Arsenal Not Yet In Panic Mode Over Alex Oxlade-Chamberlin

Arsenal’s Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain has not had a good year and many are hitting the panic button. Don’t do that just yet though. There’s time. 

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain had a lukewarm, injury-shortened match against Barcelona. His effort was there, his pace was on display and he showed some positive signs against the greatest team in the world.

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However, he still had a heavy touch, he completely blew a wide open goal-scoring opportunity and he got hurt – again.

As of now, the extent of the injury is unknown. The Guardian reports that the Ox is to undergo a scan to see how serious it is but there are doubts if he will be included in England’s Euro 2016 side. It is even speculated that he may miss most of what remains of the season. No doubt this is all a major disappointment, seeing as how the Ox’s year has certainly not gone according to plan.

It all started so brilliantly too. Against Chelsea, the Ox took a shot off of his ‘weak’ left foot and placed it magnificently into the top corner to win Arsenal the Community Shield. It has been all negatives since that moment. He lost out on the starting role to Joel Campbell and in no time flat, he became an afterthought.

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And then panic set in. What ever happened to the Ox? Everyone wanted to know. All that potential seemingly for nothing.

Now, after claiming the starting role, he has suffered another injury, the extent of which is unknown.

Despite all of this, it is far too early to start panicking. Sure, the Ox was already a hot commodity at the age of 18. Sure, he’s now 22 and his progress has been minimal. But think about that for a second. He’s 22. Let’s compare that to other Arsenal stars and when their breakout years came.

Aaron Ramsey was 23 when he went ham in 2013/14. Up until that point, everyone was wondering why Wenger had stuck with him. It was all understood in that one glorious season. Despite what people may tell you, he has not suffered a serious drop off since then. He is not a one-season wonder.

Jack Wilshere is now 24 but many people (myself included) still hold out hope that he can live up to his potential as well.

Then there is Francis Coquelin. The expectations of Coquelin were incredibly low when he broke out at the age of 23. Now he is a surefire starter every time Arsenal take the pitch.

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The point is, Arsenal has plenty of time to reap the rewards of a still-raw Ox. A lot of his inconsistency comes down to the injuries he has suffered but a lot of that also comes down to the fact that he is still incredibly young. The most the Ox has ever played in a single season is 1495 minutes. That’s not actually that much time. It’s the equivalent of less than half a season of full 90 minute matches.

The Ox’s latest injury is concerning. But there is no reason to mail him in as a lost cause. The only potential problem is if the Ox really is looking for a big money deal, in which case Arsenal need to assess their options. They just handed Walcott a major raise and he isn’t exactly living up to it.

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Of course, studies have shown that the more you pay your players, the more likely you are to finish higher up in the table, so there’s always that.