Should Chambers be Arsenal’s new DM?

Should Wenger use Chambers as his defensive midfielder? by SE

An Overview
Calum Chambers’ Footballing career has progressed at such a rate that – in a matter of 12 months from making his Premier League debut for Southampton – the 19-year old Englishman deservedly made his international debut for England last week. Chambers’s versatility, to play as a defender and as a defensive midfielder, was one of the reasons why Wenger had to splash out 16 million pounds to bring him to the Emirates and, already in his short Arsenal career, the Hampshire born teenager has shown that he is worth the hefty fee.

Chambers’ defensive attributes
A couple of things are clear, while watching Chambers play at the heart of Arsenal’s defence: he reads the game reasonably well, which is palpable from his performances against good forwards like Jovetic and Ba; secondly, despite his hastiness to jump into tackles, he has the pace to recover from a poor decision in the first place.

Talking points
The lack of a prominent defensive midfielder who can shield the back four, as well as be a very good ball distributor, has raged on at the Emirates for quite some time now. But, can Chambers be groomed into a genuine No.4, having proved his mettle as a defender?

To play as a midfielder, be it as No.6, No.8 or, even in the hole, you would need a wide range of passing to complement your attack minded midfielders and forwards. When it comes to Chambers, though, there was a moment in the second half against Leicester when he brushed off a couple of challenges and brought the ball out of defence, efficiently. It was good to see him lead from the front in that fashion. It was also an indicator of how comfortable he is, with the ball at his feet, which can only be a positive to anybody’s game. Chambers is not devoid of pace, either, like Arteta and Flamini – who get exposed when a pacey forward or winger runs at them with vigor.

Using Chambers as Arsenal’s No.4 depends on what Wenger wishes, as well, from his player. Does he want him to be a good passer; or, is he content with a good ball player who can shield the back four efficiently? Chambers, in my opinion, can do a good job, from a defensive point of view, albeit it remains to be seen whether he can be a good passer to complement the likes of Ramsey, Ozil and Sanchez.

Final Thought
If Wenger is audacious enough to groom Chambers into a defensive midfielder, he can very well look into it. Chambers has the defensive attributes to sit in front of the back four and be a destroyer of attacks and counterattacks. However, we are yet to see him as a good passer, and it might not be enough to just do a defensive job, albeit playing as a defensive midfielder, and not have decent passing skills to go with it.

Suhith

Tags Arteta Chambers Flamini

44 Comments

  1. I dont want to see him in the starting line up regarldes how talented he is. He is to young and has still to adabt and find his game. Chaning roles can hinder a players game. Starting also to soon can also ruin a players game, bec of the age and risk of injuries.

    Ramsey, bam. 1 year out before comeback, and then 2 years of shoking form of football.
    Wilsher, ankle problems, overused to much by club and the national team. Result, not fitnes and out of form.

    1. Ks gunner, I understand the fact that he needs to be bedded in slowly for the sake of his development. His age is not relevant. If you’re good enough to play, you’ll play, very simple. Remember that fabregas was playing regularly for us at 16! Rooney was starting games week in week out for Man U at 19. Same with sterling at lpool. I know that’s very rare but there are some players who are just that good and can handle the pressure. I do agree that we shouldn’t rush his game tho.

  2. If Arsene signed another centre-back, I would’ve said yes. But now he’s our primary centre-back backup, we should conserve him on the bench or play him there, not risking him to get injured at DM.

    1. You’re right he must conserved,I hope Wenger remembers what happened to Wilshere at 19 in his breakout season he played 50 games which was too much for his body now he’s injury prone and doesn’t look like the promising youngster he was in 2011 against Barcelona!

  3. English media are overhyping him like they do with every english player,Chambers is only 19 he shouldn’t be a starter at a club like Arsenal over the course of a 50 game season the pressure will tell no matter how mature he seems to be!

    1. I’ve never understood this reluctance to play a player because he is young.

      It makes absolutely no sense whatsoever and if you look back at all the great players the vast majority were playing first team football at 17/18 years old.

      If he’s good enough, play him That’s what I say.

  4. Yes, I want him in DM because RB and CB are occupied and it would be a waste of his talent and form to keep him on the bench. And also I don’t want to see arteta being bullied by toure, fernando and out classed by agrero and silva.

  5. Theo Walcott should be DM. That way every time anyone gets past him he can just run back quicker than the other player and tackle him.

    1. If only it worked that way. The days of the big muscular DM would be gone. Just grab any idiot with pace and VOILA, instant DM superstar.

  6. Difficult one. Fair comments made so far. All cbs playing at the same time though? Save that tactic for the big teams.

    1. Well in terms of the squad we have at our disposal, he fits the bill best, has all the qualities a top DM would need. I don’t want him to be our DM – I’d much rather we had gone out and bought a top quality, experienced DM, but we didn’t. Somehow we’re going to have to make it until January at the earliest before we can sign any decent players… Chambers is our best bet really.. I think he could be a great DM, but I also agree with a lot of other posts saying that we shouldn’t put too much pressure on him at 19, and I certainly agree I don’t want all 3 of our CB’s playing at once..

  7. In the long term yes he could be a great DM but in the immediate NO! If Arsene buys us another CB and Chambers grows his game (which he most certainly will given the teammates he trains with) to include passing, vision, positioning, etc then there’s no reason he couldn’t develop into a CDM. We can’t afford to experiment with him now due to squad depth.

  8. When Chelsea beat city at the etihad they played David Luiz ivanovic terry and cahill so I don’t see why we can’t do the same for big games andif a player is playing well he deserves praise and it’s the mentality of the player and managers trust that will ultimately determine how he progresses not fans opinions so if he’s good enough he’s old enough

    1. I would love AW to have a break with his purist philosophies and try a different approach in these big away games. Sacrifice some creativity and inject some work rate, pack out and beef up the midfield, sit and be patient and wait for the counter attack opportunities – we have the pace now. I would love for the “boring, boring Arsenal” and the “1-0” chants to be heard again in some of our games – save the fireworks for the days where the odds favour us. Mourinho’s genius tag is a bit over the top IMO – picking the games to play your own game and being able to differentiate these from those where you should concentrate on stopping the opponents playing is not MENSA grade thinking.

  9. i can maybe see it happening in a few years time but not at the moment my tip for d/m would be joel matip (he could be an underrated option) might be cheaper option than carvalho and has good experience in the german league only being 23 6″5 (that’s matic height) can play both c/b and d/m and big strong build and quick reads the game well maybe a double raid on shalke for him and draxler would fill to problem positions in one window in jan

  10. And the best news of the days go to Tottenham Hotspurs…while they are still negotiating the land for their new 55.000 capacity stadium and going to the high court for this they have been told to leave White Heart Lane in 2017….

    THEY ARE TO BE HOMELESS FOR ONE OR TWO SEASONS!!!!

    1. yaaaaaaaaaaaaaay we will all cheer to that one awful spuds and there caravan(horse and cart type) adventures start soon then on the road begging for a night at the inn pleeeeeeeeease!

      COYG

    2. @No10
      The funny part of that is, on Sky sports they took a poll of where Spurs could hold some of their home games and The Emirates came up as one of the options…LMFAO

  11. “Sure. Let’s make him play DM and CB at the same time – maybe even DM, CB and RB if he proves he is good enough to handle 3 positions at once,” he said with sarcasm dripping from his lips.

  12. I’m sure he would do a good job as dm but its risky using him there (at least before the next transfer window) ‘cus we can’t afford injuries to defenders atm

    1. @Subi
      Thing is, if Arteta and Flame get injured before the Jan transfer window, he’s the next to step up. So, either way he’s in the line of fire.

  13. Yes but we must nurture him as he is young and raw…. he will be great for us but must be taken good care of. He has all the attributes to be awesome.

  14. If it means not getting a good experienced one like Khedira, Bender, Carvalho, Scneiderlin, Gustavo, Vidal, Song, Barry then no. We need a top DM until Chambers has played for a few years.

    1. Nearly all those players were playing in their CDM/CM role in the 1st team at 20 years of age. The reason they are good now is to a large degree because they accumulated the experience early in their careers. WC at 22 has no more top level league appearances than CC so not sure why he is labelled “experienced”. The list you give is a pretty varied one – only half of them play in any sort of disciplined CDM role. Not all 19/20 years old are the same – not all need bedding in and cosseting for their early years and “burn-out” is not an inevitability for all. The sooner we find out CC’s ability and suitability to the role the better. If we don’t try it we will never know.

  15. i personally have no issues with how young/old a player is as long as they can perform/deliver..with our squad am convinced if chambers plays right in front of the back four we are better off defensively.
    The hyping some times tends to kill the players because they think they’ve already made it…and affects the club. otherwise that guy should play there.

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