ALEX OXLADE-CHAMBERLAIN is to be given a more central role by Arsene Wenger in a bid to unlock his potential further as he continues to mature as a player.
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| Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain's failed to score or gain an assist in 17 league games for Arsenal this term |
The England international burst onto the scene as a teenaged winger with Southampton before signing for Arsenal as a 17-year-old.
After establishing himself in the first team, he has struggled to command a place after a long-running battle with a number of injuries, but Wenger has a new idea about how the 22-year-old can establish himself more fully.
Wenger experimented against Sunderland in the 3-1 FA Cup win on Saturday with playing Oxlade-Chamberlain more centrally in a slightly altered formation, and even if he reverts to type against Liverpool tonight, it is a project he plans to revisit in the future.
“I see Oxlade-Chamberlain moving centrally,” Wenger said. “That is why I wanted to play him there on Saturday.
“He has the attributes to play in central midfield, he has that important quality – a little surge to get out of pressure.
“One of the things to get out of pressure is to have a little dribble to get away from the guy who closes you down and nobody more than Oxlade-Chamberlain has that.
“That is why he could be suited for the modern game to play in there because he has that capacity to get out of the pressure.”
But rather than a holding role or a conventional No10 position, Oxlade-Chamberlain’s athleticism and energy mean he is able to put in a more dynamic box-to-box shift.
“That is why on Saturday I played 4-3-3,” Wenger explained, “because he is really suited to be right-sided, box-to-box in a 4-3-3. He really fits in there.”
Part of the reinvention is down to the change in form that has been enjoyed by Joel Campbell recently.
The Costa Rica international seemed on his way out of Arsenal after a series of loan deals failed to offer up much evidence he was ready to make the grade. But Wenger resisted the urge to farm him out again in the summer and is finally seeing some return from the 23-year-old.
An impressive performance in the must-win trip to Olympiakos finally convinced the Arsenal manager of his character.
“It is true he had players in front of him and you think, ‘Can you block a player like that?’” Wenger admitted. “But he was four times out on loan and when he came back you think, ‘Do I let him go out on loan again?’
“I flat-refused to let him go because I saw something in him that gives you belief, because of his attitude. Always the attitude was there.
“But after Olympiakos in a game where we were like that, knife on the throat, he turned up with something special. So then I thought, ‘He can play under pressure as well – that is important for us’.
“Since then it has been just down to the last performance, I have the choice on the flank between many players and he is one of the players who has come in at a very sensitive period.
“When you look at the player and the number of goals he scores and the number of assists, on that front you must say he has been very positive and he works hard for the team.
“He has gained more confidence and authority in his game and in the final third he is a dangerous player and he has shown that.”
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