Can Bellerin force Debuchy onto the Arsenal bench full-time?

Hector Bellerin is one of the success stories for Arsenal last season. And the young defender will be looking to build on it as he prepares for the new Premier League season. The pre-season training for the new season will start at London Colney on Monday and will see most of the team members gathering.

The 20-year-old Bellerin took to Twitter to post a picture of him on a plane back to the training center after enjoying time in the off-season with a holiday away. He made 28 appearances for the Gunners in the just concluded season and found the net twice in the process.

The Spanish defender will be hopeful that he keeps impressing his manager Arsene Wenger and keep his place in the starting XI. Critics and supporters will have no doubts that he proved his worth in the top flight with his performances during the last year.

Apart from this, he also broke Arsenal’s record for being the club’s fastest player; Theo Walcott held this mantle earlier. Bellerin was also very happy with the academy policy at the North London side. He went on record to proclaim that at the Emirates it is a case of ‘not just buy players, Arsenal make them the players they are’.

Bellerin came from one of the best academies in the world – Barcelona’s La Masia four years ago. He had a chance to stay there and etch his name in the annals of Barcelona. But, he chose to try his luck and learn the trade at Arsenal.

He has always proclaimed his happiness of turning down the chance at Barcelona and joining Arsenal. He has flourished into an incisive and brave right-back establishing himself as Arsenal’s first choice in the process.

Bellerin had been playing as a right-winger for Barcelona but has been playing as a right-back at Arsenal, and developing too. He would find the new season in direct competition with Mathieu Debuchy. The Frenchman was unlucky to miss most of the season with ankle and shoulder injuries.

This actually is a welcome headache for Wenger. The genial gaffer always maintained that competition for places in the squad is healthy and would only raise the performances. Bellerin should see his competition with Debuchy as a way of improving his own game.

The second season for a player is seen as a precursor to the way his career pans out. If Bellerin can continue to show his appetite to improve, it can propel him and the club to success.

What do you think? Will Bellerin be able to continue his best performances and continue his development?

Sridhar

Tags Bellerin Debuchy

33 Comments

  1. I absolutely doubt Debuchy is going to be benched by Bellerin. There are games (lots of them) where experience will count more than talent. As long as Wenger will keep competition at this level in the squad I doubt Bellerin will bench Debuchy if not in form. Times are changing. I do not deny that Wenger have some strange ideas but this is why he’s the gaffer and I am just a supporter : come with strange ideas which can surprise not only the opponents but also the supporters.

    1. Totally agree. Debuchy has tons of experience where as bellerin doesn’t. Bellerin did have a great season but I still rate debuchy higher than him, debuchy defends much better and is crucial to have him for big games.one of the weak points in bellerins performance is his defending,he gets caught too often. He needs to improve that part of his game.bellerin has the potential to be one of the best rb in Europe, he just needs more experience

      1. Bellerin could make a big leap defending just this year. He is fast, so he doesn’t have to be as good positionally to do as well as Debuchy. If he works on reading the play and not over committing either way, he will be fine. He can work on positioning as he goes. A lot depends on the system the team has. Do we need the fullbacks to overlap regularly or do we need someone to sit in deeper?

        Debuchy will be better for certain games that we need to sit back more, but I want Bellerin starting as much as possible. As long as he isn’t hurting the team, I want him in the lineup to gather that experience at the highest level.

    2. People label us as Ozil haters/bashers.. Maybe some of us expect so much more from him compared to others..

      But sometimes you have got to take a sit back and ask why so many people criticise Ozil, it just can’t be because of hate, there must be a reason why. Gilberto, Henry, Keown, Wrighty, Dixon, Lehmann, Parlour, Pundits, his fellow countrymen etc have all highlighted the same points about Ozil, it surely cant be because they are all jealous or hate him. There is something there for sure..

      Even his own country-men, Come-on u can’t bash Giroud and praise Ozil
      Rate this comment: Thumb up 2 Thumb down 1

      1. LOL: Is this an Ozil thread now – been a while hasn’t it? Giroud has been done to death for a few days now so I suppose some of you guys bored with that one. I think it should be Per’s turn again tomorrow, maybe with a sprinkling of Arteta and Walcott slagging. It is one big happy merry-go-round.

        The Arsenal old-boys have an opinion, but then so do others like Low, Ramos, Mourinho, Gullit, Muller, Ronaldo, Wenger, Fabregas and his present team mates – and none of them were paid for a quote.

        Low : ‘For me, it’s incomprehensible that Real would sell him…….’
        Ramos: ‘If it was up to me, he would be one of the last players to go. He’s a unique player and it’s a shame.’
        Real Madrid fans: ‘Ozil no se vende’ (‘Ozil is not for sale!’).
        Fabregas: ‘I was really surprised by Ozil’s departure. He seemed to me the second-best player at Madrid.’
        Mourinho: ‘Ozil is unique. There is no copy of him – not even a bad one.’
        Khedira: ‘Personally, I regret that he leaves. It’s a loss because I think that Mesut can make the difference.’
        Isco: ‘It has surprised me, and more so after he said last week he was going to stay. He has a lot of quality and he’s a player who is capable of changing a game.’
        Muller: ‘Madrid pushed the boat out this summer, with a new coach, and new stars, but I would not have sold to Ozil.’
        Ronaldo: ‘The sale of Ozil is bad news for me. He is the player who knows best my movements in front of goal. I am very unhappy about the sale.’
        Gullit: “Ozil as a footballer is technically perfect”.

    3. Oh yeah, all that experience Debuchy acquired at Lille and Newcastle is going to swing it in his favour. 😀

      Debuchy can do a good job, he is took Sagna’s France place and he was probably the best Right back in the premiership when at Newcastle, but he was trying to get picked for the World Cup.

      BUT Bellerin has a whole season at Arsenal under his belt, he has gelled into the side, the team is used to him and with over-lapping play you want somebody as fast as Walcott. When we face a counter-break, you want the fastest player in the team sprinting down that flank before a cross can be swung in.

      I suspect Wenger will do his French thing with Debuchy at the behest of the France Head Coach, but Bellerin is the one who needs to be knocked off the teamsheet by Debuchy, not the other way round.

      Bellerin is no child and he has done enough to keep his place.

    4. firstly… I can’t wait for d season to get started…. I ll prefer to stat d season wit belerin bcos he ll continue to develope ….. I know debuchy is experience. but I have not see him at his best in arsenal shirt. bcos of injuries. but I believe competition will bring d best out of d two if not three including Chambers….
      Also am using this opportunity to congratulate SANCHEZ… his first season in Arsenal has turn to d best season of his career…. God bless ARSENAL football club and all d Entire Arsenal fans throughout d whole world…. Amen. COYG

  2. Ideally the player with the best form must be picked,if Bellerin is in better shape than Debuchy he should start he did well enough last season

  3. I think Hector’s progress has made us forget how good Debuchy is – two very unfortunate injuries has forced him out of the limelight. Hector is top drawer potential and is the future but only the most blinkered will say he is the finished article and is as good defensively as he is going forward. For tough away assignments and UCL I would be more comfortable with a fit and in-form MD at RB. He has a lot more physicality, dominates aerially and has the experience. Nice problem to have though. I also think MD at RB will also stop AW using Ramsey as extra defensive insurance on the right – Ramsey’s much criticised wide right position was primarily due imo to Bellerin needing a bit more defensive protection.

  4. firstly…. I can’t wait for d season to get started…. I think we should start d season with belerin ,,,imo bcos injury have not allowed us to see debuchy closely in an arsenal shirt…. but I can say i hav my trust in belerin for now….. but let’s wait n c how d competition goes ……. n again am using did opportunity to congratulate SANCHEZ for d COPA win… COYG … God bless Arsenal football club and d Fans throughout d whole world… Amen

  5. I believe that both will be involved heavily next season since they are our only right backs and one cant play alone for over 50 games…debuchy may feature more in the pl and cl if fit because he provides something a bit more(physicality and maturity) now than bellerin but only for next season because from the 20-17, our number-one right back will be super bellerin

  6. No, absolutely not. Debuchy is a better RB than Bellerin is right now. Bellerin looks to be the better player in the future, by far, but not right now. He is a huge liability defensively still. That will calm down with age. Just because Debuchy was out most of last season, please don’t forget he is one of the best in the world at that position. I challenge you to name 5 better right now.

  7. Bellerin’s emergence got me thinking about debuchy……. Its so difficult to make choices…… But wenger is not someone who loves to make too many changes at the back four, cept for injuries and he loves old 30+ RB (recall how long we stucked with sagna)….. I think they both should be rotated considering they are both good………but I would stick with bellerin for the games requiring pace and wing play (can’t let all that talent go to waste)and use debuchy for the more harder games

    1. Debuchy should be our number one rb. He’s one of the best at what he does.he defends superbly

  8. I believe now we have a squad that can win us the title any addition will be a bonus for me.Dm coq,arteta,chambers,hyden can all play there if needed.ST theo,welbeck,girue this is where I have doubts cuz they all have something to prove but I will be confident to win the title with what we have.I understand there cowards here who are always scared of chelsea,they never outplayed us last season in the first place

  9. and it will get more annoying if chambers is considered a right back….. There are only two established contenders i know

  10. I hate Giroud,flamini and Per because I honestly think they are not arsenal quality rival fans tell me so pundits say english newspapers say I as fan say so,so I really dont know how much prove you want!

  11. Mate, if that is the way you feel there is no-one on here who can help you out. What do you want us to say/do? Why not take affirmative action and burn your season ticket just to show how disgusted you are? (LOL – like you have a season ticket).

    1. Like you know me,you can never understand the pain of cheering a mediocre player playing for arsenal if you have never seen the emarates live,I enjoy some previliges as a season ticket holder.Anyway shame on you!

      1. The privilege of paying through the nose to cheer for players that you claim to hate? 🙂 Relax dude, it’s summer. Sip an ice cool drink and enjoy the weather and long evenings. We’ll have all winter to wind each other up, lol.

      2. Stop being such a drama queen. I have supported Arsenal for 40 years – if you want a chat about mediocrity I’ll happily oblige.

  12. I think we now have the best RB qualities in the league in those two together. Watch Bellerin become one the best RB’s’ in the future. He has everything it takes to become as good as Dani alves and even better and how many years will take before the catalans start with Barca dna B*shitt? He is Arsenal boy now as much as Wilshere, Gibbs, Jekns…..

    Give him 5 + years contract Wenger, if possible.

  13. I wouldnt write him off thats for sure. My own thoughts are that Debuchy is the more rounded player and of course he has the experience. MD was very unlucky with his injuries, especially the second on. I think he will be our first choice and we will see Bell when we are closing games out and in our cup escapades.

  14. firstly… I can’t wait for d season to get started…. I ll prefer to stat d season wit belerin bcos he ll continue to develope ….. I know debuchy is experience. but I have not see him at his best in arsenal shirt. but I believe competition will bring d best out of d two if not three including Chambers….
    Also am using this opportunity to congratulate SANCHEZ… his first season in Arsenal has turn to d best season of his career…. God bless ARSENAL football club and all d Entire Arsenal fans throughout d whole world…. Amen. COYG

Comments are closed

Top Blog Sponsors