The Arsenal midfielder Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, like a lot of our English contingent, has been an up-and-coming talent for for the last four years, but injuries have always seemed to hamper his progress, and when he has played he has flattered to deceive..
He has recently been used more as an attempted impact sub, but now that the Gunners have reached a point of the season that they are playing two games a week he now has to prove to himself that he has gone past the point of being “potential” and is ready to be a fully fledged first team member.
His in-and-out performances looked a thing of the past as he scored a brilliant goal against Chelsea to win us the Community Shield, but he still seems to missing out on the end product. His first season tally of four goals is still his best record and he needs to start converting his chances on a much more regular basis. Since the Chelsea game, he has started another four times and come on as sub another five times without any further success.
Arsene Wenger has told the 22 year-old that now is the time for him to believe more in his abilities and play with more freedom, and Alex himself agrees. “It is what my dad says as well so there might be a little bit of a trend here.
“I am quite critical of myself and I try to demand quite high standards of myself, so sometimes maybe that can work in a negative fashion and is something that I need to work on.”
It is time for him to stop working on it and go out and perform, starting tonight in what should be an easyish game against Olympiakos. It’s times for goals, Alex or Wenger will start to lose patience with the England international….