Chambers is the surprising glue Emery needs to stick Arsenal together
Prior to the current season, a lot of names dominated the Arsenal mainstay. The likes of Kieran Tierney, Dani Ceballos, David Luiz and of course club-record signing Nicolas Pepe were the obvious players expected to do great things going into the season. A name many would not have expected or even thought of in the first place would have been Calum Chambers.
You would be forgiven for thinking that Calum Chambers’ career in North London was over. He failed to establish himself in Arsenal’s first-team rotation, was then loaned out to Fulham for the year. With Unai Emery seemingly choosing Rob Holding over him, the 24-year-old returned to the club with Dinos Mavropanos, David Luiz and William Saliba in further competition for game time.
After two years out on loan at Middlesbrough and then Fulham, Chambers has returned to North London and is now looking part of Emery’s first-team squad. With his performances getting better with each game, he could well be a very important player for Arsenal in the course of the season. With Chambers back in the side, you can see Arsenal being genuine Champions League contenders by finishing in the top-four this season, and the guys at the Betfair sportsbook have shortened the odds accordingly making Arsenal 3/1 to qualify for next season’s Champions League. Arsenal have not been in the Champions League for some years now, but the bookies believe this could be their season to return with that price – compared to United who are out at 6/1. They feel Chambers is the key reason.
Against Aston Villa, he came off the bench at half-time and scored his first Arsenal goal in more than three years in a 3-2 win. He showed the urgency most Arsenal players were lacking in the game and was easily the standout player after he was substituted on the pitch. Just when his performance might have been mistaken for a one game brilliance, he carried more of that into Arsenal’s next game against Nottingham Forest.
In a game that ended 5-0 with youngster Gabriel Martinelli stealing the headlines, Chambers was an over-looked standout player as he made the most tackles and aerial duels of any Arsenal player (via Whoscored). Going forward, how many times do we see a full-back grabbing three assists in a single game and getting a 9.3 rating as per the same source above. In a nutshell, he was simply “perfect” on the outing at the Emirates.
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Chambers has looked determined to make an impression, to carve out a slot for himself wherever he could. The 24-year-old had understandably been disappointed that his reward for impressing alongside Sokratis Papastathopoulos on the opening weekend of the season had been to be dropped in favour of David Luiz. In what could be a blessing in disguise, his versatility could be what sets him apart from the competition in the Gunners backline and the Arsenal squad in general.
Chambers started the first game of the Premier League season at centre-back but lost his place when Arsenal swooped to sign David Luiz from Chelsea ahead of the transfer deadline. Having impressed as a holding midfielder for Fulham last season, he started this season in central defence and played in the Europa League at right-back (via Transfermarkt).
He came on again at right-back against Villa after Ainsley Maitland-Niles had been sent off but competition is about to get tougher with defensive trio Rob Holding, Hector Bellerin and Kieran Tierney all fit again after injuries.
Emery doesn’t appear to trust the 24-year-old for the centre-back berth but if right-back is the position where he has an opportunity then he should be looking to take it.
In Arsenal’s most recent game against Bournemouth, Chambers started in Hector Bellerin’s stead once more. Up against Josh King, who is the type of quick forward that has caused the right-back Chambers troubles in the past, Chambers defended excellently. He read the game superbly and made several critical interventions – including one clearance off the line in the second half to help protect the clean sheet.
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He was also brilliantly involved throughout, especially for a full-back. He had more touches than any other player, made more passes than any other player, attempted more tackles than any other player, made more clearances bar Granit Xhaka and provided a terrific outlet throughout the match (via Whoscored).
Based on his performances, Chambers does not deserve to lose his starting spot. But there are clear limitations to his game that negate his long-term right-back prospects. He does not possess the physical skill set to play the position in the modern game, lacking the straight-line speed and short-area quickness and balance that is required.
On the other hand, Bellerin is more of the modern-day right-back. Quicker, offensive and creative. The Spaniard is ideally suited for the position, far more so than Chambers. And despite Chambers’ excellent recent performances, there is no feasible way that Bellerin will not return to the starting XI once he is fit and firing following his recovery from an ACL tear.
One thing remains certain and it’s the fact that Chambers has reminded everyone of his quality and might now even be ahead of Maitland-Niles in the pecking order for the right-back spot. With Arsenal being in the Europa League, there will surely be lots of games for rotation to come into play and no doubt Chambers has put himself in with a good shout as a deputy for any available defensive role.
If he maintains his consistency and keeps his head up, he would be an important asset for Emery and the Arsenal squad in the course of the season. He might be an unsung hero but his performances speak volumes and show how important he is whenever he is on the pitch – an importance that sees him as an outsider to pick up the club’s player of the year award at the end of the season according to many leading UK bookies with prices starting at 8/1. That said, if Chambers’ return proves to be the catalyst for Arsenal qualifying for the Champions League (3/1 with most leading bookmakers) he will be a shoe-in to lift that award. If Arsenal do return to the Champions League due to the return of the defender, then the same bookmakers have him at 4/1 to be included in Gareth Southgate’s England Euro 2020 squad at the end of the season – and that would be some turnaround for the player.
