Arsenal: Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain Redefining His Talent

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain played in centrally in Arsenal’s demolition of Southampton. He excelled to the extent that he is redefining his talent and role.

There were many excellent individual and collective lessons learned from Arsenal’s five-goal demolition of Southampton on Saturday. The triumphant returns of Danny Welbeck and Theo Walcott, resulting in five goals between them, the pace and the mobility of the front three and the development of young prospects like Ainsley Maitland-Niles and Jeff Reine-Adelaide are examples of such positive conclusions to be drawn.

Perhaps none compare to the display of Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain in central midfield, however. When the lineups were announced ahead of the 5-0 victory, there was a significant worry among fans and analysts regarding the spine of Arsene Wenger’s selection.

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In particular, the duo of Ainsley Maitland-Niles and Oxlade-Chamberlain brought about the biggest concerns. Chamberlain was seen as too attacking to play in a deep-lying role while Maitland-Niles was too young and inexperienced to handle the defensive duties that he would have to shoulder alongside a winger-turned-central-midfielder.

How wrong we all were! Maitland-Niles was impressive, diligent and disciplined in breaking up play but Chamberlain was masterful in all-around midfield performance. Despite doubts surrounding his overly-attacking game, Chamberlain was measured and meticulous. His ball retention was particularly pleasing, setting the tempo in almost monotonous fashion.

Chamberlain maintained a 91.2% pass completion rate throughout the 90 minutes – this figure was 97% at half-time, having completed 28 of 29 passes in an outstanding display. Moreover, Chamberlain was not simply safe with his passing, merely keeping the ball for keeping the ball’s sake. He prodded and probed, showcased a wonderful range when looking longer, including a lovely, lofted pass for Danny Welbeck’s second goal and looked to take the ball forwards, trying to engineer space for himself and chances for his teammates in the final third.

What was so surprising about his performance was the expectations that were held regarding his natural role. I, like many others, have always heralded his dangerous blend of pace and power, driving at opposing full-backs in one-on-one situations. However, against Southampton, he showed a different, more polished, more refined and controlled side to his game.

Next: Arsenal Vs Southampton: 5 Things We Learned

Chamberlain was redefining his talent on Saturday. Wenger has often proclaimed that Chamberlain’s best role is from a central position. With an outstanding display in the win over Southampton, Chamberlain may well have proven such an assertion.

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