The Arsenal and England defender Calum Chambers was said to be set for a return to fitness a few weeks ago, and with Arsene Wenger suffering a mini injury crisis in that section of the Arsenal squad, it would have been great timing. Not just for the boss or the club either, but for Chambers who could really have done with a chance to play and impress enough to get back into first team contention on a regular basis.
Unluckily for the former Southampton star, his hip injury did not get better and so his last appearance is still the Carabao Cup win over Doncaster Rovers over a month ago. That is not his only bit of bad luck either, because after seeing his former England under 21 teammate Rob Holding overtake him in the thoughts of his manager, at club level anyway as Chambers stayed ahead of Holding with the three lions, he now has the forgotten Frenchman Matthieu Debuchy to contend with.
Many Arsenal fans were surprised to see Debuchy not join the list of players shipped out of Arsenal this summer, but he now seems to have won back the trust of his manager and could even start to feature for us in the Premier League again, reports the Evening Standard.
Wenger said, “We are all very pleased for him here because he has gone through some very difficult moments with setbacks. The fact that he got through 120 minutes the other night is a huge boost for him. He needs to recover now but from now on, he’ll be a candidate to fight for the team places again.
“Mathieu is absolutely strong and determined as well. He’s a quiet character but a very strong one. I must say he’s 100 per cent a professional player. Everybody in the medical department just says he’s exceptional.
“Maybe his future is as a centre-back. He has the attributes because, despite his size, he’s very good in the air. You think he couldn’t play centre back because he’s not tall, but if you look at the number of balls he wins in the air, it’s impressive.”
Chambers, like Debuchy was a specialist right back but seemed a lot more versatile, but with Debuchy now impressing Wenger as a right sided part of a back three, how on earth does Chambers fit in? Has the return of the Matt signalled the end for the Arsenal career of young Calum?
Bob.
I don’t see why Chambers Arsenal career would be over. He should be with us longer than debuchy. He is only 21 or 22 years old.
Chambers and Holding are almost the same age. Still young enough to improve. Holding was definitely a better bargain. Chambers cost £16 million and Holding cost £2 million. Both are pretty much same quality at the moment. Maybe Holding a bit better at the moment. At first, I was shocked at how much Wenger paid for Chambers, like Xhaka for £35 million. Both haven’t really met expectations yet though. I guess they need more time.
Wenger has recently and worryingly paid a lot for unknown talent instead of spending a lot on experienced known talent. And their quality and performances haven’t really matched their price tags. I think £35 million on Xhaka could have been spent more wisely on a quality defensive midfielder to replace Viera (lol still haven’t replaced him) or box to box midfielder to replace Cazorla. We spent £35 million on Xhaka and £5 million on Eleny, neither of which are a top premier league central midfielder.
Very silly question Bob!
With the actual situation of lack of central defenders we need to used any one in healthy condition.
I am rather afraid that Wenger will use Debuchy’s return as an excuse for not buying a replacement for Mertesacker – you know, the usual “like a new signing” stuff. That would really be unfortunate.
Debuchy was a good player when Arsenal first signed him, and he was unlucky with his injury and Bellerin’s subsequent emergence as our first-choice RB, but things have changed this season.
Bellerin’s form hasn’t been good lately, and excellent performances from Monreal and Kolasinac on the other side of the defence have highlighted this fact.
If Debuchy can become good once again (Either as RB, or RCB in a back 3) then it could be very valuable, especially with our current injury problems and Bellerin’s iffy form.
Agree with you Yossarian, very good comments?
Move debuchy to rwb..
No – Debuchy is a bit of desperation team selection due to injuries and lack of currently available options. We were quite reasonably trying to offload him without success during the summer. Retaining Gabriel would probably have been quite wise. Chambers has loads of promise, just needs to master his football intelligence more and get more experience.