Arsenal: At some point, we have to listen to Calum Chambers

Arsenal’s defense managed to keep a clean sheet away from home, and Calum Chamber was a big part of it. When are we finally going to listen to him?

Arsenal didn’t keep a clean sheet away from home all of last year, but this year, it took just one match. And the best part is, we didn’t even have any of our new defenders, or any of our injured stars. We had a back line that was arguably worse (on paper) than last year. The only difference was Calum Chambers.

Also known as Fulham’s Player of the Season, Chambers got the start next to Sokratis with some raised eyebrows, as many expected David Luiz to take his place.

But Chambers did something. Again. he proved something. Again. He has been speaking with his performances since before Arsene Wenger left. I still think back to when he took over at centerback alongside Dinos Mavropanos and from that moment, I kept saying you could build the defense around him.

You’ll often hear people talking about how a player can speak with his performances on the pitch. It’s one of the things that made Laurent Koscielny special. He wasn’t an outspoken leader, but he spoke with his performances, and that was enough.

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Against Newcastle, Chambers spoke with his performance. On paper, he didn’t do much. but what you would have seen if you watched the match was calmness, sensibility, and reliability. Three things our defense has simply not had in recent years.

Shkodran Mustafi is the antithesis of all those things all on his own and Sokratis, while serviceably reliable, doesn’t ooze calmness or sensibility as often as we’d like. Though I still value his presence.

Ever since Chambers had that chance handed to him by Wenger, he has had hardly a bad performance. Up until the close of that season and into the Fulham loan and now including Newcastle, Chambers has been a presence that we’ve been tragically missing. And honestly, though he wasn’t particularly bad, Sokratis should be the one to give way to David Luiz, if we have to choose someone. Because Chambers can’t just keep proving himself to no regard.

I understand the ruthlessness that the club needs to show, but that doesn’t mean throwing aside a player who, many, many years ago, wasn’t quite good enough yet. Chambers is good enough now, and to shove him aside would be a ridiculous waste of resources.