Arsenal: Joel Campbell’s Progress Measured By Danny Karbassiyoon

Arsenal’s North American scout Danny Karbassiyoon, who discovered Joel Campbell, discusses the Costa Rican’s progress and work last year.

Of all of the noble quests I have ever gone on, perhaps the noblest of nobles involves getting to the bottom of why Joel Campbell just doesn’t seem to jive with Arsene Wenger. In the back of my head, the cynic inside of me has warned that there is an Arsenal conspiracy afoot. While the rest of my brain is frequently telling that cynical offshoot to simmer down, a little reassurance never hurt.

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Luckily, I was given the chance to find that reassurance thanks to a brand new Arsenal book (which everyone needs to read, but more on that in the book review coming in the next couple weeks), “The Arsenal Yankee” by who other than the man that discovered Joel Campbell, Danny Karbassiyoon.

Karbassiyoon took some time out of his schedule to speak to me about all things North American soccer, Arsenal and, as you can imagine, Joel Campbell.

The Costa Rican had himself his first big year at Arsenal last year, and Karbassiyoon was pleased to point out that he has really accentuated all the strengths he had initially demonstrated back when he was first noticed.

“He is a powerful kid, he works very very hard, he was technically gifted, he has a great left foot – all these things really stuck out,” he said of Arsenal’s unpredictable winger. “All those things, as well as his desire to always want to go to goal – to create goals, to score goals to give defense’s issues and headaches throughout the match. I had not seen that very often in CONCACAF, especially at the quality that he was doing it.”

Karbassiyoon went on to say that no matter how many times he saw Campbell play while he was tracking him, he was always producing the same level of quality.

This year merely showed that all the hard work was paying off. “He had a great year. A lot of fans were frustrated with Joel but, mind you, he hadn’t had many chances,” he noted. “There is a lot of competition. We have a great midfield, that’s what good teams have – competition for places. But when he did get his chances, I thought he did really well.”

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A big talking point for Karbassiyoon was confidence, something that has been in the discussion for not only Campbell but Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain as well.

“Confidence plays such a major role in a player’s mental state and translates directly towards what they actually do on the pitch. When you’re not playing and you’re given the chance to play ten minutes here and there, it’s very hard to get out of this mindset that you’re not getting picked for the squad. Then suddenly you’re thrown into the mix and you have to go impress in ten minutes.”

Again, we saw this from Campbell and the Ox last year. When they got a good run going, they looked great, but as soon as they were removed from the first team picture and relegated to replacement duties, it was like the form vanished. He went on: “I think he had a very good period and then he got some starts and his confidence grew and you got to see why we signed him in the first place and why he was able to fight for a position.”

In terms of what could potentially hold Campbell back, Karbassiyoon noted that there wasn’t much. Coming out of CONCACAF, there is always going to be a degree of learning required to deal with the speed of play at a top club like Arsenal. That requires excellent technical ability, which Campbell had.

However, he did make mention of one potential obstacle that Campbell faced coming to England: “Maybe he took one too many touches if he was excited. He has improved that area as well. Once you’re around better players, the demands are much higher, the expectations are much higher and you do start to learn. He has learned and improved quite a bit since he’s been here.”

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Naturally, hearing Campbell spoke so highly of, I had to turn my attention to what changed last year. Campbell was gifted the starting role thanks to injuries and he ran with it from his initial start against Swansea City. Everything he did was impressive, even his unpredictability, which may seem like a drawback, but given the fact that Arsenal has a tendency to look predictable at times, it was a welcome addition.

Karbassiyoon did well to calm my cynical conspiracy theorist. Campbell didn’t take any steps back or anything following his promising debut.

“The competition for places is very high,” he reminded me. “Alex [Iwobi] was training very well at the time, as were a lot of players. That’s what pushes players to improve, you have players breathing down your neck and it requires you to be at an exceptional standard constantly and that’s what it came down to.”

Given that Campbell has rededicated himself to Arsenal just a few days ago, I don’t think I stand alone in my excitement to see just what the young Costa Rican can do next.

If last year was ‘inadequate’ by any stretch, which Campbell seems to have taken it as, given his promise to come back stronger, then this year should be a treat.

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More to come with Danny Karbassiyoon about Gedion Zelalem as well as a full book review in the coming days. For those of you that know how to read, Karbassiyoon’s ‘The Arsenal Yankee’ is a must read. Check it out here.