Oxstracised: Why Chamberlain Is On The Outside Looking In

The primacy of squad depth and ‘having options’ is drummed into the modern football fan on a weekly basis. Despite this orthodoxy, teams who win the game’s major prizes typically base their success around a core of six or seven key players within the first XI who are considered immovable when fit. True, they have big enough squads to rotate when necessary and possess a layer of fringe players who can fill in without having too adversarial an effect on the team.

You generally find however, that the first choice XI’s of the very best teams roll off the tongue even in the era of a 25 man squad; think of Arsenal’s Invincibles, Guardiola’s Barcelona or dare I suggest Chelsea’s title winning team of last season. One of the reasons that England are unfancied ahead of next summer’s European Championships is that the team is in a complete state of flux. With the exception of Joe Hart, you could write down two teams and make a credible case for each of the other 21 players deserving to start.

Encouragingly in my view, a ‘core’ has begun to emerge at Arsenal; a positive sign for a team that is frequently accused of not having a spine. Petr Cech, Hector Bellerin, Laurent Koscielny, Nacho Monreal, Francis Coquelin (before his injury), Mesut Özil and Alexis Sanchez are all, fitness permitting, ‘shoe-ins’ for their respective roles. You could even add Santi Cazorla and Aaron Ramsey to that list who, when fit, the manager likes to find room for in his team. Simply put, there are not too many vacancies up for grabs.

While such continuity may be key in creating that magical thing called ‘cohesion’, those players outside of the inner circle can appear isolated and stagnant. Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain is one such figure at the moment. Like many supporters, I anticipated that this would be a breakthrough season for him, in the same vein as 2007-8 was for Cesc Fabregas and 2013-14 was for Aaron Ramsey. His talent and wide ranging attributes have never been in doubt, but the consensus held that his ‘numbers’ needed to improve. I felt quite sure that these would improve as a matter of course; as in the cases of Fabregas and Ramsey, goalscoring and assists are often the cherry on the cake in a young player’s development. After his winning goal at Wembley against Chelsea in the Community Shield, I felt even more secure in my convictions.

It hasn’t materialised yet this season. One of the reasons why we are focusing on, and to a degree criticising, Chamberlain is that we recognise the quality of player that currently lays dormant. In many respects, he is the most complete of all Arsenal’s attacking weapons. He represents a bridge between technicians such as Jack Wilshere, Santi Cazorla and Mesut Özil and speed merchants such as Alexis Sanchez, Danny Welbeck and Theo Walcott. It’s the combination of dribbling ability, vision and goalscoring potential combined with his natural speed and physique that make Chamberlain such an exciting prospect.

Though he has played on both flanks as well as centrally, in the current Arsenal set up his versatility is not really needed as various roles have been adequately filled. Alexis Sanchez plays on the left, Mesut Özil as a No.10, and it his highly unlikely that Chamberlain will be trusted in central midfield especially in the absence of Francis Coquelin. Which leaves the right midfield berth, in which ‘Ox’ has played the majority of his football at Arsenal.

As Tim Stillman wrote on these pages several weeks ago, the presence of Alexis Sanchez as Arsenal’s ‘difference maker’ in the last third poses Chamberlain a problem. Arsene Wenger likes to balance his front three by adopting one striker/inside forward and one ball retaining midfield player, either side of the nominal centre forward. In the ‘Pre-Özil’ Arsenal side of 2012/13 the manager rarely fielded Walcott-Giroud-Podolski as a front three, usually opting for Santi Cazorla from one flank.

It seems that Wenger is reluctant to play his two most flamboyant dribblers, Sanchez and Chamberlain, in the same eleven; Alexis Sanchez’s goal threat is always going to see him get the nod. This tactical conundrum has become even more pronounced since the loss of Francis Coquelin and Santi Cazorla. Aaron Ramsey has been restored to central midfield; his ghosting runs forward are his great strength, but potentially Arsenal’s weakness due to the space he leaves behind him. Contrary to stereotype, Mesut Özil does work hard and covers plenty of ground but offers little resistance in defensive ‘transition’ when the ball is lost. Ramsey and Özil centrally is not conducive to the presence of two crusading wide players.

Which may be the reason that Joel Campbell has been selected in the wide right position against Olympiakos and Aston Villa. Campbell is a hard worker and prepared to track back and assist Hector Bellerin. The fact he is left footed means he naturally tucks in a bit more which I think Wenger wants from his wide right player, particularly when Sanchez or more recently Walcott is on the left. Moreover, Campbell has generally kept things simple and retained the ball neatly (though he showed great invention and creativity in his Champions League assists against Zagreb and Olympiakos, both of which were exquisite reverse passes).

Campbell has done well, but one feels that with a bit more confidence and perhaps a few alterations to his game, Oxlade-Chamberlain has the necessary tools to displace him. With Alexis Sanchez injured, this looked a great opportunity for Chamberlain to be Arsenal’s ‘difference maker’ in one on one situations in the last third. The fact he was only just returning to fitness himself may have been a mitigating circumstance, but Chamberlain failed to impress when he started at home to Sunderland.

I was at the game, and it reinforced the fact that one important facet of Oxlade-Chamberlain’s game needs development: his movement without the ball. He has the pace to run in behind defences and the composure and technical quality to finish, so there is no reason he can’t perfect that diagonal run between left back and left centre back that has become synonymous with Theo Walcott and before him Freddie Ljungberg. It is especially important that Arsenal have a player who does this when Olivier Giroud is playing up front. In the knowledge that there were no threatening runs behind them in the first half, Sunderland’s three centre backs could push right up against Giroud who struggled to hold the ball up and Arsenal found it difficult to penetrate. Joel Campbell's movement for the first goal was a rare example of this type of play. 

There is something paradoxical about Chamberlain. On the one hand, it seems as if he needs to curtail some of his natural instincts and play a more conservative game in order to offer the the balance that Arsene Wenger desires in his team. On the other hand, it would be nice to see him throw the shackles off and play the game on his wits. The manager, the player and the player’s father have discussed his propensity to be self-critical. In the right measure, this can be a good thing. At times though, you wonder if Ox is suffering from ‘paralysis by analysis’; that he is doing too much navel-gazing, wondering what type of player he should be. It is a delicate situation. His talent demands that manager and player find a solution.

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