Despite quite a few years of disappointing results, the Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger still seems to have faith in his ‘British Core’, and above everybody else, the Frenchman seems to have unlimited faith in the English winger Alex-Oxlade chamberlain, who is still seemingly finding his place at the club, despite being in North London for the best part of six years.
As quoted by the the Daily Telegraph, Wenger said: “I personally think it is vital that Chamberlain stays at Arsenal. We bought him when he was very young and we have built him up. I like his mentality and he has a good football brain. It would be a big damage for us to lose this kind of player.”
Well, to be honest, I really like what Oxlade-Chamberlain is like as a player. The Englishman is blessed with pace, power, versatility and even has the ability to find a killer pass, along with a piledriver of a right foot. But despite all his astonishing attributes, which he displayed by the tender age of 18, the former Southampton man has failed miserably to put his foot down on a place in the Arsenal starting XI and continues to struggle with consistency.
Don’t get me wrong, I still think he’s a top player, but at some point, the club will have to decide how much more time he can be given. Constant issues with fitness, final ball delivery and finishing have plagued the 23-year-old ever since he first arrived at the Emirates and there still seems to be no definite improvement in that regard, despite what Wenger has to say.
But considering that the player is still 23 years of age and yet to hit the prime of his career, perhaps he can be given more time by the club. But surely, it wouldn’t be ‘big damage’ to lose him as Wenger says. The focus should be on securing new contracts with the likes of Alexis Sanchez and Mesut Ozil and bringing in reinforcements who are more likely to provide instantaneous results for this struggling Arsenal side.
Anurag