In the transfer market this summer Arsenal were very busy, brining in David Ospina, Mathieu Debuchy, Alexis Sanchez and Calum Chambers. On that list of players one name stands out, as Arsenal’s Chilean international has been a sensation so far this season. While he is undoubtably the big name in the squad, I have a different approach to who the Gunners current most important player is.
To me, that man is Calum Chambers- the 19-year-old defender we purchased from Southampton for £16m. Since his arrival he’s played almost everywhere along the back line, filling in for the injured absentees. His disciplinary record isn’t great, as he has a habit of picking up yellow cards, but his contribution to the Arsenal squad in the opening months of the campaign has been nothing sort of spectacular.
During the weekend, it was down to Chambers that Arsenal secured a vital three points at home against Burnley- not Alexis Sanchez, who scored a brace. Chambers pinpoint ball to the head of Sanchez gave the Gunners the opening goal, before Chambers then doubled the advantage with his first senior goal.
Chambers arrived at the club looking like a player for the future but his performances so far have made it apparent that he is a player for now, I genuinely don’t know what we’ll do when Mathieu Debuchy is available for selection again but it’s a great problem to have. In the inconsistent and concerning defensive displays so far this season, Chambers has been the signing lift.
Let’s not forget this is a player still in his teens and we could get decades of service from him. In my eyes, we have’t had a young defender this good since Ashley Cole- and that’s saying a lot. Chambers is a fantastic footballer and he will only continue to improve and we’re still not sure what his best position is.
I was thinking that he is best in the middle of the defence but his attacking contributions have made me doubt that belief because as I mentioned, he was the deciding factor in the game. Whether Sanchez scored a brace or not, there had to be a ball for him to get on the end of to score- which has proven to be rather difficult for us to do so far, as our attack isn’t quite ‘there’ yet.
Make no mistake about it, Chambers is far from complete. His discipline needs to be improved and he has a habit of rushing into things- but that can improve over time. For now, just be grateful we have a player in our defence as exciting as Chambers. I can’t wait to see his performances when the whole team starts working together properly, where Chambers will be a vital cog in the machine.