Chambo is a class player in the making. IMO he still rushes things right now; when he gets the ball it is full pelt for him. Once he realizes that bringing the tempo down before taking on a player is a lot trickier to defend against, he'll be a real handful to deal with.

I think injuries, more than competition, have curtailed is playing time/development.
Hopefully he can stay fit for a sustained period and become the player we all think he is capable of being.

Klaus wrote:

It would work just fine. Sanchez as the in-betweeny one who will act as both a midfielder and a forward depending on the circumstances.

If Ramsey or Wilshere spent more time next to Arteta than they do all over the pitch, our defence would be much stronger. I'm surprised at the lack of critique for either players reckless play. They are essentially midfield versions of Vermaelen, but obviously with higher end product, yet will all the same shortcomings.

Klaus wrote:

I think Chamberlain's technical ability is absolutely awesome.

It is.

His first touch can get away from him some times, but often with young players that's because they don't have a picture of what they're going to do next rather than not technically being able to take a good touch. I've seen Chamberlain pluck the ball out of the air off sixty yard passes and kill it dead, drill a ball across field then effortlessly float it out to the other flank, or dance through three players with super balance and footwork, rocket a shot with no back lift, with either foot, or whip in a high speed cross right in between the goalkeeper and defenders.

If he doesn't have superb technique at just 21 years old then I don't know who does? He's literally very good at everything. He's still a little wet behind the ears to put it all together, but it will happen all of a sudden. And a big part of it is having a consistent role in the team, so he starts to develop ways to link with others and familiar patterns to consistently hurt the teams he's up against. It's not all just about how good you are individually. Do you think Sterling, for example, would have the end product he has right now if he only started getting into the Liverpool team every week this season? Even if he was exactly as good as he is right now. Other players get the ball and look for him, he gets the ball wide left and the left back overlaps for him, he cuts inside and the striker moves for him - it takes time to build those relationships - through injury and the inconsistency of youth, Chamberlain hasn't had a chance to define his role in the team and build those relationships with other players. Unfortunately for Alex we have better players vying for his position in the team than Sterling had/has at Liverpool and he has to be patient. So do we.

He'll be a force of nature when it all clicks though. His pace and power is terrifying already, imagine him at 23?

kamikaze wrote:

thing is, he plays with his head down a lot,

You're right but that didn't always used to be the case. He's lost little bit of finesse lately and seems focused on taking players on instead. No doubt Wenger has encouraged him to do that, so we'll see exactly how this will influence his development in the coming years. I think Wenger is trying to point him in the right direction by making Chambo aware of what qualities he has, and then Alex has to strike the right balance on his own.

ultimate_warrior wrote:

Klaus wrote:

It would work just fine. Sanchez as the in-betweeny one who will act as both a midfielder and a forward depending on the circumstances.

If Ramsey or Wilshere spent more time next to Arteta than they do all over the pitch, our defence would be much stronger. I'm surprised at the lack of critique for either players reckless play. They are essentially midfield versions of Vermaelen, but obviously with higher end product, yet will all the same shortcomings.

The reason Vermaelen got criticism for the way he played was because he took too many risks for a defender. Midfielders, by contrast, are supposed to be inventive.

It's an inescapable fact that you will lose something in the defensive end with guys like Ramsey and Wilshere. It comes with the territory. We got 20 goals out of Aaron Ramsey last year, and he was the best tackler in the league to boot. Conceding a couple of goals across a season because he fucked up in the attacking phase is a great payoff.

Midfielders are no doubt supposed to be more inventive, but they also have a responsibility towards positional discipline. You should watch some of our games a few days after without the tension. It's astonishing how reckless Ramsey is. Yeah, it did work against many teams last season, but he has to play with far more discipline against the bigger sides.

Vieira should be the template for our CM's, not a goalscorer like Fabregas or Ramsey. There's a reason why we have had such a soft core after Patrick left, and it has as much to do with the fact that our CM's constantly search for goals, rather than focusing on their midfield duties.

I think that's a simplistic view. We don't play the same way we did when Vieira was here and opponents don't line up the same way they did in 2002. Part of Ramsey's job description is to exploit that space. If you don't have fullbacks and defensive midfielders who can cover in the event of a counter then that's the bigger problem.

Personally I thought our biggest mistake in the early games this season was to play one of Ramsey or Wilshere so close to Arteta. It meant that we conceded a good 30 yards of the field to nonsense teams like Crystal Palace. There's absolutely no reason to give that away. You play that way against superior opponents in Champions League during the knockout phases, not against your run of the mill Premier League side.

We're not really in disagreement. Against Palace, one of Wilshere or Ramsey should have been much higher up the pitch, like how Ozil was positioned against Villa. One of the midfielders to support Arteta, and the other to support Welbeck.

Ox does it in flashes but has yet to have a wow game against a top club team in the same way the wilshere and others have.

Not to say that everyone's trajectory is the same, but for me he has a lot to do to be considered an extraordinary talent.

I'd like to see him gain a bit of composure with the ball and release it simply, accurately and quickly as his passing game can at times be utterly dread.

Looked freakin well sharp tonight.

Left players for dead on the wing

Is it just me, or does this guy seem to have got worse at dribbling?

Just doesn't seem to be in control of the ball. Like Theo from his early days.

Yep, by the end of the game I was shouting at him to not dribble anymore and just pass the ball.

Gnabry is a better player.

so thats ozil, ramsey, ox, and merte who appear to have lost any semblance of form.

ox will be a good player, plenty of time for him to come good. wenger needs to shutup about playing cm though, he's not cut out for it

Lukazan wrote:

Gnabry is a better player.

Think the knee-jerk level is getting too high with this one.

This was supposed to be his breakthrough season. His performance today makes me fear he won't be anything more than a Milner type player. His decision making is shocking.