The Ox himself thinks that this suits him perfectly, as he explained on Arsenal.com. “It suits my game because when I’m playing wing-back there’s a lot of space to run into,”
“I feel like I’m more natural running with the ball as opposed to running off the ball for someone to play over the top.
“I like to be able to run with it and be a bit more of a midfield influence as opposed to a forward. Playing at wing-back, I receive a lot of balls deep and then I’ve got a few options.
“I can pass back to my centre half, look for Granit or Aaron in midfield, I could look for Mesut or Danny if one of them wants to run into the channels or in behind, or I have the option to cross from deep.
“I kind of did that against Manchester City, where I went to cross it a bit earlier, stopped myself and then after the next few steps I ended up crossing it. Then the final option I have is to run at people as well if the other options aren’t available. It gives you a lot of options, running with the ball, and my main qualities are probably running with the ball and picking a pass.
“From wing-back, you can do that a lot more compared to when you’re higher up the wing, when your options are a little bit limited. You don’t have as much space because you’re receiving the ball a lot higher up and the defender is a lot closer to you. You either take him on or you end up coming back or coming inside. I’ve really enjoyed it so we’ll see how it goes for the rest of the season.”
There is not much left of ‘the rest of the season’ and worryingly, Oxlade-Chamberlain has still not agreed to extend his contract with the Gunners, and there are many rumours saying that Jurgen Klopp wants to take him up to Liverpool. The 23 year-old, like Alexis and Ozil, is in a position where he can dictate his terms this summer, or even force himself to be sold to the highest bidder.
As Wenger said a month ago: “I personally think it is vital that Chamberlain stays at Arsenal,”
“We bought him when he was very young, we have built him up and I think he has a great mentality and a good football brain. It would be a big damage for us to lose this kind of player.”
Wenger may say that, but the fact is that Chamberlain may have become disillusioned with the Boss, as he has actually only started in 25 Arsenal League games in two years, and has been shunted around from one position to another on a regular basis. He may now have found his calling as a wing-back, but has Wenger left it too late to find a place for the Ox in the starting line-up?
Could we soon see him playing in a different red shirt, especially if Liverpool take Arsenal’s place in the Champions League?
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Oh Mahrez, why? :'(
Liverpool take our 4 th spot and our best players
Lol irony
Guardiola isn’t going to win the title in this league unless he changes his style or buys Messi. City spent over £140m and are currently 15 points behind the leader, and are trophyless. When was the last time he went trophyless as a Manager?
After Alexis Oxlade has always been our best winger in adding the defensive side to his game. But he surprised greatly at how well he has taken to this role still. He was a safer option for us than Walcott, but that was mostly down to how neglectful Walcott was. Walcott looked like he woke up a bit early on in season, but it was like he was forcing himself to do things that he didn’t believe in or things that he didn’t want to have to keep doing.
Our players are very inconsistent under Wenger. Remember Ramsey was called the best midfield player 3 years ago. Coquelin was called the best DM 2 years ago, Iwobinand Bellerin were called best young talent last year. Our players seem to fail when you are expected to reach the next level. I hope Ox proves me wrong?