Arsenal: Joe Willock simply refuses to be forgotten

Joe Willock did not look like an early priority for Unai Emery, but the Arsenal man keeps flashing his brilliance with each chance he gets.

Arsenal‘s youth introductions towards the end of last year, and throughout really, were centered on Joe Willock. Then brother of the then-departed Chris Willock was a candidate for more playing time in the base of the midfield and Arsene Wenger looked intent on seeing just how ready Willock was.

That changed at the start of the current season. With Unai Emery in charge, Willock faded from the spectrum a bit as the likes of Emile Smith Rowe, who played the same position, took center stage.

Also consider the desire to drift central of Ainsley Maitland-Niles, as well as Alex Iwobi, and what we saw from Willock was from out on the wings where, surprise surprise, he was quite effective, using his speed and driving runs to assert himself back into the talks of the most promising young players in the squad.

Willock still doesn’t stand out to many as one of the top young players. They look to Nketiah, Smith Rowe and now Saka too, with Willock taking a side car to these other big names, and yet each time Willock gets on the pitch, he looks more and more the part of someone who is ready for a bigger charge.

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Maybe it’s the incessant desire to find someone who can replace Ramsey, or even someone who can bring any sort of consistency from the attacking midfield positions, but whatever the motivation, Willock has what we need.

His pacy, driving runs from wherever he happens to suit up on the pitch are invaluable, and in a doldrum sort of match, like Blackpool often was, we found life from his push from back, or the front, the starting point didn’t matter.

And he was rewarded – big time. With two goals that came about solely from his determination and from his instincts to be in the exact right place at the right time. He was on the front foot in both occasions, not leaving anything up to chance.

This was the kind of match that puts some names ahead of others.

Emile Smith Rowe is just now returning from his injury, but while he was gone, Joe Willock asserted himself as someone who is ready for the next big step in his career. Now we just have to see what happens next.