Arsenal: Hector Bellerin finds himself in familiar position

 It was all that long ago that Hector Bellerin rose to the top of Arsenal’s chain, but with Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain going down for the count, he’ll have to do it again.

Arsenal nation mourned when Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain went down with an apparent hamstring injury. Now they are saying that he will be racing against his own body to get back before the FA Cup final match against Chelsea…. 17 days from now.

The Ox had been our best player since assuming the right wing back role and now we are tasked with getting along without him. Which is never going to be easy. But up steps Hector Bellerin, the young Spanish phenom.

To add a little optimism to the fray, Bellerin has been here before. Almost identically. Two years ago he was the back up to new arrival Mathieu Debuchy, who had a monopoly on the role, given his experience, credentials and Frenchness. When he went down with injury, Bellerin made such a convincing claim for himself that he essentially ended Debuchy’s North London career while, in the process, potentially ending Carl Jenkinson‘s as well.

Bellerin is facing a similar situation here, with the Ox out. Oxlade-Chamberlain had effectively benched Bellerin with his own effectiveness and established himself as the go-to at the position. It’s safe to say that had an injury not intervened, Bellerin might not have started another match for the rest of this year.

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But here has has a fantastic opportunity to reclaim his place in the final four matches of the season. Complacency was a big concern with him, but with the need for him now to step up more than ever, he will either learn to improve or sink while trying, and something tells me a man of his talent doesn’t just sink.

Of course, this time around, the likelihood of Bellerin ending Ox’s North London career is slim to none and he won’t find such capitulating competition either. Oxlade-Chamberlain was truly enjoying his football, probably the most he has since he joined Arsenal. He is going to want back into that role as soon as he possibly can.

And that’s where the magic comes from. Both guys want the role, both are young, talented and hungry. Now we just sit back, watch and see which of the two can hold down the fort the best. Of course, ideally we’d want to see neither succeed outright. The longer they have to top each other, the better they both become.

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Call it the silver lining of a bad situation, but it’s going to be exciting to see Bellerin’s fierce, determined self again.