Arsenal: Hector Bellerin doing exactly what we’ve expected of him

Arsenal invested a heck of a lot in Hector Bellerin, and for good reason. Isn’t it clear enough that he is giving us exactly what we wanted from him?

Arsenal bought Mathieu Debuchy to be the guy who made us forget about Bacary Sagna.  Sagna was a mainstay on this Gunner’s club, proving himself one of the best fullbacks in the Premier League. His ability to get forward and track back was sorely missed, but Debuchy was here to fix it.

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You know the story. Debuchy got hurt and Hector Bellerin stepped in. The hype around Bellerin was huge because of how quickly he settled in and looked top quality. Immediately, the expectations were thrown high up on a mountain and Bellerin was told to reach them. Preferable quickly.

When he first arrived, he was fast. That was his thing. His defending needed improvements and his final ball was tragically lacking. But all of that was seemingly made up for because he was young and could outrun a jackal on red bull.

It’s been a few years now and every so often you’ll catch a grumbling that Bellerin isn’t who we thought he would be. I find this pretty shocking, not least of all because he is exactly who we want him to be.

Since being “that fast guy with a lot of potential,” look what the Spaniard has become. For starters, his primary attribute – defending – has improved massively. You don’t see him getting juked and jived by every winger that stares him down. You don’t see him getting sent out for a paper when he engages one-on-one.

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It’s been an all-around steady progression to where he is today. He is a steady regular with all the talent in the world to shake down approaching attackers and if you disagree, I challenge you to show me otherwise. With defenders, sometimes the least you notice them, the better.

Especially when it comes to defending, and with Bellerin, I haven’t caught myself sighing exasperatedly at his defensive qualities in quite some time.

He is improving.

And his final ball? I think the improvements that Bellerin has made with his final ball (his passing more so than his shooting) are the most obvious improvements that I have seen in a player in the past five years. His crosses are dangerous. They make the defense uncomfortable and they take on may shapes and sizes.

Again, he is improving.

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He’s 22 years old, the go-to right back, he has acclimated to wingback and he is only getting better. What more could we want?