Arsene Wenger has heaped praise on Joel Campbell, saying that the 23 year old is this season’s Francis Coquelin.
The French midfielder was almost surplus to requirements last year, sent to Charlton on loan until an injury crisis saw him recalled, at which point he absolutely nailed down a place in the side with some fantastic performances.
Similarly, Campbell was very much on the fringes of the squad when this season began, but an unprecedented injury list [/sarcasm font] provided him with an opportunity that he too has taken with both hands. He’s now scored 3 goals and his all-round performances have been hard-working and effective.
Speaking after the game yesterday, the Arsenal manager said, “Joel was very good. He is kind of in Coquelin’s position last year. Nobody expected him, and now he is taking his place in the team and he is ready to fight for the position and he is efficient.
“I agree [that he is playing with confidence]. That comes out of his game. Compare one month ago to today, he believes he belongs there and has a right to play.”
Not only did he score yesterday, he got himself a Hlebtastic pre-assist too with a lovely ball to Hector Bellerin.
All in all a souper day for Joel.
Didn’t think he was much good six months ago. Now I really like him. Good touch, gets a goal, bit of pace, works hard. Good lad.
You can rarely go wrong with players who work as hard as he does, he won’t often let you down it’s just whether he has the quality to play at this level. I would bet he trains with the same enthusiasm too, it’s showing in his performances.
I think Blogs stated once that the problem with Campbell was that he is not good at football, then again Blogs did not think that we really needed Cech either!
To be fair few people backed Campbell, but Cech!?
Please stop turning this into “Blogs said this, Blogs said that”…ex-wife kind of site!!
I also didn’t think we needed Cech. I thought if he was surplus to Chelsea then why would we want him? And after that first game (against West Ham??) I thought my feelings were right. Boy am I happy to be wrong now! Cech has been absolutely magnificent and in retrospect I have no idea why I doubted Wenger on this. Too much FIFA on PS3 I guess 🙂
I also thought he wasn’t good enough for Arsenal. He’s converted me into a cautiously optimistic fan 🙂 His work rate is very good. I love how he gets back and helps out in defense. He’s got good dribbling skills and passing as well. The free kick he took in yesterday’s game was really really good. I’d be interested in seeing him take more when Ozil is not available.
Who you all should believe, is in Wenger. When he makes a decision we as fans and novices to club management should respect it.
He keeps repeating “I have been in this game long enough…”
And he is right.
Compared to many managers with the same budget he has made a lot of outstanding signings, a lot we the fans doubted their abilities at first but left clapping after a few months.
All his big money signings have paid their dividends.
Respect Wenger he knows boy, he just knows.
Here’s a great Campbell double flick that got the Emirates roaring yesterday. Only Arsenal players have this kind of technical skill!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zNbt9o7JwEk
At leas you ar admitting that you where wrong about him. Piers Morgan can F##k off!
Man thought he should be sold and wasn’t good enough for the Arsenal. Many wanted Gnabry to play instead of him, even though Joel has 50 more international caps, has played and scored in the Champions League knock-out round, and is far better defensively.
I have always believed in Joel. I love the way he uses his body. He is a bit like rosicky in the way he plays.
He’s improved, no doubt. Not least because he’s dropped that creepy and drawn-out “dummy” celebration when he scores
didn’t he only do the dummy celebration once, and that was his first goal after his baby was born.
He did it twice.
Twins? 😉
I live for such headlines.
#Blogbrillance
We are often too quick to judge our club players with negative narratives
In the beginning of his Arsenal career Joel was in awe of his surroundings ( tradition quality new faces etc) and many called him names ( bloggers etc),
Now he is settled ….he has power ( self belief) and we can expect him to succeed
Hard work
Ambition
Trust
Talent
Go on Son
Do it
We enjoy the fact that Blogs doesn’t just report but also gives his opinion.
Sometimes he is right and sometimes wrong such as on Campbell, jam without butter on toast, and (dare I say it) Phil Collins…:-)
On toast, jam with no butter. On a thick slice of crusty white, a thick layer of both!
Well, on Collins… he should’ve stuck to the drumming.
Hang on a minute… Bloggs is definitely right about Phil Collins….
“Souper day” – I see what you did there Blogs…;-)
Joel has shown that Arsene Wenger is not perfect, but he rarely goes wrong. We can safe ourselves more heart attacks by trusting in his judgement more often.
True there aren’t many that he let go and regretted later.
Coq last season and Campbell this season have been couple of exceptions where Wenger deemed them to be surplus to requirements but was forced to use due to injury situation. Ofcourse there would have been a lot of work behind the scenes to improve them to integrate them into the team.
I hope Wellington will another such Wenger project next season. He is a true winger different to the inverted wingers we have.
Feels good to have two coqs
love this one!!
Why, do you know someone with two John Terrys?
It’s brilliant to see even the younger players on similar wavelengths with the more experienced players. I think Campbell’s good performances are going to push the Ox into trying harder to be the player we all expected him to be. Theo frustrates me just a bit when he makes these narrow odd runs when we break sometimes. Like the Newcastle game where he kept tucking into the ST position and left Nacho alone on the flank when we were attacking. Chambers has been a neat surprise in DM! And with Elneny on the way, if we get a back up… Read more »
The first leg will probably be too early for him. He might make the all important second leg in camp nou, where we will surely need him.
Its joel compbell!! This guy has future ahead good luck man wish u succes in ur life.one love
U said Man U. That’s not good.
so did you!….
Oh shoot!
I agree. Unless a player costs over 20 million and is ‘World class’ right away a lot of fans don’t want to know. I’ve seen many write Elneny off before even seeing him play just because they hadn’t heard of him and isnt costing loads. Coq is a great example of a hard working player who came out of nowhere and justified his place when many were calling for big money signings in that position ( me included i confess) take a look at Sunderland’s bench yesterday which featured M’villa whowe were being told to buy for 20 mil a… Read more »
couldn’t agree more. I keep looking at M’villa and can’t remember the other one similar to him and thinking, what was all the fuss about amongst the fans. Not exactly an upgrade.
Think it was M’villa and Capoue the experts wanted us to get! Lolz
Having two hard working wingers in Alexis and Campbell is a great thing to have.
For me,Campbell is a player who just can’t be dropped at the moment even after all our injured players get back.
At 23,Joel is a very exciting player to have in the team.
The future definitely is looking very bright.
I think the Ox has now become the odd man out, but he had a decent game yesterday so good vibes all around!
My 2 brothers are liverpool fans so I’m hoping we kill em on wed! I would love a little Alexis off the bench to make things even better.
Kill Liverpool, not my brothers. I love my brothers.
Its amazing that even when we’re enjoying the present we still have an eye on the future and its as clear as Hasselhof’s pearlies. To hell with those short termism. Wenger is building a dinasty to withstand a managerial change while reaping the benefits immediately. COYG!!!!!
I really hope he suceeds at the club . Really didnt think he would have a few weeks back but his performances lately have genuinely impressed me . Can only get better with more gametime too.
Souper. Nice touch
I’ve only just got it. I’m a bit thick!
Like broth?? 😉
I too doubted his long term potential, but he’s really taken his chance. The likes of Liverpool and Utd would kill for Joel in their team. I think this just proves that Arsenal’s squad is VERY strong. We’ve missed key players this season and yet are top of the league, in the next stage of the ECL and in the FA Cup. I know all Arsenal fans are frustrated by the constant injuries, but you can’t argue that the team always seems to find a way. I’m hoping that the returning players can really give us a big push in… Read more »
Nobody wants to go to Liverpool or Manchester mate. Been there its shite
When Alexis is fit and back playing on the left it’ll be interesting who gets dropped. Campbell or Walcott.
Having two such hardworking and goal capable wingers in Alexis and Campbell will be a really exciting prospect imo so there’s my answer…
Could be Giroud
Walcott and Giroud will probably go back to swapping/bench at CF, with Campbell and Alexis wide.
that worked really well at the beginning of the season if I remember right.
LANC
Of topic, but is it really odd that our best form of the season is coinciding with alexis being out of the team? What’s that all about, bar the Southampton game, we pulled a rabbit out of the champions league hat, and won every other game. – I love alexis but where do you fit him in now.
He takes Theo’s place until Theo gets to the form we all think he can get to, via rotation and FA Cup games.
Then Theo can become Theo Walcoq? 🙂
On the left wing. You fit him on the left wing.
My friend and I was discussing the arsenal ( as one does in a Costa Coffee) He said ….. “It scares me that so many of our British players are not fulfilling their potential at Arsenal ?” “Jack is regularly injured” ( when will he rise again) Welé is long term injured” ( back in one month) “The Ox has confidence issues” ( played better yesterday ) “Gibbs lost his place to Nacho” ( hmmm) “Theo is Teflon and could do more in some games” “Chambers is finding a new position in the team” ( doing well as DM) Thank… Read more »
Alan Hutton did quite well for us when we played Villa.
Willy Young?
I believe it was Scott Marshall who was a fullback. He played for Arsenal between 91 and 98 (not sure how many times though).
yeah scott marshall the last scot to play for AFC, before that it was Paul dickov. the Last first choice scot was George Wood the goalie, and long term first choice was Willie Young
The aptly named ,which is the only reason I remember him, Scott Marshall was our most recent Scottish player ,but the last Scottish player to feature heavily and even score in a cup final was Charlie Nicholas. Our double winning captain of 1971 , Frank Mclintock, was Scottish and one of our most successful managers, George Graham, was Scottish.
Hats off as well to our top scorer for three years in the 60’s; the great Joe Baker
He was English though.
He had a Scottish accent.
So did Russ Abbott.
Who wouldn’t brim with confidence if they have two coqs.
I wrote a comment a number of months ago (when Campbell was not regularly starting) suggesting that he will one day be a better player than Welbeck. Blogs responded and dismissed me out of hand.
You can find that comment here: http://news.arseblog.com/2015/07/report-palermo-weighing-up-campbell-swoop/
(search for ‘Tobin’)
Wondering what are your thoughts on this now Blogs? I guess Welbeck’s injury has changed the situation a bit but I feel like you may have reassessed Campbell’s quality vs Welbeck’s.
I hadn’t thought about him vs Welbeck, rather just in his own context. I’m happily and pleasantly surprised at the impact he’s made, it’s great for him and for the team.
Don’t know why you’re insisting on making this a thing though.
I think he just needs to hear the golden words: You were right…? aside from this, there’s nothing to discuss here further
I guess what Tobin is saying is that us fans (blogs included) are too quick to judge a player based on a few games. After the West Brom game blogs labeled Campbell as being “out of his depth”. but blogs failed to realized for instance that Campbell up to that point hadn’t really been part of the team, he was always a peripheral figure in the club. Once opportunity open then he’s slowly getting better as he plays more in the team and now that he is completely integrated. On the other hand is a shame that the OX has… Read more »
Tobin you sound like my ex-wife!
To be fair, while you outlined your belief that Campbell is better than welbeck, you failed to specify what you feel he’s better at. For all we know, blogs could have thought you were comparing their respective cooking abilities.
Tobin was just making reference to the fact the he was part of the extremely limited few that thought the guy would do better than what he had to offer at the time.
I actually read through the entire thread and it actually reassured my belief that “it’s never over until it’s truly over” and you never write anyone off. Only very few gave Campbell a genuine chance, I didn’t, blogs didn’t. But am happy a lot of us were wrong.
Soo… Tobin, you were right 🙂
Leave the Blog alone mate. We all make mistakes. Even the board including Wenger. Letting Lord Bendtner to leave for example. Also loaning Sanogo when we need a top striker with first class celebration also Henry’s comments on Giroud. We are human after all. I personally thought Lansbury and Fringpong were the future
I still don’t understand where it went wrong with “Dench”…. or JET for that matter…
No way Oxlade deserves to play ahead of him now, with Sanchez back soon n likes of Welbeck n Jack returning we might as well send him out on loan to get a run n show us what hes really made of.
So in a way we are like a dog with two cocks
I’ll get my coat
Do we have Dick Law to thank for that?
I don’t think it’s a case of one or the other being dropped once Alexis comes back, Walcott was showing great promise through the middle in the early days of the season and Ramsey who was predominately deployed on the right hand side is going to have an extended period in the middle. I just think it gives us great options. We now have 4-5 solid options for the front three. A forward line of Campbell, Walcott, Alexis would be a devastatingly fast attack with giroud and the ox off the bench as great options.
Dick Law knows!
Jo-el, Jo-el, Jo-el, Jo-el,
Born is the ki-ng of Ca-a-am-bell.
(Gets coat…)
He didn’t really get a chance to show what is can do. Only now that there have been injuries has he got a consistent run of games. Can’t tell how people were saying he wasn’t good enough when he never really played any games. Much like the Coq in previous spell.
It’s a fair assessment to say that the coq has more thrust?
Well Campbell has more penetration than le coq, but le coq holds his own in the centre and is excellent at blocking.
You mean “plugging the hole”!!
I think he means that whenever there’s an attack from the opposition the Coq blocks it.
Campbell gets in behind more often…….
I think there is more to come from Joel, I always liked him and believe he is a good finisher as he plays striker mainly for his national team and was good there at the world cup. May be he can surprise us up front;-)’
But what has surprised me is his work rate and the little thru balls that he plays from the right. Keep it up Joel
Alexis on the left, Ramsey deployed to central in absence of carzola, Theo and Giroud starts with Campbell as super sub. let’s leave Campbell praise to the end of the season
No, let’s not do that…
Why? He is playing better than Walcott. So he surely deserves the place ahead of Walcott. Campbell was playing well consistently for the previous 5-6 games. Campbell deserves the praise for that. It’s time for Walcott to prove himself.
Id say Joel is better as a starting player then Theo. In my opinion, players like Theo are the perfect subs or special teams guy. Not well rounded and flexible enough to be a starting XI player and need a individual gameplan to really shine. Great to bring him on late in a game vs a tired defense or for counterattacks in games where we are either dominated or the other team is pushing hard to get even.
I think those of us who live in the CONCACAF region have been much less surprised at Campbell’s ascendancy. He has been a consistently key part of a Costa Rica team that has massively overachieved over the past 3-4 years. The Brazil World Cup was just the prominent tip of the iceberg. You don’t stand out that well in international football unless you have core quality and character. I never doubted that once Campbell got bedded in and confident in his place in the Arsenal setup, that he’d begin to do the Curtis (Move on up!) I was always surprised… Read more »
Really, Wenger knew? 3 years adrift in Europe loans, work permit problems, and only got his chance after a serious spate of injury.
Yes he knew!
But blogs, it was the ox who sent Bellerin flying down the line? Or was my stream that crappy?
Campbell was involved in the build up to Ramsey’s goal with his through ball to Bellerin…the Ox sent Bellerin on his way for Giroud’s goal, so you are both right.
1st was AI to TW to JC
2nd goal was JC to HB to AR.
3rd was Ox to HB to OG.
That’s code from Wenger that we will not be signing a striker, even if the plague wipes out the rest of the team that injuries haven’t already got.
There’s no code. Being mid-season we wouldn’t be buying a striker anyway. The only ones that will improve us won’t leave their high-flying teams, especially in a Euro season.
NewsHeadline….If you have a manager who develops talented boys into men….you might get a New Coq every year to shove up Mourinos Arse!
With the team our coach now has most trying average players will look good and get better. Our coach is damn good in so many ways.
Ha. Hlebtastic. Brilliant!
Hey blog,
What’s your thoughts on Wellington Silva? 😛
So, we signing L Ninny or what?
Like I said under a different moniker. . Whatever Blogs says it’s not the Gospel. He had an opinion, he said it. No need to dig old comments about he said she said. We all support Arsenal. End off.
Ps: Yes the irony.
That’s our gunner Joel, always had faith in him. Can only get better lad, keep it up!