Is he really that good anyway? [video=youtube;II_uUAUzTyE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=II_uUAUzTyE[/video] [video=youtube;sw2kPxaJIqc]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sw2kPxaJIqc[/video] Admittedly I haven't watched much more of him than a few videos, including these. But does he do anything that's startlingly skillful? Admittedly he's only 22, but he looks like he'll give away a fair few fouls as well. Looks like a good chunk of his Estudiantes goals have been penalties
There's nothing they can do if its got to the stage where he's got a work permit until he fails an appeal and then we can't sign him anyway.
I don't think West Ham applied for a work permit. They pulled out, on the basis that they thought it would fail
This lads got a good agent, may get to Italy or spain where they have a laxer attitude to permits etc. But as Grifter points out, he doesn't look half as good as Austin to me, and isn't good enough for the Colombian national squad.
Video no.1 1st Goal: Probably the nicest of the lot, a very clinical finish, and some good positioning with and excellent run to lose his Center Backs. Will English defences be as lax though? 2nd Goal: Clinical penalty off the back of some very physical work in the penalty area. A soft award in my opinion though, and those kind of shoulder barges might yield a few more cards in England. 3rd: A fairly jammy rebound off the post for a tap in. I'm not sure whether this was down good positioning on his behalf, or good fortune 4th: Fumble from the goalie and Zapata's in the right place at the right time again. Maybe he has that "poacher's" knack afterall 5th: This really was garbage goalkeeping, he should've smashed it out for a throw. Usually these goals are off the back off some lightning pace from the forward, but Zapata didn't even appear to be moving that fast. I suppose he had to be alert to see that the keeper was on treacherous ground 6th: Admittedly this was another nice one. Perfectly timed run to beat the offside trap, and an impressive finish with very little of the goal to aim for (and left footed!) 7th: This was another soft penalty I thought, 6 of one half a dozen of the other. He put it away with consummate ease though 8th: Hugely fortuitous deflection when he should've passed to the man on his far left 9th: Decent poach, good athleticism on the header. So 3 of the 9 are impressive I'd say. These are almost half the goals he's scored for Estudiantes (20), but admittedly some of the others on youtube are quite nice. Video no.2 Not a lot to say here really.. I suppose this is intended to highlight his hold up play, but other than the assist for the goal, he doesn't really do a lot at all. A few aimless headers on, loses out in the air on a lot of occasions. Improved second half display, but still- not very impressive
Am I wrong in that there is a different set of requirements when applying for a work permit when we're in the Championship compared to the Premier League? Surely there can't be the same demands for international appearences for a player signing for a lower league side or else they would be playing in the top level. Take Gino Padula, joined Bristol Rovers and later Walsall from the Argentinean league. If international caps were the be all and end all then he couldn't have come to England in the first place imo.
Plenty of footballers don't establish themselves in their respective national squads until later in their careers - Ricky Lambet being the most recent example - so can't really see why that should put us off. On the basis of the video posted above, he looks mobile, pacy and his capable of scoring a variety of goals, including penalties, an extemely useful skill. I'm hoping we will be able to sign him.
Obviously we have different views on the matter but I find it slightly worrying that you can be so negative on the basis of that video. What are you expecting, exactly? He's 22 and appears to have great potential, after all, Drogba was heavily criticised when he first arrived in the PL and look how he developed. Worth taking a chance, IMO.
Fair enough! I'm just saying if we don't get him, it's not the end of the world. To be honest, the more I chopped up those videos/the others on youtube, the more I thought he looked fairly handy. You're right though, he is 22- so some of the Zamora-esque play in the 2nd vid can probably be forgiven.
You may be right Norway, my Colombia reference was about the % of recent international apprearances rule for non EU players, rather than the quality of Colombia (who look pretty good at the moment). Not sure if these rules apply in the championship, but clearly there are some rules otherwise we would not be talking about appeals and so on. Just hope our search for a striker is not limited to this bloke.
I see. Not sure about the rules, but Watford have brought in a few foreign players this season but I don't know whether they're all full internationals.
On the basis of no research and an increasingly dodgy memory, I think a lot of Watfords imports are loans and EU nationals, or already qualified for EU teams. They have a strange arrangement through owners who also control Udinese and a Spanish club. Don't get me wrong, I hope we get Zapata, for his name alone, but I am preparing myself for disappointment.
