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Arsenal: Joel Campbell the symbol of mediocrity
Joel Campbell’s Arsenal future is very much in the air this summer. The winger is a perfectly good player, but it’s time for him to leave. He is the unfortunate symbol of mediocrity.
The evolution of the Arsenal squad over the past decade has been sad to watch. At one point, the likes of Sylvain Wiltord, Kanu and Edu were merely squad players. A few years later, Philippe Senderos was a starting centre-half. Quite the deterioration. And I believe that there is no player in the current squad that better symbolises the club’s slip into mediocrity than Joel Campbell.
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Campbell is a perfectly fine player. Good on the ball, a smart finisher with pace and good technique, he is a winger who can score goals. But he’s not much more than that.
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That’s not to say that he is a poor player. But he isn’t the calibre of footballer that you would build a title challenge on. He isn’t even the calibre of footballer to be involved in the squad of a title challenge. And yet, there has always been this furore surrounding him that suggests he could be something more than what he actually is. That, I believe, stems from the fact that the overall standard of the Arsenal squad has depleted to the level that makes Campbell stand out. He’s not even in the same breath as a Wiltord or Kanu, two players who used to fill the reserve attacker role that Campbell is hoping to earn at the Emirates next season.
Campbell’s future is also extremely uncertain. Just read these comments with La Nacion:
"“A loan deal will be impossible, I have only one year of my contract left so they won’t loan me. I now have to see if I stay or if I’m sold. I do not know, I have to sit down with them and see what happens. At the moment I do not know anything, I have to get there and talk to them.”"
After returning from yet another loan spell last season, some fans had hoped that Campbell could impress under new Head Coach, Unai Emery. And perhaps, to some extent, he can. But I’m not sure that that would be a good thing for Arsenal.
If Campbell were to stay at the Emirates and earn a place in the squad, that, I believe, would say more about the overall standard of the squad, rather than the utility of Campbell as an individual. He would be taking his place not because of his own unique qualities, but because of the lack of other options available to Emery.
That is why he is, through no fault of his own, it must be said, the perfect symbol of mediocrity. The fact that fans are happy that Campbell is back in the fray is, to me, a sure-fire sign that this team and this squad simply isn’t up to scratch, especially compared to what it used to be many years ago and what it is competing against with the likes of Manchester City, United and Liverpool.
Next. Arsenal Vs Paris Saint-Germain: 3 things to note. dark
Campbell is no bad player. It’s not his fault that I see him this way. But he is the perfect emblem for a stagnating, rotting, deteriorating squad, and it’s time to move on.