Arsenal: Stephan Lichtsteiner deserves a fair fight

Arsenal have two rightbacks, both of which have a claim to the starting XI, but for Stephan Lichtsteiner, the bare minimum he deserves is a fair fight.

Arsenal‘s fullback situation was supposed to be another strongsuit. They had two fullbacks on each side, both of whom had a realistic claim to the starting XI, with Ainsley Maitland-Niles in reserve. When Maitland-Niles went down, joining Sead Kolasinac on the extended absence list, this fullback strength was cut massively.

But rightback was still looking snazzy. Yet it has become a point of contention since the season began because Bellerin is now going on a handful of years, and he doesn’t seem to have improved at all. The cause behind this is surely systematic, and that is where Stephan Lichtsteiner comes into the picture.

Lichtsteiner didn’t come to Arsenal to retire. He didn’t come here to be a spiritual leader. He came here, by his own admission, for a new challenge. In fact, here are his exact words:

"“I wanted to join a big club, I was looking for a demanding challenge in a new league,” said Lichtsteiner.More from Pain in the Arsenal3 standout players from 1-0 victory over Everton3 positives & negatives from Goodison Park victoryArsenal vs PSV preview: Prediction, team news & lineups3 talking points from Arsenal’s victory at Goodison ParkMikel Arteta provides Gabriel Martinelli injury update after Everton win“That’s why I knew from the very beginning at Arsenal that I had to fight for the regular spot against Hector Bellerin.”"

That’s what you would want to hear from a 34-year-old that was free, who many thought was far past the point of being a viable first-team option. Yet Lichtsteiner proved in one all-too-brief hour that he was absolutely ready to be a starter in this set-up. The problem is that Unai Emery doesn’t seem to agree. He is persistently starting Bellerin, same as Wenger, and the one thing that Lichtsteiner deserves is being denied him – a fair fight.

In order for Lichtsteiner to realistically expect to take over that role, which he should be right on the brink of, he has to actually be given the chance to do so. Hopefully that chance will come soon, because I think we will be rather satisfied with the results.

The point is the same as it often is – internal competition is key, and it’s working, but in order to make it fully work, there have to be consequences and rewards. There is no better opportunity for consequence and reward than what we have at rightback.

It’s still early though. As that is the case, I won’t pitch too much of a fit beyond what I just did.