Arsene Wenger admits that Carl Jenkinson’s confidence is low at the moment, and that the 24 year old needs to be taken out of the spotlight.
However, he hasn’t written him off and has backed the full-back to find his way again after a couple of difficult weeks.
Jenkinson was replaced on Wednesday night in the EFL Cup by Ainsley Maitland-Niles, compounding a tough night for him, and the Arsenal manager says he hopes he doesn’t read Twitter as he tries to rediscover his form.
“He has lost confidence,” he said. “The Jenkinson you see at the moment is the Jenkinson who can play but is not completely Jenkinson because he has no confidence.
“That will come back. He will be in and out and, suddenly, after one or two months, he will make the step and play. It is natural and very difficult.
“Today it is even more difficult because he gets quickly hammered by everybody on social media. I hope he doesn’t read all that and focuses on his game.”
Wenger also pointed to the fact Jenkinson has had a serious knee injury and has only recently come back from that as a mitigating factor in his recent struggles.
And he believes he can still play a part when Hector Bellerin returns from injury.
“Bellerin is one of the best in his position certainly in Europe but Carl can compete with him,” he continued.
“At the moment, no, because mentally he has not found his total level of his confidence.”
Would love to see him challenge hector but he’s not near the same class as him
Ouch. But saying that it’ll take him a month or two means that he doesn’t see him as Bellerin replacement. In other words, that spot is for Gabriel for the games to come??
*not Bellerin replacement YET, in the immediate future I mean
Fuck sake no he hasn’t. He’s just never gonna be as good as we want or need .
If you mean by not world class like Bellerin then unfortunately I have to agree I don’t think he will get there. But if he were to do what Gibbs does and be a valuable back up right back that we could rely on playing between 10-15 games a season then he needs to step up which I believe he can. I still cling on to that performance away to Bayern Munich 3 years ago when he managed to mark peak Robben!
He’s probably right. What Jenko has go is spirit, like we would love all our player to have, especially Ozil. But he doesn’t seem to be Arsenal quality, sadly. He’s been around and involved more than 4 seasons, yet we continue to hope he will step up. He struggles to dribble, pass and all. Sometimes we just need to admit it is not working, and let the player move on.
Nobody passes to him.
Is this true? I haven’t really noticed.
Isn’t that possibly because his teammates know something that some of us have found out?
Let’s boo him some more. Maybe that’ll get his confidence back.
Ya why not…lets collectively dog abuse him and he may do the Campbell again and ask for permanent leave…if we are more famous than our “4th place trophy” it’s our collective support for our players kudos gooners keep it up
Booing is not right. But we need to ask why don’t other people get booed? The last time I recall an Arsenal player being singled out for booing was on an evening Eboue was subbed in and he was atrocious and got subbed out again following boos. He was Eboue bad on Wednesday.
I’m working on creating a new dickhead character for myself so I can appear on Arsenalfantv and boost my twitter following. Hopefully that will encourage me to join in and boo Jenkinson a bit more, and he’ll have his confidence back in no time!
Totally agree, fed up of these fake so-called “supporters” who go out and actually support our players, chanting their names and singing and all that. It’s this kind of wholesome and forgiving environment that allows both players and fans to enjoy football, when we should be creating a toxic atmosphere to terrify everyone associated with the club into feeling like if everyone doesn’t play like Messi every matchday there’s no point supporting/playing at all. Open your eyes people, god.
Fuck. I keep hitting down on accident. I love the idea of an AFTV character. Social media is making AFC no fun.
Haha… love these comments!. Nothing makes my skin crawl more than hearing sections of our crowd moaning, booing etc… one thing this world does not need is more entitled people complaining when shit turns out less than perfect for them. Draining the fun out of watching tense games. The vitriol towards Aaron Ramsey whenever he does anything slightly wrong in these peoples eyes… surprised he hasn’t left our club as a result. Pathetic.
My advice. The only way to end it is to play better. To whom much is given much should be expected.
Colin hockeysocks, you probably said the same 100000 times about Ramsey before the 2013/2014 season… and after that season… which I guess means that you were right
I don’t understand all of this, it’s not like he had a majorly bad performance, not great but certainly not terrible. Also feel his attacking game is not suited to a Giroud-less arsenal, given that his strength is a first time cross although that doesn’t really excuse alexis completely ignoring him bar the odd barking of orders. Thought he did well against Martial, Spurs did fuck all down his side and PSG slaughtered every one of our defenders not just the corporal. Feel bad for him.
To be fair, Spurs didn’t do much because Bellerin was on the pitch 😉
But I agree, the only game I didn’t see was against Soton, and he hasn’t been especially bad in the other games. The social media slaughter has been disgraceful in my opinion.
Haha must not write comments from the pub. ‘i dont understand this’ – seems i was a smidge emotional over poor old carl
Arsenal Fan TV is just painful.
This is what makes AW a true and inspiring leader – he doesn’t throw individuals under the bus when they’re not performing per to their true potential (compare that to Mou!). Waiting for the day he writes and publishes his autobiography.
Exactly, different class
I love the Corporal and want him to succeed so badly! As fans let’s get behind him and give him confidence to show what he’s got!
Come on Jenks!!
Jenks and Cresswell were a big reason West ham did so well last season providing width. But it’s going to take time to adjust coming back from injury.
Before he went to West ham he was very much more confident in his runs forward and he had that extra yard of pace and energy to support his colleagues.
Can’t imagine what it must be like to play under a shed load of criticism. But if he does come back I’m sure it will be stronger.
Fans giving Carl shit right now can go fuck themselves in their miserable cunts. How dare people be such unsympathetic shitheads? He suffers a horrible injury while out on loan, spends almost a year recovering, returns to the club he loves to pull on the shirt after two fucking years eager to prove his worth and the very same fans he is so proud to call himself one of boo the confidence right out of him? What kind of pathetic story is that? Why the fuck would anyone be proud of Arsenal fans when this is the kind of support… Read more »
I get your point, it’s definately not right to boo him, because he’s still one of our players and I don’t think that he had those last performances on purpose. But I have to be honest too. It’s definately not enough to be an arsenal fan. He is not anywhere near Bellerin’s class and also not near Sagna’s class so telling him he could challenge Bellerin is either stupid or a lie. Let’s give him his time and maybe one day he’ll prove to be a good backup for Hector, but at the moment he’s unfortunately not able to fill… Read more »
I remember people saying the same abt Bellerin. Now he is boss, people need to shut up
So tell me how many bad games Bellerin had for us. I guess those last few performances from Jenkinson have already been more than we’ve ever seen from Bellerin. All people who defend Jenkinson at the moment – I hope you’re not going to cry about 4th place if we go on with someone like him. I don’t get your point.. Of course we should support the players on the field, but he just doesn’t belong there because he’s just not Arsenal quality. We can’t try to negotiate a contract extension with Özil and Sanchez and then let them play… Read more »
Mate, I’m surprised you got thumbed-down only 15 times. Hahaha.
That why, We need support our guy on or off pitch when they play for the emblem.
As crazy as it sounds, why not give Chamberlain a go at right back? I think he has the tools to be great in that position. Going forward, he’s produced some of the best crosses we’ve seen from open play on the right side this season and he isn’t any more of a liability defensively than Jenkinson in current form
Don’t get these fans who think Jenko is all that. He is technically poor and tends to panic. Gabriel shows more guile. NO reason to jeer him and we should support him if he’s trying on the pitch but be honest. He is not good enough. If you have to resort to your Cback who has never played in the position to take over, there is your answer. No need to swear a all. He just isn’t terribly good. Would prefer Calum to be brought back end of season and try him in the position in excelled with Soton. Chambers… Read more »
If he comes good and makes the position his then YOU are not allowed to say “I told you so”. We’ll all be watching (If it happens) 😉
I hope it happens. But only after Bellerin converts to a LB and makes that position his.
Hold up… Are we talking about a a schoolboy in need of a pick-me-up or a professional footballer making a ton of money to play for Arsenal? If we’re giving out participation trophies and making everyone feel good then yeah don’t boo Jenkinson… but… if you take off the “he’s an Arsenal fan” shine from the story then you’ll see the real truth: THE “BRITISH YOUTH CORE” IS MASSIVELY UNDERWHELMING… and Carl is the posterboy of this. Be honest with yourselves for once… Jenkinson, Wilshere, Gibbs, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Ramsey, Chambers and up until recently Walcott have all been underwhelming on the… Read more »
Absolutely. Absolutely.
First time Wengers ever mentioned “social media”. Feels weird ,
Wierd, indeed. Probably mentioned due to Jenko and Chambo’s social media presence – as a warning, or just advice based on likelihood of reading something negative while in a fragile place. Rant ALERT!! An empty stadium and a packed to-the-rafters Maracana would have very different effect on the same set of players. Collective consciousness, peer pressure and fear/anger based on an inability to change sumt which displeases, usually manifest in infantile, purpose defeating actions such as vocal dissent. Opposing fans will just jump on that and target the same player. That should be saved for opposing players anyway. If you… Read more »
True all. Except that we are not talking about a baby learning to walk here. We are talking about an England international. Bellerin is yet to make a full international. Jenko started starting for Arsenal in that position before him. Can’t we see the difference in development? Club needs to be pragmatic and not nurse mediocres for many seasons expecting them to improve. We did that with Bendtner, Djourou, Senderos. We even rehired Flamini after a struggling AC Milan declared him surplus to requirement.
Would like to see Chamberlin get a full match in at right back. He has played there to finish off matches when we’ve needed to score and certainly can bring an attacking mindset to the position and has the athletic ability (speed/acceleration) to deal with the fast wingers that go 1 v 1 (which Gabriel struggles with a bit). Yes, he is not known as a defensive specialist by any means, but we are losing so much in the attack without Bellerin in there regardless of whether it’s Jenkinson or Gabriel that plays there now that Debuchy is hurt.
The potential to concede penalties and free kicks is there.
By the end of the first half, the players and opposing coaching staff would have worked out how to capitalise on any weaknesses.
Can’t believe I’m typing this, but, not every player is a James Milner. Dear Lord
Chambo may not be willing to play there, and management clearly don’t see it as a role for him. Lest, we would have tried it already.
He’s a defender. He needs a fairly long run of games to get back to his best after such a bad injury. Every defender is the same without exception. I have no doubt he will become a solid and dependable performer again, as he was for West Ham and Arsenal before that (just before he went on loan). Bellerin is always going to be first choice. Jenks will do a job, once fully fit and sharp, when Bellerin is injured / needs a rest. Having that kind of competition ahead of him will only make Jenkinson a better player. End… Read more »
Wow we really have some obnoxious fans! Its a team sport not Britain got talent or something like that! He will come good and is the sort of personality needed in the dressing room, that actually knows the history and pedigree of this great club. Shame on you who boo, you are no fans but glory hogs!