Arsenal Vs Southampton: The Alex Iwobi case started well

With Henrikh Mkhitaryan set to miss several games with a knee problem, Alex Iwobi has the chance to state his case of being a regular Arsenal starter. Well, he started out well.

The injury to Henrikh Mkhitaryan is not ideal. The midfielder was beginning to settle into life at Arsenal quite nicely, reigniting his prior relationship with Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and building an understanding with Aaron Ramsey, Mesut Ozil and others.

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Although it is only the Europa League games that Arsene Wenger will be worried about him missing this season, his absence does not help the coming period in which he can further acclimatise to his new surroundings and begin to prepare for a fast start next season. Nevertheless, positives can come from bad situations, and in Sunday’s 3-2 win over Southampton, I believe that we saw the shoots of one.

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Alex Iwobi was afforded the start in the much-coveted number 10 position against the Saints. This is an undoubtedly talented player who has suffered from major swings of form, his confidence shattering as a result of long periods of poor performance. He has great intelligence, wonderful positional awareness and spatial anticipation. He is creative, nuanced, full of guile and unpredictability. He is technically sound with excellent dribbling skills. He is deceptively quick, has sharp agility and dynamism in small spaces, and excels in those tight in and around the penalty area.

But for whatever reason, he has never quite been able to put it all together. His production, something that Wenger has questioned and challenged on numerous occasions in the past, belies his talent. Nevertheless, on Sunday, playing in his preferred central role, he flourished.

Iwobi was at the heart of all three of the Arsenal goals: He clipped a lovely pass into Danny Welbeck for the first; he slipped a through pass into Welbeck again to assist the second; it was his patient wing play and stood-up cross that gave Welbeck the chance to plant home the header at the far post.

I stated prior to this match that Mkhitaryan’s injury gave Iwobi the chance to state his case to be a more regular first-team player. He has routinely dipped in and out of the rotation throughout the past two years. Now he has a handful of Premier League games in which he can really shine and potentially re-nominate himself as a key, young prospect once again.

For Iwobi, then, this is a crucial period in his Arsenal career. He will be 22 by the time next season gets going again. He needs to be playing regular football at that age to continue his development. If he cannot put a run of performances together between now and the end of the year, then regular football is unlikely to come his way.

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Nevertheless, Sunday was an excellent start for Iwobi in his quest to make his case.