hasn’t stopped scoring since he arrived on the continent.

Lighting up the teams of Porto, Atletico Madrid and Monaco.

Costing the French side £51m last summer.

A return of 35 goals in his 41 games in European competition.

His two seasons in Europe’s best league saw a return of 24 and 28 league goals.

36 and 34 overall.

In every season he played in Europe bar the one season not finished due to his cruciate ligament injury, he has scored more goals than Danny has scored in his 6 years at Manchester United in total.

Every season.

34, 38, 36, 34.

Compared to an overall of 29.

Danny is just not in the same league.

Not even close.

Excuses can be made of how Danny has been forced to play out wide in far too many games before.

He has craved this central role that he will get at Arsenal.

But Falcao wasn’t played out wide to accommodate Diego Costa at Atletico Madrid.

The same Diego Costa who would go on to score 36 goals the following season.

That’s not what managers do with world class players.

They do that with players like Danny Welbeck.

They even sell players like Danny for sums as paltry as £16m.

A great price for Arsenal to pay.

A price that got them a great striker.

Just not one as good as Falcao...

The Villans have a new Hero

Robbie Keane returned to the Premier League with great impact this weekend.

Two goals against Wolverhampton Wanderers showing he has lost none of his quality since making the move to Major League Soccer last summer.

In only his first start for his new club, Robbie managed to score both the equaliser and the subsequent winner, with two strikes of the highest order from outside the box.

In a team struggling since Alex McLeish took over, Robbie might just well be the difference between an Aston Villa relegation battle and an Aston Villa push for Europe.

For a team that have found goals hard to come by this season, the signing of Robbie couldn’t have come at a better time.

Lose to Wolves on Saturday and they remain in the bottom six, dangerously close to the relegation zone.

Win at Molineux and suddenly the Villans lie just outside the top half on goal difference.

A shrewd piece of business by Alex to supplement his strikeforce of Darren Bent, Gabriel Agbonlahor and Emile Heskey with the type of quality vision that Robbie possesses.

The only thing that surprised me about the transfer was that one of the bigger teams didn’t come in for him.

A team like Liverpool, Newcastle or higher, might have been a better move for the Republic of Ireland captain.

With Luis Suarez suspended for 8 games, Robbie could potentially have been an astute short term solution for Kenny Dalglish.

While not having a very successful period under Rafa Benitez, his time spent there would have made it all the easier to settle in fast, knowing he would only have two months to make an impact.

With their season starting to derail over the last six games or so, Robbie might have been the man to reignite their push for a Champions League place by filling the void left by Luis.

Newcastle of course have just lost their seasons star man - Demba Ba.

15 goals in the league already, he will be sorely missed for the next month.

The addition of Robbie to fill this void for the next few games would surely have helped Alan Pardew retain their push for that last lucrative Champions League spot.

With just his wages to consider, a loan deal for either of these clubs would represent good value for money.

Robbie, of course, is not the only senior player making a return to the Premier League during this transfer window.

Arsenal have taken a chance on bringing back Thierry Henry in a bid to help his team secure fourth place.

Everton as well, have taken back Landon Donovan, having previously enjoyed a loan spell on Merseyside.
 

Manchester United have resigned Paul Scholes, having just retired last summer.

While some seem riskier than others, particularly with Thierry and Paul’s age, Robbie looks the best business of all.

Sir Alex Ferguson has opted to treat the problem of Paul’s absence from the game as the equivalent to him having an injury over the last few months.

Arsene Wenger does not seem too worried about Thierry’s game not having that devastating pace anymore, instead hoping his presence in the dressing room can have the desired effect.

Whereas Robbie has no such concerns at the age of 31.

He has been playing regularly since he departed England at the end of last season.

Not to mention captaining the Republic of Ireland to qualification for the European Championships.

Bringing in experienced campaigners during the January transfer window has proved quite popular in the Premier League.

In particular this season.

Each manager hoping these players will give their side a timely boost going into the business end of the season.

While Thierry, Landon and Paul all returned to clubs for second spells, it was the fact that Robbie didn’t return to one of his that proved the most surprising.

What may prove to be Liverpool’s loss, or indeed any of the sides fighting for European places - is most definitely Alex’s gain.

The Villans have gotten themselves a new hero, if only for a short time.

But as Robbie has shown already - he only needs a few games to make all the difference...

Villa fans don’t hate Alex McLeish. They hate themselves.

Andy Cole.

Carlos Tevez.

Luis Figo.

Now Alex McLeish.

All joined a rival club at one stage or another in their career.

All hated by the club they left.

All adorned by the club they joined.

Except for McLeish.

The scenes in Birmingham were slightly disjointed this week as all the protests took place outside Villa Park and not St. Andrews as history should suggest.

Birmingham City fans were not protesting that their manager had just left them for their nearest rivals.

And Aston Villa fans were not celebrating.

Quite the opposite in fact.

Alex McLeish is a good manager.

He is.

Success at Hibs led to success at Rangers and subsequently success at Scotland.

3 jobs done well.

Then Birmingham came along with a promotion and a Carling Cup win in just 2.5 years.

Not bad for a club of their size.

But then he got Birmingham relegated again.

Only two years ago, Villa fans were watching their side riding high in the Premier league with a promising young squad under the tutorship of the highly regarded Martin O’Neill.

Fast forward to this summer and a lot has changed.

Three different managers since then for starters.

Free-fall down the Premier League table.

Plus reports of more than one manager saying thanks but no thanks when offered the job of manager this summer.

Villa fans, having so recently tasted the highs of Premier League football, don’t want to admit to how far they’ve fallen.

No longer an enticing destination for managers the calibre of Ancelotti, Benitez, Moyes or even a Martinez but rather a place of reincarnation for a manager of Alex McLeish’s stature.

A good manager.

One who’ll steady the ship.

But not seen as one who could bring Villa back to where they were two years ago.

Or beyond.

Villa fans just see a manager who got their bitter rivals relegated.

But looks like they’ve got the best manager their club could attract.

For once, they don’t hate their rivals for stealing one of their assets.

But rather hate themselves for having to steal one of theirs...