Arsenal: Hector Bellerin and the need to improve

Hector Bellerin has not improved since he broke into the Arsenal first team. The now 23-year-old must show development now or risk being replaced.

In even as little as the last two years, football, especially football in the Premier League, has changed dramatically. The influx of the continental style that prioritises possession and controlling games through long periods of possession to build pressure and wear down opposing defences has led to a series of changes.

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The need for a goalkeeper who can distribute. Centre-halves who are happy to defend vast spaces against the counter-attack. Midfielders who are extremely comfortable on the ball. And full backs who can provide an outlet in deep positions and offer attacking width further up the field.

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The response to the possession obsession of the modern game has been to implement a high-pressing scheme that looks to prevent teams from building out from the back. In turn, that has heightened the importance of players being able to play against high-pressing opponents, with the technical and mental capabilities to receive the ball under pressure, turn away from it and then look to move passes into more advanced areas of the pitch.

Naturally, those demands have largely settled on the shoulders of the holding, pivoting midfielders and the full backs. Consequently, this drastic evolution of the game in the past few years has substantially changed the responsibilities of these positions, which means that players must change them to still be useful options for modern coaches and teams. For Arsenal, there is a very obvious individual who is yet to ‘get with the times’.

Hector Bellerin is yet to improve from when he first broke into the first team three years ago. Injuries have played a part, as has a lack of competition from within the squad, but, the matter of fact still stands: Bellerin has not adjusted to how the right-back position has changed since his initial introduction.

Specifically speaking, it is providing an outlet against the opposition’s high pressing that Bellerin does not offer. Although he has the athletic capabilities to provide such an outlet, his touch is too slow, his decision-making slows down the building of the play, often inviting pressure onto him and his teammates, and his passing can be a little wayward at times.

The most detrimental aspect is the slowness of his play. That’s not to say that he is slow to play the ball, but, when playing against a high press, it is essential that the ball is moved as quickly as possible. Every half a second that is delayed is an issue, and Bellerin so often takes an extra touch that is not needed or just takes that bit too long to decide what pass to play. Those marginal moments can make all the difference.

Bellerin, then, at 23, needs to improve, to change, to evolve with the game. He should be entering his prime. But his prime will be defined by how he handles his ‘new’ position, and, thus far, the signs are not positive.

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