Should we persist with Debuchy or bring in Chambers? by KJ
We signed Mathieu Debuchy fairly early in the transfer window and it a pretty underwhelming signing for me. We had a top class defensive right back and now we’ve gone to someone who’s only real experience at the top level was a couple of years ago in the Champions League at Lille.
Some may mention the fact that he starts for France and played in the World Cup but I think that’s a slightly different platform. The way teams attack in international football is extremely conservative and players are rarely defensively caught out because of it.
Debuchy for me hasn’t started this season strongly at all and it’s clear that with his age, unless he turns out to be an absolute top class player, he will be replaced within 2-3 years. He’s a stop-gap signing. But what happens if he fails to adjust? The only experienced (if you can call it that) back up defender we have that can play right back is Callum Chambers. Do we replace Debuchy for Chambers if he fails to live up to the expectations put on him by Wenger?
For me, it’s a no. Wenger has failed to bring in a back-up centre back and as a result, it has completely inhibited any possibility of us rotating players efficiently or replacing players who are going through bad form. Chambers will only be used when injuries arise or if someone is suspended. It is too risky to start him over Debuchy because an injury to Chambers makes it extremely risk for us at the back, especially considering how injury prone Koscielny is at times.
This article isn’t about fear mongering and I do expect Debuchy to improve as he gets to know the dynamics of this team a bit better. But Wenger has left no margin for error at all and we will have no room for rotations because of the lack of depth at the back.