I have given up trying to second guess Arsene Wenger, well that is not strictly true – but the Arsenal manager does keep proving me wrong. And the fact is that, no matter how much us fans may question his selection policy and think that certain players in the Arsenal squad are not getting the opportunity they deserve, it is Wenger who has to live or die with his choices, and he sees much more of the players than we do.
Having said that, Lukas Podolski put Wenger’s reluctance to play him under serious doubt and his last minute burst and goal proved the German’s fitness over 90 minutes. Hopefully the German striker has proved his point, but it is our other rarely used front man Joel Campbell that I am thinking about today.
Talking to other Arsenal fans, there is no clear consensus on the young striker today. He was wasteful at times and yet he showed glimpses of real class. The TV pundits last night said that any player with so little time on the pitch was going to be rusty and I can accept that. Campbell also seemed to be trying too hard to do something to catch the eye and football is a team sport at the end of the day.
So I can understand why Wenger is not giving him as much game time as he would like, but then how else is Campbell to progress? I really think that a loan deal to a Premier League side that will play him is the best option and I think we could have a real star on our hands, as long as Wenger handles him correctly.
What do you lot think of the Campbell conundrum?
Damn, Barca leading.. Would rather fancy the chance of meeting PSG than them..
i believe they will come back, i prefer psg too, but knowing our luck then it wiill be the best team of the moment, madrid may be!
sorry its BARCA……… Time to face a real Top Team and thus prove how Top a Team we are or could be
campbell will shine, he is in the same league as welbeck, more clinical though, world cup remember? he just need coach’s faith.
World cup?..clinical?…I saw 1 world cup goal against england…yup england…lets not even go there
Wenger needs to give joel campbell his chance to shine! Having a talent young player as joel “wasting” away is sad and unfair to him!
Any updates on david ospina’s progress, and when he is returning from injury?
On current form I’d rather have gervinho than Campbell..!
Saying that- gervinho was utter shite when here so god knows what will happen to Campbell..?
Wenger Kroenke and bould out…?
Bould out? Wow… that’s a Bould statement…
Ha ha
Considering our abysmal defending (and he’s our defensive coach)
Kroenke Wenger and BOULD out..!
I think we’ve got to be fair to Bould, he has dramatically improved the defence since he has come in, do you remember the year before last? The problem hasn’t been him and his coaching it is the out of position players he has been provided with. He has been catching water with a sieve and not a bucket. Hopefully we can buy a bucket in January…
Also don’t forget that Bould has made recommendations for defensive transfers but Wenger has completely ignored them.
We aren’t in a position where we can regularly play a player who is ‘settling down’. Cup games are his and the odd cameo, but realistically we need players who have been performing to start. Personally I think we should loan him to a EPL team. He might be able to damage the teams around a la Lukaku.
Gooners have this weird notion of Campbell. If Wenger would have bought him in as a new player this season Wenger would have been absolutely crucified. But he bought him as a bargain, took a risk and let him go out on loan and now he is some kind of superstar?
He is no better in terms of progression than Sanogo. So not sure why Sanogo gets criticised but Campbell is loved.
One is shite and one is slightly better.. Both not good enough for arsenal and really one isn’t a footballer..!
If one is shit and one slightly better then both are still shit. So I still don’t get it. Why is Campbell even a topic?
This team cannot absorb pressure from a quality side. So many players are running around chasing balls and we lose our form and our confidence. The lack of confidence has hurt team and individual players. This stems from a lack of strong defensive backs and midfielders, being played out of position, and Wengers sh@tty job at team rotation. Hopefully with healthy players we will gain confidence and Wenger will do a better job of rotation.
Campbell ain’t good enough, he can pull it off for Costa Rica and had one good loan spell last season but he’s not cut out for Arsenal.
Campbell played around 60-70 games last two seasons for the clubs he was loaned to but only scored around 12 goals. He isn’t a big goal scorer. He scored one great goal in the World Cup, but we cannot judge him on that alone.
It will be very difficult to play him with all the forwards we have. Maybe FA Cup, but remember we have Giroud, Welbeck, Podolski, Sanchez, Walcott, Oxlade, Sanogo, Gnabry. Also, Ozil and Cazorla can play on the wings (I don’t want them too, but Wenger does).
When Campbell gets his precious minutes he MUST shine or will get lost in the back of the pack. He had playing time yesterday but didn’t take advantage
Only 11 players can play. Is Campbell currently one of the best 11? I don’t think so. I think a loan move to a mid table club will do him a world of good.
Same for Sanogo.
Arsenal to draw Porto or Monacco…
Campbell needs game time in order to prove that he is valuable to this arsenal squad, wenger is keeping him close to full in into various positions if some of is favorites get injured. If campbell truly wants to play for arsenal he is going to have to be extra outstanding in ny little chance he gets or pray for those in front him to be injured.
If i was campbell i would ask to go on loan in the epl, a hull, sunderland, west brom or burnley would gladly take him on and i have no doubt he would become an automatic starter and score some goals.
I am looking forward to the draw, i feel we going to be lucky in this round of the CL, , remember two quality addition in a DM and CB can carry u a long way
Wenger’s only & major undoing is his inability to beef up the squad with real talents but pinning Wenger down to poor squad selection doesn’t wash, this has been clearly revealed by bellerin and Campbell shows afteral a coach knows every aspect to each and every player’s game and infact I’m beginning to think Wenger has limited a greater damage so far through his team selection by restricting some players to the bench. as for poldy I don’t know what to say coz in my opinion the German fits the bill.