Arsenal: Didier Drogba Test Perfect For Calum Chambers

Calum Chambers has been speaking about his excitement for facing Didier Drogba this preseason. It is the perfect test for the young Arsenal center half.

There are many games that have a crucial impact on the development of young players. These often include players who are going to push them, test them, challenge them and ultimately, players that they can learn from and gain experience from.

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Playing against the best in the world is truly where players get to learn, especially younger players who are often a little inexperience or even naive. Calum Chambers is certainly one of these players. While he has exceptional natural talent, is composed on the ball, physically imposing as a center half and is athletic enough to move to full back, mentally, he is not as sharp or accomplished as some of his older counterparts.

Learning and developing the mental side of your game simply comes from experience, and there is no better experience than challenging yourself against the very best. That is exactly what Chambers will be doing on 29th July when he will face up to Didier Drogba in Arsenal’s preseason match with an MLS All-Stars team, and he is relishing the opportunity to test himself against the former Chelsea star:

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"“It will be a good test playing against a player with such experience. He [Drogba] is probably the player I’m looking forward to playing the most. He just always scores important goals. The way he plays, obviously he is strong and is a big character. To match up with players like that is what you want to do and who you want to play against. That for me will be a great experience to play against him.”"

These comments are fantastic to see. Chambers is expected to blossom into the future of Arsenal’s back four, and while he certainly has the ability to do so, he still has a lot to learn. He is often far too aggressive in pursuing the ball, is caught out of position repeatedly and is too relaxed on the ball, sometimes either losing it or putting his teammates in trouble.

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However, these weaknesses can be eradicated through experience, and while Drogba is no spring chicken at 38, he will still pose plenty of problems for Chambers and co. It’s great to see Chambers willing to learn from such a challenge.