Arsenal: Joel Campbell Must Be Livid

Arsenal was thoroughly outplayed by a bunch of kids and they had no answers. How must Joel Campbell feel given the position he is in at the team?

What does Joel Campbell have that so few people had against United? An eternal hunger to prove himself. Who else on Arsenal has that? That is what United used to beat Arsenal – hunger. Yet Campbell is literally being spat on by Wenger by getting continual benchings to let Walcott go run around in the sandbox for an hour before being proven ineffective.

That is one dominant factor that Campbell can never be criticized for. No one on this Arsenal squad is going to try harder than him. His defensive numbers are superior to some of Arsenal’s central midfielders because his work rate is top notch. He tracks back no matter where the ball is.

The partnership that was developing between Campbell and Bellerin was actually one of the main reasons Arsenal’s right side was closed down. Two of the hardest workers on the squad were always hounding whoever had the ball on that side. It was a fantastic combination.

More from Pain in the Arsenal

Going forward it was the same thing. These two found space for each other and could outrun just about any opposing fullback.

But that partnership was broken up because Wenger felt like making a much-needed change. Hard to slight him for that because it worked. It is not hard to slight him for not reverting back to Campbell when the Ox was ruled out for the majority of the season.

The situation with Theo Walcott and Danny Welbeck drives me crazy. Walcott has not been good all year, minus a few odd performances. Yet he is continually forced into the starting lineup or comes on as a sub when far more deserving players sit on the bench.

Think about what happened against Manchester United. Danny Welbeck – a striker – was again pushed out wide to accommodate Theo Walcott, who we all know didn’t exactly do a lick of anything. Hindsight is always 20/20, but why, in a game that you must win, would you risk so much on a man that has performed well once in the past three months?

Joel Campbell on the right, Welbeck up front and Walcott as a sub would have been so much more effective. Everyone is in their normal positions and the fire is there. Welbeck wants to prove himself at striker and Campbell continuously has to prove himself against a doubting Wenger.