Arsenal: The heat is turning up on Calum Chambers

Arsenal are getting into the serious part of the Carabao Cup, with just Premier League competition ahead. Meaning Calum Chambers can finally assert himself.

It has been nearly two years since Calum Chambers has been given the proper chance to prove that he is ready to play alongside the Arsenal big boys. When he arrived from Southampton in 2014, he spent the season at right back, racking up nearly 1500 Premier League minutes.

This at a time when his future was still unclear in terms of what position best suited him. He was experimented with at rightback, centerback and defensive midfield, but even with the heavy experience out wide, it was generally understood that centerback was the place for him.

Which made it a dim prospect of breaking through into the starting XI. He was, after all, just a 19 year old kid behind the likes of Laurent Koscielny and Per Mertesacker.

And so, he disappeared the next year, accumulating just 315 Premier League minutes, although he did make the absolute most out of those minutes, including a fantastic emergency substitution performance against would-be Champions Leicester City.

Then the big year happened. After getting smoked by Liverpool in the opening match of the season alongside future partner Rob Holding, Chambers was loaned to Middlesbrough where he made a tremendous show as the anchor of an under-siege defense that was doomed to relegation.

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You’d think that would be enough to win some opportunities, but Chambers has since returned and found them hard to come by. He has yet to play in the Premier League and, in the side competitions, has been forced to play right wingback.

It’s not an easy situation to see the defense expanded to a back three and still have no opportunity. But that has recently changed. His last time out against BATE Borisov, Chambers was yet again paired up with Holding in the first foray into a back four, and it worked to perfection.

Then again, it was only BATE Borisov.

It’s assumed that the Gunners will run with the same defense in the Carabao Cup against Premier League opposition. Meaning that Chambers and Holding will have the heat turned up and the accompanying chance to prove that they can handle the heat.

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This is coming at a pristine time, seeing as how both Koscielny and Mertesacker have had their fits this year, with Shkodran Mustafi also missing significant game time. All in all, starting with West Ham, the opportunity is there for this defense of the future to prove that the future is closer than we think.

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