Arsenal: So, when can Alex Iwobi just replace everyone?

Arsenal fans have been moaning over Alex Iwobi for two years, but here comes Unai Emery, to turn him into the man we all expected him to be.

You know it’s bad when a player becomes so increasingly bad that fans are ready for him to be sold, even in spite of the potential everyone knows he has. That was the case with Alex Iwobi at Arsenal over the past two years.

Ever since his initial breakthrough, he’d been an absolute nightmare, incapable of keeping his feet underneath him the closer he got to the penalty box. It’s like his mind just refused to cooperate with him. And all that initial talent was just forgotten about because it didn’t matter anymore. He was just bad.

Which was a shame, because he was supposed to be Arsene Wenger’s big return to developing a talented young player. It was between him and Hector Bellerin and the Spaniard hasn’t exactly been on the fast track to success like he once was.

But Alex Iwobi is turning it all around. This year he has looked a brand new man. Like the past two years were just a joke, and that he has actually been that fantastic young player that we all thought he was going to be.

More from Pain in the Arsenal

• 3 standout players from 1-0 victory over Everton
• 3 positives & negatives from Goodison Park victory
• Arsenal vs PSV preview: Prediction, team news & lineups
• 3 talking points from Arsenal’s victory at Goodison Park
• Mikel Arteta provides Gabriel Martinelli injury update after Everton win

Iwobi’s key differences come in the exact areas where he was supposed to have weaknesses. He looks deadly around the goal and he has rediscovered that first lovable trait – his directness. He just drives into the opposing defense without hesitation.

That’s all Unai Emery. Even if it is subconscious Unai Emery, in the sense that Iwobi felt the encroaching changes and adjusted himself, it’s still Unai Emery.

Think about it. In a world where Wenger had Mkhitaryan and Ozil, Emery is actually starting to convince people (notice, I said ‘starting’) that Iwobi should be starting, either alongside or in spite of these two proven commodities.

There may even come a time when he can successfully replace either or both of them. It sounds crazy, right? But it’s really not. Iwobi is capitalizing on his talent in a big way and the sooner we can bank on him and move away form the “one last hurrah” that Wenger tried to stage, the better.

It’s a pipe dream still, but I want Iwobi to replace everyone. Just let this pipeline produce workable talent again. That’s what the point is, isn’t it?