Only One Man Knows Method Behind Madness Of Chambers Pursuit.

Many Arsenal fans are waking up to hear the news that broke last night of Arsenal’s supposed deal to sign promising right back Callum Chambers from Southampton. For one the deal materialised out of nowhere, one of the more reputable news sites BBC Football even claim a medical has been completed on Friday.

callum chambers

Now Chamber’s is a player that has long been known to be admired by Arsene Wenger and has been linked over the past couple seasons, the fact that the manager made a move for the player is not one of great surprise. It is when you take into account a number of other factors that leaves you scratching your head slightly.

Bacary Sagna was a great loss to the team when he decided to up sticks and earn money bought medals at Manchester City but the manager appeared to counter the loss with the acquisition of Mathieu Debuchy. An experienced French international right back who was 1st choice for country ahead of Sagna and also Premiership ready due to his time at Newcastle.

Carl Jenkinson who has become a bit of a fan favourite due to his die hard love of Arsenal proved himself at right back during his only real run in the side a couple years back when Sagna was recovering from a broken leg.

That stint in the team proved he could eventually succeed in the right back slot, ever since that run he has been in and out the side only covering when Sagna was injured or less important games came around. That restricted his development slightly as with most players being thrown in here and there can hinder form.

The manager claimed when he signed Debuchy it would be a straight duel for the right back slot which made a lot of sense at the time. On the opposite flank Keiran Gibbs has certainly risen to the challenge of Arsenal’s purchase of Nacho Monreal.

Debuchy and Jenkinson would contest the position whilst promising young right back Hector Bellarin would continue his development with the potential to break into the team this coming season and/or secure a loan to a premiership or Championship level team.

Now with the news of Chambers coming in throws a curveball into those plans, he won’t be cheap with a reported price of £16m being mentioned. So with that price you have to assume he will be instantly challenging for a place. Only Arsene knows his true intentions if the deal does get completed.

One possible plan from the manger could be plans to convert one of his players to a centre back. Out of the current personnel only Jenkinson seems to contain attributes to shift to the middle. Bellarin is too slight and still learning his trade at right back (not forgetting he has already made the change from winger to fullback). Many have muted that Chambers is also a player that could play there and is behind Arsene’s pursuit. Debuchy I cannot see making the shift so it’s either a position change for Jenkinson or Chambers in the offing.

The other option is the guillotine coming down on the Arsenal careers of Jenkinson or Bellarin with permanent or loan moves or could Chambers be loaned back to Southampton? Was it a knee jerk reaction to secure a long term target’s services because other teams came sniffing about? So many questions are raised from this news and only one man knows the method behind the madness.

Arsene knows.

Enjoy your day people.

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Jenkinson Could Prove Answer to England’s RB Problem

Hello all, please enjoy the guest post. My views on England’s pursuit of Carl Jenkinson were addressed in an earlier post however I’m open-minded enough to see another persons take on the matter, enjoy.

Arsenal fans already aware of how far Carl Jenkinson has come on this past season will rightly agree that the young defender deserves a call-up to the England team. Although still 20-years-old, Jenkinson has excelled in the early stages of this season, filling in for first-choice Bacary Sagna at right-back.

Jenkinson has been one of Arsenal’s top performers and his nine appearances so far this season have coincided with the Gunners’ defensive tightening that has seen us concede just eight in 10. Wenger’s side once again look an attractive proposition with fans placing a bet on who wins Premier League.

He is a different player to the one that started in Arsenal’s 8-2 drubbing of Man United just a year ago and he had Man City’s £6.2m man Scott Sinclair in his pocket last month.

So consistent has Jenkinson been that there were strong calls for him to be given an England call-up for last week’s international break but appearances for Finland at under-21 level means he cannot play for Roy Hodgson’s side unless the FA appeal for clearance to transfer nationalities.

There are strong hopes that the FA will get this matter sorted quickly, so that England can have a half-decent right-back in their defence for once. England managers have been somewhat restricted with the availability of international-class right-backs since Gary Neville showed clear signs of deterioration around Euro 2004.

Think what you like about Neville, he was a far better RB than his predecessor, Glen Johnson, was, and Kyle Walker is yet to make the position his own. Jenkinson has the potential to become a real leader for England and Arsenal, and hopefully he will be granted clearance to play for his country before the World Cup qualifiers are over

Still only 20, there is a lot for Jenkinson to learn but his performances this season for Arsenal suggest that he can go far for both club and country.

Article courtesy of Tom Brown

Santos to leave rumours, England continue Jenkinson pursuit – AFC

One round of internationals down one more to go, we are getting there. Less than a week left before we have premiership football back with our away game to Norwich. From Friday’s games the biggest talking point was the on-pitch assault of Theo Walcott against San Marino that has ruled the winger, striker forward out of England’s next game against Poland. We probably won’t see him in arsenal colours for at least a couple of weeks due to the injury, he has returned to arsenal for further treatment and so far no return date has been mentioned. Not ideal for the club though given our strength in numbers in midfield his absence won’t be felt as hard as in previous seasons.

Away from the England camp a few reports surfaced over the weekend that our very own Andre Santos could be in line for a return to Fernebahce. Understandably this season his opportunities have been limited due to the form of Kieran Gibbs in the left back spot. Santos also wasn’t helped by the recent court case and charges for speeding on the way to training. The negative impact from that incident surely would have influenced Arsene’s decision making when picking the starting XI’s this season.

Given the good start to the season winning teams don’t usually get shifted around for the sake of it, Santos just needs to bide his time and take his opportunities when they come. This logic doesn’t sit well with the gossip makers and the news of Fernabahce seemed an obvious assumption to make. Maybe there is a little truth in the rumour but our Brazilian no.11 took to twitter to express in his words the truth behind the talk.

In his tweets he disregarded the rumours of any deal in the making with the Turkish club. Just my luck that he decided to tweet all this in Turkish so I pretty much had to rely on Google translate to understand what exactly he tweeted. And in true Google translate fashion the words read back like something Borat would say. The main gist of the tweet is enough to make out that he denies the rumours. He did go on to state that if any move were to happen in future it will be made with consideration of what’s best for his family.

I think even Andre knows it would be silly to leave arsenal this season; there is no other competition for the left back spot beyond Gibbs. Knowing his injury record there will be plenty opportunities during a long season for the Brazilian to play.

England have not given up the pointless pursuit of Carl Jenkinson to represent England. Given the fact that England use our facilities at London Colney to train when they play home games Roy Hodgson took the opportunity to invite Carl to train with the senior England players before they fly off for their game with Poland. I noted in a previous post that I didn’t agree with this sudden pursuit of Jenkinson. The only motive I can see from the sudden interest is to ensure he represents England rather than Finland. The pursuit is not to have Carl in the team now, there is no shortage in the right back department for England and if Carl was to make the decision to play for England he will just end up on a long waiting list. Carl definitely deserves the plaudits for his performances this season but talk of England is very premature in my opinion. There is no way he would be selected ahead of what England has and there is no guarantee he will even be first choice right back for arsenal once Sagna is back to full fitness.

The experience of training with the England guys will do no harm in boosting his current sky high confidence so I have no problem with that. But please Roy don’t pick him for the next international friendly only for him to become a bit part squad player unless you honestly believe he can bring more to the current set up than Johnson, Walker, Richards et al.

Enjoy your day people.

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Carl Jenkinson: not ready for England

The international break is trudging along at a snail-like pace and boring the pants off premiership football fans across the land. I know there are those of you out there that actually have a concerted interest in their national team’s fortunes and follow their games at the same level as they would a club at domestic level. Don’t get me wrong I’m fully behind England and want them qualify for the world cup I just wish I had the equivalent of a Sky +/Tivo remote so that I could fast forward past all the advert like qualifiers and get straight to the good stuff: the finals.

Now with most of our squad away with their national teams the focus over the past few days has been focused on those players who have not been called up to their national squads; most notably Carl Jenkinson and Mikel Arteta. Our rejuvenated full back Jenkinson has been the subject of many pundits opinion on whether he should pledge his future to England before Finland snap him. As we all know he qualifies for Finland through his mother and has represented Finland for the majority of his youth up to U-21 level.

I have been very impressed with Carl Jenkinson this season along with everyone else who has watched him. I feel his performances have been deserving of the plaudits but I do feel the England calls have been very knee jerk which is a common fault with the English press/pundit system. We are quick to jump on the bandwagon of any players that emerge and tend to throw them to the top of the tree before they have had a chance to prove themselves. Maybe I’m old school but I feel some players are elevated to international football far too quickly; we end up with a high number of players on the scrap heap with a few international caps because they were thrown in the deep end and then the national exposure highlighted parts of their game that was not up to standard yet. There is no patience playing for England, its sink or swim and many a time players sink because it’s too much too soon. There’s nothing to say they will not be great players but my argument is that a good start to the season should not mean a starting spot for your national team. An apprenticeship should be followed; if a player is under 21 he should play for the under-21’s at some point then experience being called up to the full squad to train with the seniors but not play any games for a few call ups until they are deemed by the manager to be on same wavelength as the senior players.

Many players that are deemed true talent are fast tracked straight into the full squad, our own jack wilshere is one of those players who bypassed his apprenticeship but his quality was evident from the off and he definitely swam when thrown in. when you see a player like Raheem Sterling who in my opinion is going to be a massive player seeing him in England squads already is a bit of an insult.

We must also consider that the fast tracking and avoiding the apprenticeship can have a detrimental effect on the player’s psychology. When you give a young player too much too soon it can harm their career as they lose their humbleness and start believing they have made it, they are surrounded by people telling them how great they are, they are representing their country and everything seems easy before their career has even started. David Bentley could be an example of such a player, where is he now? Despite being a complete knob he did have talent but he believed he was the next David Beckham without putting in the work David Beckham did to become…David Beckham. Now he is trying to reinvent his career somewhere in Russia.

oh dear…

Now the example I used for Raheem Sterling is possibly one similar to Carl Jenkinson, the England hierarchy want to secure their services for England before they pledge to their other eligible countries (Jamaica and Finland). But I feel despite the possible chance of missing out on a player because they are offered international football a lot sooner; it says a lot more about the player’s character. If you have real plans to be a top player then im sorry Finland and Jamaica are just not going to put you there. If you as a player really want to reach the top and England is your option then you must be prepared to wait for when you are ready to represent England and not settle for the easy option elsewhere.

Its playing for England that will give you the opportunities to play in international tournament showpieces (how well they do when they get there is another story). But it is the utmost importance that when representing your country you have earned the right and have not got there by default. A player like Stephen Warnock at Aston Villa was part of the England squad during the world cup in 2010, today if you ask anyone their opinion of the player you will struggle to find anything positive said about him. Had he become a bad player overnight or was he never good enough to start with?

Now is Carl Jenkinson a player good enough to play for England? The answer is yes. Is he ready to be England’s first choice right back? I would say no. I have to take my arsenal tinted glasses off and admit there are English right backs well ahead of him at this time. Carl has had a great start to the season and what he needs to do is put the international talk aside and focus on building on his development this season. The only real test this season he should face is the competition when Bac Sagna returns to the first team squad. England selection is not a burden he needs right now, his fight is for the right back spot at arsenal is. If he can overcome that hurdle then he may be ready to move on to the next stage which is international football.

Sagna – soon to fight for his spot back

In fairness Jenkinson has played down the England talk and I hope he continues to do so. I do believe in him but I just don’t want him to be thrown in the deep end before his time. He has made a great start to the season but it is only 7 or so games this season I believe he needs to continue on this season as he’s going then maybe come end of the season the England people can really assess his capabilities. It was good he wasn’t included in latest squad, at the moment he is first choice at Arsenal by default but let’s see if by end of season he is first choice by merit.

NB: No disrespect is meant in this post to Finland or Jamaica. If a player feels strongly enough to represent their country of birth then fair play to them.

Enjoy your day people.

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Will Arsene need to address right back position? – AFC

With all the transfer talk over the past week or so focusing on the potential strikers, midfielders and centre backs coming into the club it seems one vital area of the Arsenal team has been neglected. The right back position in my opinion is an area that will require attention before the season starts. I am sure Arsene Wenger has taken this into consideration and possibly has it all worked out already but I believe any decision lays heavily on the developments of Bacary Sagna’s recovery from his fractured right fibula.

The right back area is equally as important an area as any of the striking positions or midfield and we need to make sure we are covered adequately enough in that position. Bacary is the main man in that position and so any right backs during his extended period on the side-lines merely serve the purpose of keeping his seat warm until he returns. And there is where the problem lies, how long can we cope without cover of the same calibre of Sagna?

In the current squad the obvious candidate to fill that void is Carl Jenkinson. My question is whether young Carl can raise his game to reach such heights that we are not calling for Sagna’s return. I believe in Jenkinson’s abilities however I class him more as potential rather than the finished article. He is Arsenal through and through and would give everything when on the pitch; he loves the club and that is a great motivation for any player. He is still learning his craft though and still has a few things he needs to work on with his defending.

One thing Arsene Wenger has not been scared of is to throw youngsters he believes in into the deep end and see if they could sink or swim. He certainly did that with Ashley Cole a few years back, Clichy too and last season he planned the same with Kieran Gibbs. Unfortunately for Gibbs injuries certainly disrupted his promotion however he has grown into that role when he has had a run of games.

Beyond Carl Jenkinson there is not much on offer for cover if in the unlikely event Carl also requires time on the side-lines. We experimented with a number of players in the right back position when Carl and Bacary were injured last season to mixed results.

We experimented with Centre backs playing in there. Johan Djourou had a stint there. At the time we had were fully stocked for centre backs and the right back availability was a chance for Johan to get into the team. Although Johan started off ok in that position, he added height at the back and was generally comfortable on the ball he didn’t offer much in an attacking sense to the team which is understandable. He was also suspect against any attacking players who dribble at the defender. He was found wanting a number of times against those types of players. Junior Hoillet, Antonio Valencia and Nani come to mind. In his defence he is a centre back by trade and was doing his bit to help the team by covering at a time when we needed cover.

Laurent Koscielny also had a few games at right back and to be honest was quite impressive there. I believe he mentioned in an interview he has played there previously in France and does not find the position too alien to him. One drawback from that arrangement was that from all the good we gained from Koscielny playing right back we missed his presence and all the positives he brought to the centre of defence. We needed him in the middle more than at full back and in conjunction with Mertesacker’s injury against Sunderland that option became null and void.

The midfielders gave it a try too. Francis Coquelin slotted into the right back position and was quite impressive there however maybe due to the extra sprinting that position involves he obtained a few injuries which were in effect muscle pulls. In the grand scheme of things Coquelin is a midfielder and that is the position he learned his craft and sees his future so any stint at right back was merely short-term solution. Adaptability is no bad thing and I’m sure he is prepared to play there if ever needed.

Nico Yennaris is another player who is a midfielder primarily but had played a few games at right back last season. He actually played alright in that games but is very raw and would benefit more from a loan spell to aid his development. I would not expect him to be called upon apart from maybe Carling cup games.

One thing that strikes me is over the years we have churned out so many promising left backs yet in the right back position we have tended to always have established more experienced right backs purchased. I cannot remember the last time a young right back has been on the lips of gunners fans as one to watch out for. Justin Hoyte is the last youth player I can recall who broke into fringes of the first team and maybe Kerrea Gilbert but those two players never really fulfilled any promise.

At present there are a couple of names in the youth set up who could possibly make the breakthrough though it is still quite early days for them. The Neymar lookalike Martin Angha and his Swiss compatriot Sead Hajrovic are just names for the future for now. We clearly need to buck the trend and produce some future Arsenal right backs.

In the meantime it’s over to you Carl Jenkinson. Get your head down, work hard over the summer and make that right back spot your own. Well until Sagna is back…

Enjoy your day people.