Arsenal Vs Manchester United: Don’t ignore Calum Chambers

After Arsenal’s admirable 2-1 loss to Manchester United on Sunday, much of the attention has been geared towards the impressive performances of the youngsters. But don’t ignore Calum Chambers. He was quietly very, very good indeed.

It was a very impressive performance by Arsenal, despite the scoreline. With a plethora of first-team players absent thanks to Arsene Wenger’s eye on the midweek trip to Madrid, it was a youthful and inexperienced side that went into Old Trafford and competed admirably with one of the best teams in the country.

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In fact, while Manchester United ended the better and were perhaps deserving of the 2-1 win, there were long periods where the young Gunners threatened with some nice play in possession, compact, disciplined defending, and pace-filled counter-attacking.

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And after the game, there has been a myriad of young players receiving praise for their displays. Reiss Nelson earned accolades for his composed and controlled performance on the left wing; Konstantinos Mavropanos has been roundly applauded for his debut as a 20-year-old centre-half up against Romelu Lukaku; Ainsley Maitland-Niles was named Man of the Match by Sky Sports and was singled out by Wenger in his post-match press conference.

Now, while all these players are deserving of recognition and praise, I feel that we are in danger of overlooking some of the other impressive individuals from the match, the most prominent being Calum Chambers. I think because Chambers was fielded alongside a debutant, it was easy for the media and fans to brush past his performance and focus on the new and the exciting. I can hardly blame them. But with a bit of time to consider, it was clear to see that Chambers hardly put a foot wrong.

As the leader and anchor of the defence with neither Laurent Koscielny or Shkodran Mustafi in the squad, it was Chambers who was tasked with marshalling an unfamiliar and inexperienced team. He did so admirably. There were some positional disconnections early on, but as the game progressed, he and Mavropanos settled into it nicely.

Chambers, on an individual basis, was strong in the air, quick across the ground, and noticeably comfortable with the ball at his feet, happy to step up into midfield when he had the time to do so. These are not new capabilities. He has always had the potential of such traits. The problem for him has been doing it on a stage that matters and doing it consistently.

One game, obviously, does not answer the latter criticism. But this performance did prove to show that Chambers is still an extremely apt defender. He’s also still only 23 years of age. Time, for now, is on his side, and he has still plenty of room to develop and grow.

Next: Arsenal Vs Manchester United: Player ratings

It’s easy to overlook Chambers when so much change is around him. Our eyes are so fantastically drawn to what is new that we sometimes to forget to appreciate what was already there. But Chambers’ performance should not be overlooked or brushed by. It deserves recognition. It could grant him more game time under a new manager next season.