Arsenal: Why Calum Chambers is still the answer he’s always been

Arsenal won’t be seeing Calum Chambers again for a while, but that doesn’t diminish the value he still has at this club for the long-term.

It was truly devastating seeing Calum Chambers go down and out for the season. After so long having been proven a Premier League caliber defender, Arsenal finally trusted him enough to start him on a regular basis and he was repaying that faith immensely.

For a flimsy defense, he brought a lot of hope that better days were ahead. And that was when Unai Emery was still in charge.

When you think about what Chambers could be doing now, in the Mikel Arteta philosophy, it’s even more devastating, because it’s going to be such a long wait to see what he can do. Not to mention the arrival of William Saliba and anyone else the club deems fit to purchase this summer.

It’s been remarkable watching Shkodran Mustafi and David Luiz team up to somehow anchor this defense and make it look like the kind of formidable force that can actually stand up against top tier opposition.

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None of this should affect Calum Chambers though. Not Saliba or Dayot Upamecano or Jonathan Tah or Mustafi or Luiz or anyone. Calum Chambers is still the same answer he has always been and I can only hope that Mikel Arteta sees that as well.

Of course, you could look at Rob Holding as an example of how there are no guarantees on his return. Just because he was good before the injury doesn’t immediately translate into being good on his return. But for Chambers, it feels different. Holding had just about a year of proven effectiveness.

Chambers, meanwhile, had two incredible year-long loans, as well as plenty of time spent in the first-team set-up at the Emirates too. Not to mention he’s been at the club for what feels like forever.

No, when Chambers comes back, he is still a first-choice option. He’s still one of the better defenders we have. I can’t wait to see what he can do with Arteta in charge and the only bummer now is that we have to wait so long to see it. But good things come to those who wait.

In the meantime, we can keep enjoying the incredible defense that has suddenly blossomed out of a complete and utter wasteland. This summer is going to be a lot of fun.