Why Arsenal should be using Joel Campbell more?

In the five games that Arsenal have played so far in the month of May, our Costa Rican international forward Joel Campbell has made just brief appearances from the bench, spending about 15 minutes in total. They were also at the end of the games against Watford and West Brom with the wins for Arsenal already confirmed.

So it would appear that Arsene Wenger does not really trust Campbell to go and rescue the Gunners when we really need it. Instead he normally turns to Theo Walcott and whichever of Olivier Giroud and Danny Welbeck are not already on. We all know how well that has been working out.

I cannot help but feel that Arsenal are missing a trick by not using Campbell more because he has been impressive for us when given a chance this season. He also has a point to prove and you can see that in his effort and desire on the pitch, something that we have sorely lacked for the most part since christmas.

And when I read the comments from the young forward on Arsenal.com about enjoying the pressure of playing for a big club and feeling that he has adapted well to the demands of EPL football it made me question even more the wisdom of not trying to tap that enthusiasm while Arsenal are in this current rut.

Campbell said, “It is really intense and when I thought about playing in England, I knew that the football here would challenge me a lot and that it would be both very fast and technical.

“It is not harder than I expected. It is a competitive league, the games are really end-to-end, it is really fast and I’m really happy to be part of Arsenal and playing in the Premier League.

“You have to be very committed to the team, you have to have quality and you need to give your all. Pressure is always going to be there, and even more so at a club like Arsenal that is always fighting to achieve things.

“We feel the pressure to win every game, which isn’t a bad thing, and when you’re a big team there is pressure from all sources – social media, the fans and from within the club. There is always going to be pressure on the team to be the best.”

I know that Alex Iwobi has been a plus point for us with his breakthrough but does anyone else agree that we should be seeing more of Campbell?

Tags Iwobi Walcott Wenger

14 Comments

  1. Joel Campbell gave a good account of himself, every chance he got, it’s very confusing to me as why Wenger isn’t giving him some well deserved game time!

    1. He picks players based on favoritism. Ramsey, Giroud , Theo and Mertesaker are untouchable. Why on earth would anyone pay Theo 140k pw?

  2. Get ready for another depressing and stressful transfer window. Will it take 0 goals from 38 league goals next season from Giroud to convince Wenger we need a striker ? Joel Cambell falling behind useless Theo Walcott is unfair. Campbell may be sold.

  3. Arsenal made a big mistake by not buying a single outfield player at the start of this season. Why did we spent just 10 m when we had Sir Chips saying we have 200 m cash reserves and 70 m transfer budget given by Kroenke? We should have at least signed one top DM or striker. Now we still require top CB, DM and Striker.

    1. Was not Sir Chips
      was Lord Harris. 🙂
      To be fair he
      also said
      “It’s not all about spending
      …If you look at Tottenham,
      they sold a player for £80m
      & spent £110m & ended up worse off.
      Mixed messages?

  4. We have the third highest wage bill in the premier league behind City and Man U. Half of our squad is filled with mediocore and injury prone players like Arteta, Flamini, Rosicky, Theo, Ox, Debuchy, Giroud to name a few. Number wise our squad is big but talent wise not. Why are our club addressing the situation looking to solve the problem. We are just 4 top players away from being competitive at top level. Get rid of these players and spend money on top talent. We don’t need to spend 100 m every season. Just spend that in one window. Getting rid of mediocre players will free up wages big time to fund top talent.

  5. Arteta+Flamini+Rosicky= 200k pw salary
    We can sign Xhaka his salary would be 100k pw we can save extra 100k by signing him.
    Theo is making 140k pw and is not good enough. Get rid of him we can easily get 20 m upwards for him and buy Mahrez/Mikhitariyan who are quality.
    Giroud is also making 120k pw and is not good enough to be our first choice get rid of him and give his wages and extra 100k saved to new striker. It’s very easy. Just spend 120 m this season on CB, DM, Winger and St.

  6. Szczesny, Debuchy, Flamini, Arteta and Rosicky will definitely leave next season permanently. Others I’m not so sure.

  7. Campbell does not play because
    he was a free transfer and is
    paid 30k p/w and is in
    his last year of his contract.
    Walcott cost 10 mill
    a decade ago and is paid 450%
    more at 140k p/w and has
    a new long term contract.
    Campbell is also not English.
    So it is purely for financial + squad quota requirements
    Campbell is being kept on the bench.
    We should have got rid of ten year flop Walcott for 20 mill,
    got rid of his delusional belief he is a CF
    and got rid of his ridiculous salary.
    Then sign a 4 years younger Campbell on a long term contract
    at 25% of the salary and then use the 20 mill transfer fee to sign a real striker.
    It’s just common sense.

  8. Anybody understand why we have Arteta on the wage bill, doing his badges, and then let him go to Citeh? Doesn’t seem the brightest use of money to me.

    1. Rosicky 80k p/w
      Wilshere 90k p/w
      Flamini 80 k/ pw
      Ox 80k p/w
      Walcott 140k p/w
      Wellbeck 100k p/w
      Debuchi 70k p/w
      Gibbs 65k p/w
      for minimal production
      is not particularly bright either
      especially when we have Campbell
      on 30 k p/w who is better than any of them

  9. Walcott and giroud are flops. They get chance after chance and campell is not getting chance.

  10. Thank you to whoever wrote this article..I have been screaming for a while why not play Campbell? He does everything on the field attack, defend, plays creative passes. why not use him as an impact sub 60th minute get him to come on..or for a odd few matches play him upfront lets see what he has got because he has proven he is goal hungry, has alot of pace and will run at CB not try pass around them.

    I have said it before and i will say it again if we do not use him and end up selling him we will surely regret it.

  11. I love this article, it’s only last weekend when we discussed this issue about Campbell with my fellow Gooner buddy. My point was that, how come Iwobi gets so much game time while Campbell is rotting away on the bench and why is Walcott ahead of him as well ?. Campbell looks is a bundle of energy and looks like a goal or an assist whenever he’s on.

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