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Arsenal: Does Arsene Wenger Have One More Trick Up His Sleeve
Arsene Wenger has worked some minor miracles at Arsenal in the last few seasons. But does the crafty old Frenchman have one more trick up his sleeve?
Arsenal currently sit second in the Premier League behind rivals Chelsea but the Gunners have plenty to be confident about. Despite dropping points to Manchester City and Everton, the Gunners are in a positive position. They can boast accomplishments that none of their other top six counterparts can match.
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Liverpool and Chelsea do not have European football to speak of while Manchester United are in the Europa League but they are firmly out of the top four in sixth place. I can’t believe I have to mention them but Tottenham have crashed out the Champions League in splendid fashion and Manchester City are currently struggling to maintain relevance as Pep Guardiola navigates his first season in England.
Only Arsenal can claim a place in England’s hyper-competitive top four along with real European success. Still, somehow credit has not been heaped at the feet of manager Arsene Wenger. His club has always been a model of consistency but have been unable to press on and achieve a higher level of success for many years. The Gunners can work towards changing all that with a good week in the Premier League. If Arsenal can overhaul Chelsea on Saturday, then there is a slim chance that by May, they may be celebrating England’s top honor.
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The Boss is currently serving a four-match touchline ban. Still, Wenger had a great view of Arsenal’s most recent FA Cup victory over Southampton. While there was much to be excited about, one performance truly stood out. The dynamic play of Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain must have given Wenger some food for thought.
The young Englishman exploded into the game with an array of skills that, quite frankly, no other player in the squad can replicate. The Ox exhibited the type of passing range that would be attributed to Granit Xhaka. Most Notably his assist for Danny Welbeck was particularly eye-popping. With dinks, chips and through-balls, the Ox showed throughout the 90 minutes that he has a quite the penchant in picking out a pass from the midfield.
The Ox also showed dribbling skills that would make Santi Carzola proud and covered as much ground as Aaron Ramsey would on his best day. On top of all that, Chamberlain added a thrust to the midfield that has been lacking in recent weeks. Unlike his teammates, he boasts a physicality and athleticism that the midfield was missing. One question came to my mind watching Saturday’s game.
Is Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain Arsene Wenger’s last great trick up his sleeve?
It’s almost a preposterous question to ask. But the French manager is 67 and questions over his future with the club have been rampant. Furthermore, the Ox has been a staple at Arsenal for years, so calling him a surprise is slightly counter-intuitive. Yet, in the past few seasons, Wenger has turned some underrated assets into revelations.
First, we can look at Francis Coquelin’s rise to the first team. After injuries ravaged the Gunners’ midfield, Le Coq swooped in as a hero to give the team the grit it needed. Hector Bellerin took advantage of Mathieu Debuchy’s injury and is now considered one of the best right-backs in all of Europe. Alex Iwobi’s ascension from youth prospect to integral first team contributor has probably been Wenger’s best move yet. While all of these decisions were a product of necessity in some way, it says a lot about Wenger’s belief in solving problems internally.
Say what you want but Wenger identified and developed all of these players and Arsenal would be worse without them.
The Ox may be knocking on the door of his first real break out season. With 6 goals and 6 assists in all competitions, the Ox is supplying the end product we have all wanted. His performance in the middle of the park was so good that he may have completely revamped his career. At the moment Arsenal have just one other senior central midfielder with Mohamed Elneny picking up an injury at AFCON. This may be the chance that the Ox always wanted.
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If Arsene Wenger can coax the best out of the Ox in the midfield then we might be watching the last great trick up the great man’s sleeve.