When Arsenal return from the international break, expectancy will be high. After their rousing win over Manchester United, it’s time for the Gunners to begin their championship challenge in earnest. In the midst of the Arsenal squad, there’s one player who certainly has room for improvement: It’s time for Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain to step up and fulfil his enormous potential.
Although Oxlade-Chamberlain is still just 22, he’s been on the scene at the Emirates Stadium for some time now. When he first arrived as a swaggering, bulldozing midfielder from Southampton, it seemed a matter of time until he established himself as a fixture in the first team. However, he is still yet to nail down a regular place.
There is a spot waiting for Oxlade-Chamberlain in the Arsenal XI if he is able to seize it. With Theo Walcott seemingly reassigned a role as a striker, there is plenty of room on the right flank. At present, that place is filled by Aaron Ramsey—a central midfielder, forced into an unfamiliar position. As a more natural wide player, Oxlade-Chamberlain has all the tools to make the role his own.
However, Oxlade-Chamberlain has yet to show the sort of consistency required to nail down a place in the team. After playing a big part in preseason, it was anticipated that he would feature fairly consistently under Arsene Wenger this season. However, he has started just two of Arsenal’s eight Premier League fixtures to date.
One of those was the first game of the Premier League season, against West Ham. In that match, Oxlade-Chamberlain committed a defensive error in the build-up to the Hammers’ second goal, conceding possession deep in his own half.
That’s one of his big problems at the moment. Every time Oxlade-Chamberlain plays, there seems to be a lapse in concentration that proves problematic for his team. He is not attentive enough to the defensive duties that are a vital part of the wide players’ job at Arsenal.
However, Wenger seems to identify a different problem as the key issue facing Oxlade-Chamberlain. The Arsenal boss believes the midfielder must overcome a lack of confidence to make the most of his abilities.
Speaking to Jack Gaughan of MailOnline, Wenger said:
It is a massive season for Alex.
He is at the age now where he is getting picked regularly for the national team. He is picked by me as well for the team.
It is a very important season because of the nature he is growing. You feel the evolution has a sense of responsibility. I think Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain must believe more in himself.
He must believe more in his talent and that will help him develop as a player. I think sometimes he is too critical of himself. I would like him to play with the freedom and express the desire of his talent.
The player himself seems to concur. Oxlade-Chamberlain grew up under the watchful eye of his father, former England international Mark Chamberlain. That instilled in him high standards, but it seems as if Wenger is eager for the youngster to give himself a break and start expressing himself on the field. In an interview with Matt Law of theTelegraph, Oxlade-Chamberlain admitted:
If I’ve had a bad game, I know I’ve had a bad game and I don’t mind hearing it. I’ve had 15 years of hearing it from my dad! I’m the first one to have a go at myself and then it’s my dad.
That kind of relentless self-analysis can be an inhibiting factor on a player’s game. Perhaps if Oxlade-Chamberlain were delivering in the final third, his defensive error would attract less attention. The very fact he’s caught trying to dribble through his own half smacks of a player trying too hard to impress.
Thus far, his Premier League campaign has yielded no goals or assists. For a player with aspirations of holding down a regular place in Arsenal’s attack, that’s simply not good enough.
It’s frustrating as he has a huge amount of natural ability. Oxlade-Chamberlain has been successful in 14 out of 18 attempted take-ons in 2015/16. You will not find many more effective dribblers than that. His pace, power and trickery makes him a nightmare for even the most capable full-back.
However, he is so often let down by his lack of final product. Take his shooting ability: Oxlade-Chamberlain repeatedly fluffs his lines in front of goal, despite his superb technique. This season, he has tested the goalkeeper with just 29 percent of his shots. That’s a bafflingly low ratio. It can only be a psychological problem: Oxlade-Chamberlain is so desperate to score that he overthinks the simplest scenarios.
Fortunately, there is a player at Arsenal who is a perfect role model for the robustly built winger. In Alexis Sanchez, Oxlade-Chamberlain has the ideal idol to try and emulate. Speaking to Sam Long of the London Evening Standard, Oxlade-Chamberlain gushed about the Chilean:
Alexis is someone who has massive self belief and shows that every week. Quite often that results in a positive performance with good results.
It's definitely something for me to take on board and look to improve on.
I'm critical of myself and I try to demand high standards of myself. Sometimes that can work in a negative fashion.
To look at how any goals he scored last year makes it hard for me not to look and learn from him. It's his everyday manner around the training ground, how he trains, his performances, how he scores goals and how defends from the front.
I've definitely put myself in the bracket of somebody who learns from him every day.
Oxlade-Chamberlain must hope those lessons begin to hit home soon. While it’s clear Wenger retains enormous faith in the youngster, he must make sure his progress does not plateau like that of other English youngsters such as Kieran Gibbs or even Jack Wilshere.
He must rise to the challenge, and in doing so alleviate some of the pressure he puts on himself. It’s difficult to find a balance between focus and freedom, but Oxlade-Chamberlain has a manager in Wenger who will help him tread that line.
When he returns to London Colney, Oxlade-Chamberlain must start to produce his best form. There is a superb opportunity for him at Arsenal right now, and to let it slip by would be criminal.
It’s not unrealistic to believe that he could become a regular starter for club and country by the end of the season. Given his extraordinary gifts, he shouldn't aim for anything less.
James McNicholas is Bleacher Report's lead Arsenal correspondent and is following the club from a London base throughout 2015/16. Follow him on Twitter here.
