Fran gets playing time
Its me again! Another two articles on Fran, found on the same website as last time.
Fran hosted Real Sociedad’s press conference yesterday afternoon, and he offered a rallying cry to his team mates and demanded the team claim three wins for the final three fixtures, and gain promotion back to La Liga.
Whilst Mérida will miss next weeks game, as he is away with the Spanish Under 19 team he confirmed the side have the quality to go on and get the final reward for all there hard work. But you can only win your next game which came at home to relegation threatened Granada 74.
Mérida continued his starting birth from the centre of the park, establishing himself as the teams pass master. The first half was an even yet tight encounter with both sides creating half chances, but nothing clear cut.
The second half continued in the same vein and it seemed Fran’s ambition for three wins from the final three fixtures was slipping away.
However subsitute Victor Casadesús cropped up on 75 minutes to put the Basque outfit into the lead, and with news coming through that Pedro Botelho’s loan side Salamanca were holding 2nd place Sporting de Gijón, the win would push them closer to promotion. On 83 minutes things got even better as Martí fired home to double the lead and guarantee the win.
Fran has had a mixed and eventful time back in his home land since joining the Basque outfit in January, and after starting well under former Fulham boss Chris Coleman, Merida found himself on the bench as Coleman was sacked and new chairman Iñaki Badiola decided he wanted his own man in charge.
Jose Ramon Eizmendi was appointed and decided to keep Fran on the bench, only using him for the final moments of games to run down the clock. You could understand this happening if it was successful, but the fact of the matter was that under Eizmendi Sociedad had slipped out of the automatic promotion zone, and with pressure piling on the Real board, Jose Ramon was sacked just over two months after his appointment.
In came Juanma Lillo, who quickly established Mérida as the lynch pin of his side. He started him for the home game against Hércules, (his first in charge) and with the scores at 1-1 Fran bagged the winner with just minutes left. A speculator way to celebrate his brand new four year contract with Arsenal.
Whilst the loan spell in Spain has not been an easy ride for Fran, the experience gained will prove to be priceless. The Segunda season runs right to June so there is still plenty of playing time and vital experience to be gained. However he has been called up to the Spanish Under 19 squad that will face Ukraine and Turkey later this month.
Wenger has previously spoken about Mérida, and called the 18 year old an “An absolutely amazing player”, whilst it is unknown where Arsene sees as his best position, the long term future is looking good for Fran.
He will no doubt take heart from Mark Randall, Kieran Gibbs and Jay Simpson who have all scored goals following there return for loan spells, and if Fran was amazing before the loan spell, imagine how good he will be on his return.
Article By - J.Sanderson
Fran hosted Real Sociedad’s press conference yesterday afternoon, and he offered a rallying cry to his team mates and demanded the team claim three wins for the final three fixtures, and gain promotion back to La Liga.
Whilst Mérida will miss next weeks game, as he is away with the Spanish Under 19 team he confirmed the side have the quality to go on and get the final reward for all there hard work. But you can only win your next game which came at home to relegation threatened Granada 74.
Mérida continued his starting birth from the centre of the park, establishing himself as the teams pass master. The first half was an even yet tight encounter with both sides creating half chances, but nothing clear cut.
The second half continued in the same vein and it seemed Fran’s ambition for three wins from the final three fixtures was slipping away.
However subsitute Victor Casadesús cropped up on 75 minutes to put the Basque outfit into the lead, and with news coming through that Pedro Botelho’s loan side Salamanca were holding 2nd place Sporting de Gijón, the win would push them closer to promotion. On 83 minutes things got even better as Martí fired home to double the lead and guarantee the win.
Fran has had a mixed and eventful time back in his home land since joining the Basque outfit in January, and after starting well under former Fulham boss Chris Coleman, Merida found himself on the bench as Coleman was sacked and new chairman Iñaki Badiola decided he wanted his own man in charge.
Jose Ramon Eizmendi was appointed and decided to keep Fran on the bench, only using him for the final moments of games to run down the clock. You could understand this happening if it was successful, but the fact of the matter was that under Eizmendi Sociedad had slipped out of the automatic promotion zone, and with pressure piling on the Real board, Jose Ramon was sacked just over two months after his appointment.
In came Juanma Lillo, who quickly established Mérida as the lynch pin of his side. He started him for the home game against Hércules, (his first in charge) and with the scores at 1-1 Fran bagged the winner with just minutes left. A speculator way to celebrate his brand new four year contract with Arsenal.
Whilst the loan spell in Spain has not been an easy ride for Fran, the experience gained will prove to be priceless. The Segunda season runs right to June so there is still plenty of playing time and vital experience to be gained. However he has been called up to the Spanish Under 19 squad that will face Ukraine and Turkey later this month.
Wenger has previously spoken about Mérida, and called the 18 year old an “An absolutely amazing player”, whilst it is unknown where Arsene sees as his best position, the long term future is looking good for Fran.
He will no doubt take heart from Mark Randall, Kieran Gibbs and Jay Simpson who have all scored goals following there return for loan spells, and if Fran was amazing before the loan spell, imagine how good he will be on his return.
Article By - J.Sanderson