Arsenal: Illness Doing Alex Iwobi One Massive Favor

Arsenal has a lot invested in Alex Iwobi, but Arsene Wenger may be giving the lad too much. As such, his illness absence is a massive boon.

Arsenal boasts one of the Premier League’s top young talents in Alex Iwobi, yet I’d wager six out of every ten Gunners (I’m playing that estimation safe) would tell you that they are tired of seeing him on the pitch.

It’s simple really. We all love watching the kid and are beyond excited to see what he can become. But we don’t want to see the team suffer when he struggles. Which could also give way to him losing confidence, which becomes a hiccup in his development.

Yet no matter how bad he has been, Arsene Wenger starts him. Literally, all the time. There is never a game that doesn’t have Alex Iwobi.

That’s not always a good thing. Faith and trust is cool and all, but sometimes you need a dollop of reality and a helping of consequences. Wenger has not been providing that for the young Nigerian.

Sometimes you just need to take a step back and watch. Watch how your team mates do on the pitch without you. See a game like Lincoln City where everything looked so convincing (in the second half at least). See guys like Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain making the world of a difference. Even seeing Theo Walcott.

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I would never root for any Arsenal player to get sick or hurt and lose out on game time. Nobody wins there. But if it does happen, there is no harm in picking out the positives, and Iwobi should be having some solid positives coming out of this illness.

Namely, it benches him. It allows him to take that step back and see the game and not be a part of it. Which sucks for a player who is hungry to prove himself. But it will make him hungrier and more determined then ever to get back out there and get back on track.

It’s a bit of a shame that sickness is doing Wenger’s job for him, but what can you do? Wenger did bench Iwobi after some atrocious matches in the first half of the season and, surprise (although it’s not surprising) he came back better than ever.

Funny how that works.

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I am really excited now, to see what Iwobi can do on his return. It’ll be nice to have a bit of rejuvenated faith in him.

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