Alex Iwobi’s rise to stardom has been fairly meteoric. Eyebrows were raised when Arsene Wenger selected him ahead of more senior options to face Barcelona in the Champions League last season, but it was a show of faith from the Arsenal manager in the then 19 year old.
Since then he’s become a first team fixture, and with 3 assists to his name this season, is second only to Alexis Sanchez in that regard.
Iwobi isn’t getting carried away though, and insists he has to show that he can maintain this form over a sustained period.
“I want to keep being consistent in my performance,” he told Sky Sports.
“I believe I’m doing well so far but you are only as good as your last performance. Each game I’m trying to prove to the world and to myself that I can maintain that level of performance.”
The Nigerian international, who got his first goal for his country last week, said Hector Bellerin was an inspiration for him, ensuring he gave it his all when given a chance to impress.
“I was looking at Hector because he was someone who was near enough my age,” he said. “I was looking at the way he did it and I thought maybe I’d have to go out on loan to get experience like he did.
“I looked up to a few guys and I wanted to do it like them but the fact I did it a different way, I’m proud of that.
“Every time I played for the U18s or the U21s, I just tried to perform to the best of my abilities and do the best I could. Whether I got the chance to play with the first team or train with the first team, I always tried to do my best.
“Where I am today is just crazy.”
The level-headed attitude is great to see. His form will fluctuate, like almost all young players, but it won’t be because he’s distracted by bright lights and flash cars.
Beginning to love this guy!
Truly Refreshing and glad that he opted for Nigeria instead of England.
May his aspiration towards world-class levels continue, he will get there very soon indeed.
Iwobi is an absolute fucking baller. Although I am annoyed that he is not a future prospect for the England national team because he is that fucking good, I am also really happy he has decided to play for Nigeria instead, because he is now totally floating under the radar. He is totally ghost recon. There are so many examples of young English players that have bags of potential but they never fully reach the top of their game because of the English media hammering them, and the pressure to deliver on the international stage. He won’t come back from… Read more »
Iwobi is a fucking good player
I see it with my eyes via the TV
it’s HD
I know the media gets obsessed with big money transfers, but for me a young player coming through the academy and punching with the best in the world is as exciting, or even more so. There were some encouraging signs in the game against Forest, look forward to seeing our youngters again against Reading later this month.
Blogs you forgot to include the cute slim pretty girls as well
What?!
Think he’s referring to additional ‘distractions’ aside from the lights & cars…
Nobody gives a funk about the English national team anymore…
Can anyone think of another academy player reaching this level in recent years? Rashford is tbe obvious answer, any others?
It’s surely never been more difficult to do what he’s done so hats off to him.
Surely all the best players have come from an academy somewhere?
This is exactly the kind of mentality all players need to have, and I mean all players – not just the youth. From a squad perspective, it is healthy that we have these young players (Iwobi and Hector) as first-team regulars. Not too much like during Project Youth and not too little like some other squads in the PL – just a couple is perfect. It motivates and inspires those playing at the youth level to emulate them by working hard and impressing when given their chance. It adds a certain vigour and freshness to the way team plays, while… Read more »
Iwobi choosing Nigeria over England-possibly against Arsené’s wish-underlines his level-headed and independent stance.
Well, only one of those nations offered him a senior call-up. Plus, Wenger might not mind so much after watching Walcott’s treatment in the press over the last decade.
Seems like a pretty level headed guy. I hope he continues to improve and would be great if he could bag some goals for us too!
Not only Bellerin is near your age but his game can really inspire someone
You forgot about Denching Twitter also blogs
I’m not sure that his form will fluctuate much. His game is based on nothing fancy. Just solid technical ability to back up what are his greatest assets, sound decision making and quality movement. Those attributes are core to his game and seem to come naturally.
If I was as mature as he is at 20, I’d probably not be on Arseblog while pretending to work.
The kid’s going to need a break eventually so do we rotate Iwobi out like this:
Walcott Ozil Sanchez
Giroud or Lucas
and I think we could rotate Ozil out like this:
Walcott Iwobi Sanchez
Giroud/Lucas
Ramsey could be a great option in the Ozil spot, but would we be giving up too much D with Ramsey, Iwobi, and Walcott together.
Great problems indeed! Bring on Swansea.
Very excited for him at present but particularly the future.
His weight of pass is always perfect. I think he’s a ready made replacement for Mesut at No.10 role. He uses his body so we’ll also, he’s got a serious football brain, sees things quickly