In the five games that Arsenal have played so far in the month of May, our Costa Rican international forward Joel Campbell has made just brief appearances from the bench, spending about 15 minutes in total. They were also at the end of the games against Watford and West Brom with the wins for Arsenal already confirmed.
So it would appear that Arsene Wenger does not really trust Campbell to go and rescue the Gunners when we really need it. Instead he normally turns to Theo Walcott and whichever of Olivier Giroud and Danny Welbeck are not already on. We all know how well that has been working out.
I cannot help but feel that Arsenal are missing a trick by not using Campbell more because he has been impressive for us when given a chance this season. He also has a point to prove and you can see that in his effort and desire on the pitch, something that we have sorely lacked for the most part since christmas.
And when I read the comments from the young forward on Arsenal.com about enjoying the pressure of playing for a big club and feeling that he has adapted well to the demands of EPL football it made me question even more the wisdom of not trying to tap that enthusiasm while Arsenal are in this current rut.
Campbell said, “It is really intense and when I thought about playing in England, I knew that the football here would challenge me a lot and that it would be both very fast and technical.
“It is not harder than I expected. It is a competitive league, the games are really end-to-end, it is really fast and I’m really happy to be part of Arsenal and playing in the Premier League.
“You have to be very committed to the team, you have to have quality and you need to give your all. Pressure is always going to be there, and even more so at a club like Arsenal that is always fighting to achieve things.
“We feel the pressure to win every game, which isn’t a bad thing, and when you’re a big team there is pressure from all sources – social media, the fans and from within the club. There is always going to be pressure on the team to be the best.”
I know that Alex Iwobi has been a plus point for us with his breakthrough but does anyone else agree that we should be seeing more of Campbell?