2 – Iwobi No Longer In Dreamland
We weren’t sure whether it was one of those blips you often see in a season, but for the case of Alex Iwobi’s talent, this weekend proved a lot.
The 19-year-old cemented a third successive Premier League start and added to his impressive tally with two fine assists to set up both Alexis and Mesut Ozil.
His game will be remembered for those facts and figures, but what amazed me was the versatility the youngster showed in order to be handed the entire 90 minutes.
At 3-2 down Arsene Wenger went all in on the poker table and threw all of his attacking options on to the field at the expense of Mohamed Elneny and Francis Coquelin.
With just Aaron Ramsey capable of covering those positions Arsenal needed an engine to work across the midfield in order to keep coming at the Hammers, who were coping well with the pressure.
Step up the Iwobi, who slotted straight into the middle of the park and looked as if he’d played with these players for ten years, his confidence and control on the ball was amazing.
In a month’s period where he was also handed a start against Barcelona which helped him grab a debut spell with Nigeria, Iwobi could now be affecting an even bigger part of Arsenal’s season.
His ability to play on the left, right and even centre of attacking midfield is keeping the likes of Theo Walcott and Joel Campbell out of the picture.
Campbell wasn’t even in the squad at the weekend and you can bet that if Oxlade-Chamberlain was fit it would be much of the same story, so that ponders many questions for next season.
If Iwobi becomes a regular in this side, surely Wenger will be thinking about getting rid of one of his options on the wing, with reports suggesting he’s ready to listen to offers for Walcott.
To me that sounds like utter rubbish because the boss fought so hard to keep the right-winger at the club, as long as Wenger is here he will be too.
But you look at Cambell and The Ox and have to consider whether or not they will be featuring in this squad, and what could be a better question is if they really want to be.
Chamberlain is on the verge of missing out on Euro 2016 due to lack of game time, whilst Campbell has been treated terribly despite his inspiring turn of form earlier in the campaign.