Arsenal: Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain Must Push For Insightful Move

Arsenal has a talented young man in Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, but should he be pushing for a move elsewhere… on the pitch?

Ian Wright said it all. “He seems to be the guy who’s always left out or is taken off”. I, like the Arsenal legend, would love to see Alex Oxlade Chamberlain get a run of games, it just never seems to happen for him.

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Since playing for the Gunners the Ox hasn’t topped 25 League Appearances since the 2012-13 season. This season he has only made three starts in the Premier League. Three. Interestingly enough in every game that he has started in the League, he has made telling contributions, making assists in all three, and scoring in the 5-1 victory over West Ham.

The talent is there, that much is obvious – yet that’s what makes Wenger’s reluctance to play him even more confusing. If he didn’t believe in him you would have thought that he would have moved on by now – even perhaps trying to force through a transfer himself. The very fact that he is still a member of Arsenal shows that he has the talent to belong there.

Playing for Arsenal is fantastic, yes it has privileges and will afford him a certain lifestyle; but for a player who at 23 is entering his prime, Oxlade-Chamberlain has to be looking to start for a club.

That club can still be his beloved Arsenal though – he just may have to compromise a little.

Playing on the wing is not working for him – that much is clear. He has had 5 and a half seasons now to stake his claim but has been passed over time and again. It doesn’t matter who the alternative is, be it Walcott or Iwobi or someone different, someone else will always be preferred. He will have to be content with substitute appearances or starts against lower quality opposition.

The answer is staring him in the face. Clamour for a move to left back. It may not be the glamourous position that he is used to playing, but it would get him that precious commodity – game time. It would also give Arsenal a weapon that few teams in the world possess – truly fear-inducing pace and guile down both wings.

All the best teams throughout recent history have used marauding full backs to terrorise opposing defences. Philip Lahm has done it for years, helping Bayern Munich win title after title, and now they have a younger version in David Alaba.

Dani Alves sprinted down that right-hand side season after season for Barcelona, matched by his Real Madrid counterpart Marcelo.

Arsenal already have one such a player – Hector Bellerin. Certainly the top full back in England, possibly the best in the world. Imagine converting Chamberlain to a left back and having two. Offensive moves could start from deep and attack with blistering pace. Opposing defences would have to move out wide to deal with this, opening the door for Walcott and Iwobi to cut inside, or leaving Sanchez and Ozil with all the space that they could ask for to create magic in.

As much as I would like to take credit for this idea, it is not an original one. You just need to look at the Premier League to see how effective ex-wingers have been after moving back.

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Liverpool and Manchester United are prime examples. James Milner and Antonio Valencia have revived their stalling careers, and while their limitations have stopped them being the midfielders they once were, their passion for the game as well as their tireless motors have enabled them to be the attacking impetus for their teams.

Last season Milner was one of Liverpool’s standout players – he assisted 14 goals and chipped in with five goals. He threw cross after cross into the box. More importantly, he is a constant thorn in oppositions sides.

The biggest comparison however – and the example that should give Oxlade-Chamberlain even more hope is Victor Moses. Once an outcast, a journeyman who was loaned out season after season – he has been reborn as a wingback; now integral to a flying Chelsea team, he has three goals and an assist on the season and is even being linked with Barcelona.

Oxlade-Chamberlain can do everything Moses can do and more – and now with Mustafi being a capable defender to pair with Koscielny, he could operate as this attacking full back – with the confidence of knowing that if something goes wrong, he has top drawer defenders, as well as his own pace to get back and sort out any trouble.

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This year is already the Ox’s best in an Arsenal shirt – six goals and six assists in all competitions. It’s not yet Christmas and he isn’t even starting regularly. Imagine what he could do with a run of games. Imagine how terrifyingly fantastic an Arsenal counter led with Chamberlain, Bellerin, Walcott and Sanchez would be. Hopefully we won’t have to just imagine it for much longer.