Arsenal Have To Remember Joel Campbell

Arsenal are starting a new trend of winning but that does not mean they can forget the guys that got them here? They cannot forget Joel Campbell.

Let me start this out with a bit of a prelude. In no way is what I am about to say reactionary to the result against Leicester City. Clearly everything went perfectly fine and I would not have done it any other way. This is mainly just a note of concern going forward.

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There was once this guy named Joel Campbell. All this guy wanted was to be given a shot at the club that he loved. That chance came when Arsenal’s star man, Alexis Sanchez, sustained a hamstring injury. Theo Walcott and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain proceeded to look lackluster at best.

On came Mr. Joel. The young Costa Rican clicked immediately, scoring in his first ever Premier League start. He continued on to establish something that no Arsenal right wing has established in quite some time – consistency. Campbell did not have bad games. He’d occasionally have a great one, but he never dipped below the standard he set.

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It led to Campbell accumulating three goals and three assists in just over 1000 minutes of play.

However, when Southampton came to town and Arsenal was yet again unable to net a goal, Campbell was the one that took the fall. He was replaced by Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain the next time out and Arsenal won. Wenger being Wenger, he stuck to his guns and started the Ox against Leicester City as well. Arsenal won. Not only that, but aside form the Ox playing well, Walcott emerged a hero as well.

And so did Danny Welbeck.

What this potentially means is that Joel Campbell has dropped to fourth in line on the right wing after one bad performance. There are few things I admire more in this world than justice and that is not justice.

When all is said and done, Campbell will look like one of the saviors of the season. His beastly work ethic saw him putting up defensive numbers that Arsenal would have never dreamed of. Sure he was prone to a mistake from time to time, but nothing worth complete removal.

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Campbell may become the fall guy for the season as well, kind of like Szczesny and Gibbs became the fall guys after Southampton on New Years Day last season. Although in that instance, they were far more guilty than Campbell.

It is a tough situation. The Ox has superior potential and he has strung two good games together. Walcott and Welbeck have both offered a bit of heroics, so they are going to be on cloud nine. Meanwhile, lowly Joely is just going to be begging for another shot.

This is not a bad situation to be in for Arsenal. Four wingers are all chomping at the bit for game time and all of them have at least somewhat earned the chance to prove they deserve it. So now Wenger gets to play his own little game show and see which one can impress the most. It should be Joel Campbell’s turn next.

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It will be interesting to see where Wenger goes from here. Hopefully Joel gets the start against Hull City. He has most certainly earned the opportunity to react to his competitors’ fine form.