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Arsenal’s Fullback Surplus Proven By Kieran Gibbs England Call-Up
By Josh Sippie
The international squads are being confirmed and it appears as though Kieran Gibbs will be joining the England side. With injuries rampant on the Three Lions, Gibbs was a solid option. Despite some opinion out there that Gibbs was in no way deserving, the fact remains that Gibbs is a superb left back. He has simply been outdone by a more superb left back.
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On most other teams, Kieran Gibbs would be starting. He is not in bad form. He is not underachieving. He is doing perfectly fine. The only problem for Gibbs is that Arsenal have an absolute surplus of fullbacks.
Kieran Gibbs and Nacho Monreal are two left backs that are beyond qualified to be starting on a title-winning team. Fullbacks can tend to be at a premium, but Arsenal have 4 very good ones. That puts them in a unique position of excess, something Arsenal rarely feel.
When Hector Bellerin finally gets his just deserts and gets called up to the Spanish National side, Arsenal will have 3 of their 4 fullbacks playing nationally. One would assume that Nacho Monreal would get a call-up too, seeing as how he has been playing out of his shoes for Arsenal.
That would give Arsenal 4 fullbacks represented at the national level. Most teams would be happy with 1.
Let’s start at right back. Hector Bellerin is outstanding. He has risen to every challenge to become one of the best young fullbacks in the world of football. He has become so good that the French starting right back Mathieu Debuchy was packing his bags in defeat, as he found himself unable to break into the first team.
But Mathieu Debuchy is the most seasoned fullback of them all. He has been the starting French National fullback for years. He was brought in last summer to be the starting Arsenal fullback but injuries opened the door for what has become an unstoppable machine – Hector Bellerin. But having the depth that Debuchy provides is such a wonderful resource.
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Kieran Gibbs and Nacho Monreal remain as Arsenal’s arsenal at left back. Nacho Monreal has been a star turned on this Arsenal side. He has center back instincts at left back. What a resource.
Kieran Gibbs, as mentioned before, could be starting and Arsenal would be perfectly fine. He was always meant to be the long-standing left back at Arsenal. However, injuries stepped in and made that task a bit heftier than we had initially though. Which led to Nacho Monreal being discovered. And now Gibbs and Debuchy share in the same plight.
No matter the plight, Arsenal have an outstanding crop of fullbacks. Squad rotations can be problematic for the Gunners but not at fullback.
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