August 16, 2012 09:33
A leading website for fans of the English Premier League outfit Arsenal featured an article on Tuesday praising Korean striker Park Chu-young's performance at the London Olympics and advocating a greater role for him at his new club.
"It's a shame for Arsenal supporters and football fans in general that many skilled players such as Chu-young can't get a game due to modern-day tactics and formations," the article on www.arsenalinsider.com said.
Ian Palmer wrote in detail how striker Park Chu-young performed during the 2012 London Olympics, and how he and his teammates won exemption from their mandatory military service by bringing home a bronze medal, Korea's first trophy from Olympic football. Park scored the opening goal in Korea's 2-0 demolition of Japan in the bronze-medal match.
"Arsenal's Korean striker Park Chu-young showed in the Olympic Games this summer that he still has the scoring touch when it comes to playing for his country," wrote Palmer. "We don't really know how good he could be with the Gunners since he hasn't been given a chance to prove himself by manager Arsene Wenger as of yet."
Park joined Arsenal at the beginning of last season, but he only played in one Premier League match as he failed to catch Wenger's attention. Park's status in Arsenal is even more perilous than last year as Arsenal has acquired forwards Olivier Giroud and Lukas Podolski over the summer.
"There are many far less-skilled players in the league who are guaranteed 90 minutes every match," Palmer wrote. "At 27 years old, it's time Wenger started playing him or cut him loose."
Despite all the positive public opinion about Park, Arsenal is still treating him as a benchwarmer. His winning performance at the Olympics was belatedly mentioned in passing on the club's official site on Monday, while Park's No. 9 uniform was handed over to Podolski.
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