Arsenal: Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain toughening up Hector Bellerin

Arsenal has welcomed the new form that the 3-4-3 has brought out of their players, none more so than Hector Bellerin. But the way forward is tough.

Arsenal right back Hector Bellerin seemed to have his North London career paved in gold, as he was one of the best young fullbacks in the world and no one on the club was going to challenge him for it. This is what made the links to Barcelona seem so harmless. They couldn’t offer him what he had in North London.

But since the switch to the 3-4-3, we have seen Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain prove that he, too, can do the job that Bellerin is doing as a right wing back. In fact, if you were to poll all Gooners right now about which of the two they’d rather have, I’d expect a pretty even split.

Oxlade-Chamberlain moved over to left wing back in the FA Cup final in the desperation following numerous defensive injuries, but that doesn’t figure to be anything permanent, as Sead Kolasinac is expected to come in and put a vice grip on that role.

Meaning that there is just one position for the two young right siders to duel for. And that means several things. First of all, it means that we are always going to get the best out of whoever has the role. Second of all, it spares us of the injury fears. And lastly, it means that neither of the two can feel comfortable in their position.

Mainly Hector Bellerin. Oxlade-Chamberlain can play other positions – and he will – but this is Bellerin’s thing. There is nothing else.

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Meaning that Bellerin has a tough road ahead for him. Oxlade-Chamberlain has been waiting his entire career for the opportunity to be a regular first-teamer and is never going to take his foot off the gas. Bellerin is going to have to mimic that intensity by keeping his own foot glued to the gas. There will be plenty of appearances to go around, but it will be clear who the first choice is by the competitions they appear in.

Bellerin wouldn’t have faced anything like this since his time in La Masia – a time that led to so little that he took the move the North London in the first place.

We shouldn’t doubt Bellerin’s resolve. He rebounded just fine to retake the role from an injured Oxlade-Chamberlain in the first place. It’s moreso exciting to see how the two develop when pitted against each other.

In terms of if this will spark a move back to Barcelona, it doesn’t appear so. Bellerin has made it clear yet again that he is here for a reason, and this was three days ago, when he knew damn well what the future held for him.

Next: Arsenal's complete 2016/17 player ratings

Bring on 2017/18. We are slowly but surely beginning to live the ‘internal competition’ strategy that should have been active all along.

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