Arsenal: Calum Chambers finding new ways to make an impact

Arsenal currently have a rare clog in the defensive pipe line, such that Calum Chambers is literally just sitting and waiting for the call. It needs to come.

It’s reached the point where, every time Calum Chambers takes the pitch for Arsenal, I’m wondering what else he can do to prove what he has already proven – that he should be starting each and every match.

The young Englishman has finally been given a clear spot on the roster – he’s the swing man at centerback. The first name to turn to if there’s a disturbance in the first two names. Which I guess makes him the third name, if we’re getting technical.

Aside from his one performance against Ostersunds, Chambers has had nary a flaw to speak of. Sure, he makes the occasional individual mistakes, as every individual does, but there haven’t been any howlers, no confidence-busting horror shows.

Which is a big step in a players’ career, when you can eliminate the train wrecks and mitigate the damage to small, isolated incidents. Which is just one of the ways that Chambers is steadily improving his game.

Against Stoke City, I think we saw another.

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Chambers led the pitch in touches. Now, granted, touches aren’t everything. But it’s a show of confidence and leadership when your 23-year-old centerback, who is trying to assert himself into the starting XI, decides that he is going to be the marshal on the pitch. He even outdid his centerback mate Shkodran Mustafi, who usually locks down that role.

Chambers wasn’t just a centerback, he allowed himself to saunter into the midfield with coolness and composure and passing the ball up the pitch with that ambitious eye of his.

I thought there weren’t any more individual improvements I could see from Chambers until he became a regular starter, but seeing him up his confidence and stretch his comfort zone, without drawback, was a correction on my assessment. There is still plenty that Chambers can prove, even in a bit-part role.

The problem is, he is deserving of more than what he has and, if he isn’t starting by the beginning of next season, questions will probably be asked, and they should be.

Next: Arsenal vs Stoke City Player Ratings

It’s a good problem to have, but it’s still a problem in need of a solution. Whatever tiny wrinkles Chambers still has in his game are being steamed out one by one, and he’s even improving on the areas that didn’t really need improving. Get this man a bigger role.

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