Arsenal: Alex Iwobi has earned his spot, and won’t lose it that easily

Arsenal witnessed an absolute stinker by Alex Iwobi against Crystal Palace, but his place should not be in jeopardy that easily.

Arsenal’s win streak came to an end against Crystal Palace in a largely disappointing match, but one that the Gunners still took a point from. They weren’t at their best, and to come away with a draw is a fair and just result, regardless of your opinion of the two penalties to Palace.

Right at the heard of the Gunners’ disappointments was Alex Iwobi. The young Nigerian has been a standout performer this year, working his way ahead of the likes of Mkhitaryan and Ramsey. He has been everything we’ve been wanting him to be after two years of of disappointment following his breakthrough.

But against Palace, he was his old self again. He was literally terrible. It was at the point where every tie he took the ball up field, it was assumed that he would lose it shortly thereafter.

All in all, Iwobi lost the ball nine times, through five poor touches and four times being dispossessed. He didn’t create a single opportunity to try to make up for it and both of his shots were wildly inaccurate.

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He also only completed one dribble, which is the usual offset of losing the ball so much.

There just wasn’t a lot going right for Iwobi in this match, and he started to look nervous and jittery over the ball, like he used to. He was jumpy and incredibly susceptible to missteps.

It was a bummer, plain and simple. He had been so good this year that I think we were pretty convinced that his bad days were behind him, but this match proved otherwise.

Yet, while it was a match to be forgotten, it does’t effect his standing in the club, and I think Unai Emery agrees with me, seeing as how he left him on for the full 90 minutes. He understands what Iwobi has done to get into such a top position this year and isn’t about to see all his hard work undone by a single poor performance.

I would hope that Iwobi will be right back out there against Liverpool, because, let’s face it, he’s earned it. One bad performance won’t undo that.

Then again, maybe Emery will trust in the experience of Mkhitaryan. It’s hard to say. But Iwobi’s growing in the right direction. Palace was just a little growing pain.