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Arsenal: Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain Is Changing His Future
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain was masterful in a deep-lying display on Saturday. The Arsenal midfielder is very quickly changing his future.
The development and nurturing of young players is a turbulent and tempestuous ride. There is no sure-fire, guaranteed method of success, there are rising stars who never fulfill their potential and others who come out of nowhere to become established members of even the best squads. Arsenal are one of them.
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Arsene Wenger is a manager who has prioritised a youthful outlook. He looks to acquire young players in the transfer market, often on the cheap, and then coach them up in his image, harnessing their natural talent, moulding their skills and sometimes changing their position.
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There are numerous examples of players who have grown under Wenger’s tutelage, changing their natural games time and time again. Thierry Henry, Kolo Toure, Robin Van Persie. Now, there is another and he is very quickly and very substantially changing the course of his future.
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain has long been touted as a potential star. Blessed with a wonderful blend of pace and power, the Ox, as he is affectionately known, grew at Southampton and is now blossoming in North London. There is one key change to his development that is currently taking place that could have major ramifications for the rest of his career.
Chamberlain is thought of as a natural winger. He drives forward with purpose, dribbling at great pace, often dismantling opposing full-backs and delivering precise crosses. But there are some, including Wenger and Chamberlain himself, who have proclaimed that his more natural position is central, in the role of a deep-lying playmaker, distributing accurately and consistently with the game in front of him, instigating attacks and engineering space for his teammates.
He played in that role in the five-goal demolition of Southampton in the FA Cup, dominating the game and controlling proceedings beautifully. More recently, with an untimely Granit Xhaka suspension, an African Cup of Nations and an Aaron Ramsey injury, Chamberlain has been forced into his seemingly more natural role and has excelled. He once again displayed great intelligence and awareness on Saturday in the 2-0 win over Hull City.
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The man who was thought of as a winger is making his name as a central midfielder and Arsenal are reaping the rewards. His future lies in the middle and it is an exciting one indeed.