Joel Campbell Has Taken Top Spot On Arsenal Winger Totem Pole

Arsenal will be welcoming back Alexis Sanchez soon enough, but it will be Theo Walcott that makes way, and not the upstart Joel Campbell.

With Stoke City looming on Sunday, the big question on everyone’s mind is whether or not Arsene Wenger will give the nod to Alexis Sanchez to return to the squad. Wenger has indicated, via Sky Sports, that he may or may not gamble on the Chilean’s fitness, as he faces “two crucial days”.

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The follow-up question to his situation is who will make way for the Chilean dynamo’s return. Joel Campbell was given the unenviable job of filling in for Alexis but instead of quivering and shriveling up like many would have thought, he has been outstanding. However, given that he was merely a fill-in, he was always destined to make way when Alexis Sanchez inevitably returned.

That situation may have changed. Joel Campbell has proven to be Arsenal’s most consistent winger when put up against the Ox, who he supplanted very early on, and Walcott, who he should have supplanted by now. Campbell has been playing a very similar cut-in style of wing play that Alexis plays. Being predominantly left-footed, Campbell derives his success from sprinting down the touch line and cutting in to give his dominant foot the driver’s seat.

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This style has had the same masterful effect on the right side as Alexis Sanchez’s identical style has on the left.

Campbell has produced three goals and three assists in approximately 1000 minutes played this year across the three major competitions, which shows a much better production rate than Walcott’s near 1300 minutes of play with five goals and three assists. The big difference is that three of Walcott’s goals and all three of his assists have come from the striker role. Since moving to the wings, he has found considerably less success, notching just one goal in six appearances.

By offensive stats alone, Campbell is the better option for Arsenal. However, it becomes even more obvious when you dig into the incentives of the opposing play styles. Campbell is a workhorse. He is averaging two tackles a game, including his most recent Liverpool outing where he led Arsenal with five tackles. That is no small feat.

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Compared to Theo Walcott’s 0.6 tackles per game, the victor is clear. We do have to take into account Walcott’s time spent at striker again, but even still, while his defense has improved, he is still not on Campbell’s level.

Not only that, but a perceived ‘weakness’ of Campbell’s game is his passing. Yet, statistics will show you that his 77% pass completion is the exact same as Theo Walcott’s.

Walcott’s play style is dependent on having his runs picked out. It has become rather clear that it is a rare circumstance where Walcott can provide for himself. He is caught on the ball all too often and is actually dispossessed twice as often as his younger Costa Rican counterpart.

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Among the inconsistencies shown by the Ox and Walcott, Campbell has emerged as a very solid option that is still having to prove himself for some odd reason. He has proven that he is a crucial piece of this Arsenal offense and once Alexis returns to be his wing pairing, Arsenal is in for a treat.

(Stats via WhoScored for Walcott as well as WhoScored for Campbell)