Arsenal: Alex Iwobi needs to wed his club self to his international self

Arsenal’s Alex Iwobi scored two goals as he helped Nigeria comeback against Argentina. Why can’t we have the best of both Iwobi’s?

When Alex Iwobi broke into Arsenal in the spring of 2015, it looked like there would be no turning back. This guy was the real deal and all of our problems were solved. There was no time to be realistic with him. He was a superstar.

That failed. Iwobi has not reached those heights since and, yes, he is still young, but the problem is that it’s been nearly two years now since his major breakthrough. And all we keep seeing are these flashes of brilliance that never get followed up on.

He seems to have taken to the overarching Arsenal trend where sometimes he looks energetic and inspired and unbeatable and sometimes he looks a bit over-encumbered by something or another.

And then he goes of to Nigeria, scores two goals, and helps the Super Eagles topple an Argentina side with a two goal cushion. One was an equalizer in the bottom corner and the other was a nutmeg into a thunder punt.

Sure, it’s just a friendly. But these were still two highly-equipped teams that wanted to win. Iwobi was influential in his play and clinical in his finishing. Which are the two things we want him to be at Arsenal. The two things he has yet to be.

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We’ve seen him be creative and strong and even fast at times. We’ve seen him be lots of things but he has never been that influential and his finishing has been skeptical. Yet he goes off and does that for Nigeria.

Why can’t Iwobi wed his two selves, his international self and his club self, and appease everyone? The talent is there, both in his own body and in all of those around him.

Maybe it’s just a matter of time, but his performance against Argentina got me excited to the point that I briefly considered advocating for him to start against Tottenham. All because I know how much of a role confidence plays in his game and I know that he has to be brimming with confidence after that.

Granted, I came back to earth and don’t think he should start, but if he were to unexpectedly pop up in the starting XI, I’d probably just shrug and mutter “let’s see it the.”

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Iwobi is such a secret weapon for the Gunners if they could just figure out how to unleash him fully. Maybe it’s like the Aaron Ramsey approach, and Arsene Wenger just has to find a way to utilize him more like the national team does. More freedom, maybe.

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