If you by the way the Arsenal transfer rumours have been progressing during the summer then it looks like our London rivals and the current Premier League title holders are set to step up their attempts to sign our England international star Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, who is one of a number of Gunners that have enetered the final year of their current Arsenal contracts.
There have been a fair few reports about the Ox being ready to go because of his lack of first team game time in recent years and the idea that Arsene Wenger does not have as much faith in the player’s ability as he would like, so how does the Frenchman go about convincing the 23-year old that staying put and snubbing the chance to join Chelsea is his best bet?
Well, promising him a proper season of regular games would be a start but with Metro reporting that Antonio Conte’s idea is to make Chamberlain into a world class wing back I think the answer for Wenger is the same.
Luckily enough we have already turned to the three at the back formation and the Ox was one of the main beneficiaries, so surely the boss must now assure him that the place is his for the taking. The problem Wenger has, though, is the strong competition from Hector Bellerin and now young Reiss Nelson.
So can Wenger really convince his dynamic star that he will be a key player in the Arsenal first team this season or will the lure of playing under Conte for Chelsea prove too strong?
Bob.
Arsene should do every thing possible to keep the Ox.
Lool how people want him to be kept.We Arsenal fans are so fickle and change our minds quickly.We never seem to have a stances.Today he’s useless tomorrow he’s brilliant.It’s a shame really.
As I’ve being saying and will keep saying that a wing back can be viewed as a defensive winger.It involves two parts; being a defender and a winger at the same time.Ox is more of a winger than Bellerin but Bellerin is more of a defender than Ox.The problem withplaying Ox there is defensively 1v1 he’s terrible.However,on the attacking side which is the winger part he’s fantastic.Bellerin to me is a much better defender but since he’s not a winger he can’t give what Ox gives in attack.I hope Ox improves his defending though it’ll probably come back to haunt us as usual before we realize.
Mr Kev/resource today is Wednesday.
Are we still announcing lemar today or did he miss his flight to London for his Medical?
English and talented footballer, enough for him to make money anywhere. They are hard to come by, especially at Arsenal in recent years. So if his market price is just 25m, let us work on other contracts and offer him just what he deserves, we can afford to let him go for free
No need, sell him if he really wants to leave or thinks that he deserves better
I want us to keep Ox. He is one of our best squad players. Very versatile
Only way is if we are able to obtain a Chelsea player ie Cahill, Fabregas, Kante
But that will never happen
There’s no way i’d swap for either of those three that you mention. In a different Arsenal team they might have a place but we’ve got those types of players already, they’d be surplus to requirements.
We have a Kante?
No offense but we haven’t had that combative, WC presence in the center of the pitch since Vierra.
Coquelin will never be that guy
I’m against selling to our rivals unless we get somebody in return. We shouldn’t improve our rivals. We should improve ourselves.
Oxlade is a very good player
Wenger should play him more often as CM
Why would we want to sell the ? ox, for me he’s being one of the better player’s at arsenal arsene must keep him, on that topic why didn’t arsenal go for matic before man u snatched him, since the likes of Vieira it seems to me arsene wenger can’t handle players with strong characters he always go for player’s who doesn’t rock the boat and my goodness we need those kind of players more than ever
He wanted to play for Moanihoe again, it would have been pointless going for him.
Matic has a strong character. Really? The has a big build but a very amiable personality. You complain that Xhaka is too slow and one footed and yet you want a player who is even slower and even more one footed.
“He”
Xhaka? “I won’t change my game for anybody”. Would you call Alexis’ tantrums a traits of a strong character cos he definetely rocked the boat there. Lehmann coming in as a coach? He definitely has a strong personality too…. Let’s not mistake unruly behavior for having a strong character.
i do know that this idea will be probably hated on here but i think it would be a good idea to bring back nasri for the CM position as another option to cazorla
Lol respect for saying that
I disagree but nevertheless
Must have seen his pre season cameo for city
Arsenal should try their damnedest to hold on to Chamberlain. He is becoming one of our best improving young players. Even though he claims he’d like more playing time, I believe that due to his fast and progressive improvements, he’ll get just that !
He needn’t worry about Bellerin as Chamberlain has far more qualities than Bellerin has in terms of his drive and forward momentum. Bellerin is quick but has hardly any tricks in his bag to get past his opposing number. Which is why unless he can run on to a through pass or do a Michael Owen, kick and run, he’s often caught with the ball on the touch line or, progresses so far down the line only to pass backwards as that’s where his journey ends as a result of his lack of skill in that particular area.
Now, Chamberlain, he has the ability to take a man on from a standing position by wrong footing his opponent and using the now available space to progress. He’s just as quick as Bellerin if it does come down to a foot race and is more adept at working in close quarters.
He could have some competition from Nelson but, Nelson isn’t at any time soon going to be employed as a wing back and will be used as a traditional winger as like Chamberlain he has the ability to take people on from standing positions and glide past opponents with a mixture of skill and speed.
The best combination would be to play Nelson and Chamberlain in tandem. Those two would terrorise the right wing of any team that we came across……unless that team was to try and box clever and play deep, which would then leave space to be exploited.
Arsenal might have to resign themselves to losing Sanchez but they should make tremendous overtures to keep Chamberlain at the club for as longs as they can and as long as he continues to be a real, valuable asset
I also have seen Chamberlain making huge strides in the last two seasons. He’s really the only player on the right that can dribble and take players on. The only thing that hinders him is sometimes his end product and also his defensive duties, but in recent years you can see he is improving in those departments. Don’t forget he is still very young. I honestly believe he deserves a spot in the starting line up. For his over adventurous ventures going forward and lack of defensive ability thereof I think this can be trained, but I can also vision another scenario that could work. I think it is possible if we have a very strong balanced defensive midfielder that can play as a backup cover for the Ox who is willing to anticipate and cover for him when need be, so that the Ox can focus more on the attacking and lesser on the defending as a wing back. Although it doesn’t mean he should neglect his defensive duties just that he can focus more on his natural ability and talent which is driving forward and taking players on.
The only way to keep the ox is to promise him a regular game not just for him to play brill one day and be on the bench next time no wonder he’s fed up. Another way to give him and Sanchez encouragement for the future is for our skinflint boss to get his rear in gear and sign a few winners
quickly and not wait till the end of the window trying to scrape a bargain you don’t get many of those nowadays. Look what the sharks are spending Mr Wenger please become a JAWS!
Well if he wants to go, let him, our players tend to believe they are better than what they are, place in a different club would surely open their eyes that the football world is not the sheltered life of Arsenal.
He is perhaps in his best form at the moment, seems a lot stronger and more experience in the role of a wingback, which is far more suited for his set of skills. It is best he waits for the transition to a CM further on in his career. I think he will say because he would be too scared to leave out of his comfort zone.
I’d like Ox to stay but at this stage I think he knows he has a starting spot and it’s his to lose, so I am skeptical that he will sign no matter what we do. I think he has had his head turned and looking for greener pastures, I also think he could try to see out his contract to get a better wage deal out of his new employers next summer.
We clearly have a serious problem with these contracts, 6 players at the last count and Szczeney was 7. I refuse to believe the club will even consider letting more than 1 valuable player go for free next summer, if all 6 stayed we stand to lose north of 150m. It almost seems like Wenger is playing chicken with the players and their agents, except he clearly doesn’t understand that he’s driving the Trottermoblie, while they are all in tanks.
We need to show a ruthlessness with the solution to this. The Ox has been our best wing-back hands down. I’m a big fan of Bellerin but the fact is Oxlade has shown a maturity that not many seen coming. His positioning is almost immaculate, he rarely leaves the CB’s exposed and his power when bursting forward adds a new dimension. It can be very inspiring when someone capably dribbles forward with power, he changed the tide a few times last season from doing just that. Kolasinac looks like he might be a bit similar on the opposite wing so long as it goes well. Oxlade already looks like he is on the way to becoming a great wing-back, he doesn’t need Conte for this. Bellerin will get games when we use the old system or when Oxlade picks up an injury. Or he might rise to the challenge, he needs to realise first that the wing-back and fullback positions are different from one another.
Try to get the ox to sign a new contract. Improving as he gets older and seems to suit the wing back postion nicely.
He needs game time and a run in the team, hopefully wenger can offer that and a starting postion that he will only lose if his form drops, injury or “lesser” cup games where other can get their chance.
The lad is an athlete and has pace and some skills
So who is up for some Animal hunting ?
I heard there is a new species in town called Alexis !
I agree with what’s being said about the Ox, and his position as a wing back, the problem is, he seems to see himself as an attacking centre midfielder, so will the promise of a starting role as a wing back be enough to keep him at Arsenal.
If the other managers interested in him promise him a centre mid’ position it may well tip the scales for him.
Only position he would start for at Chelsea is probably as a RWB and even then Moses is better than Ox defensively. As a CM he will be behind Kante, Bakayoko and Fabregas. Best place for Ox is at Arsenal, the grass isn’t always greener on the other side.
It’s a pity all these guys want to leave.Ox has spent much of his time injured than playing.He only got half decent season and now he want to leave.If he was injury free and good enough, he should be playing week in week out.This is the time they should show some loyalty to the club