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Calum Chambers Is Improving At Arsenal Despite His Mistakes
By Josh Sippie
Calum Chambers is starting to make a rather negative name for himself at Arseanl. Between the own goals at Tottenham and Chelsea and the various problems he had against Liverpool, the young Arsenal man is becoming unlucky and/or mistake-prone. One of his main problems is holding onto the ball too long.
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He has become the subject of a lot of frustration, and that has started to effect the way he is viewed at the club. But make no mistake, Calum Chambers has a fantastic future at Arsenal. Despite some iffy play against Liverpool, he still led the club with 10 clearances and added 2 interceptions to boot. On the ball he is still a bit shaky, but that will come with time and experience.
Against Chelsea and Tottenham, he gave up one own-goal per match. But as is the case with most own goals, the fault was hardly his. Against Chelsea it was certainly just unfortunate placement. It had to be retroactively ruled an own goal. The one against Tottenham was slightly more disconcerting, but in the end it did not come back to bite Arsenal.
Through all the problems, we have to remember that Chambers is only 20 years old. That is incredibly young. There are no defenders out there who did not have some slip ups in their early days before becoming a world class talent years down the road. One does not simply ‘become world class’ over night. Nor will Calum Chambers. But a 20 year old who is worth £16 million+ is something to get excited about. He is a talented defender. We have seen glimpses of what he is capable of. A little composure on the ball and he will be set.
In the end, these mistakes will be a boon to Chambers. For starters, the fact that he is associated with own goals and mishaps will make his image sparkle when the luck swings in his favor. It will not take much to forget these blips.
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Plus, he is learning from these mistakes. Rather have him learn now, when he is 20 years old, not to hang onto the ball when the opposition is bearing down on him, then when he is in his mid-20s and expected to be the last line of defense for Arsenal.
In the long run, Chambers is going to be partnering with Gabriel Pauilsta. They will be the new Laurent Koscielny and Per Mertesacker. Arsene Wenger actually staggered his signings perfectly so that Gabriel and Koscielny will have time together and then when Koscielny starts to fade, Chambers will assume the mantle at Arsenal.
I for one, am incredibly confident that by the time Koscielny starts his decline, Chambers will be ready. He may even be ready and competing for a spot before that. The kid has immense talent. We saw it last year. He averaged over 2.5 interceptions per 90 and won more tackles per 90 than any other defender on the team. All he has to do is cut out the mistakes and he will be a supreme defender for Arsenal.
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