Arsene Wenger says that he sees Calum Chambers developing into a central defender, despite the fact the former Southampton man has played most of his Arsenal football at right-back.
The 20 year old was pressed into action more than expected after the injury to Mathieu Debuchy in September, and performed well generally. However, he did suffer a couple of difficult days and has since seen Hector Bellerin step up and make a real impact.
With two good options, and Carl Jenkinson ready to come back from his loan at West Ham, Arsenal are well covered in that position, so the manager feels Chambers is likely to make a central defensive position his own in the future.
Asked why he thought that, he said, “First, his stature. The fact he is intelligent and reads the game well, the fact that he’s more at ease in the middle.
“On the flank, today you need more pace, more change of direction, more agility. He has the stamina, the power and the quality to be a central midfielder or a central defender.
“He’s pretty much there. At the moment I have players who have more experience than he has but in pre-season I will play him there.”
One of his difficult days was Swansea away when the Gunners went down 2-1 after taking the lead and Chambers struggled with the pace of Jefferson Montero. Wenger believes that was part of his learning experience.
“It did teach him,” he said. “He’s an intelligent boy, he thinks about his game after – how he could have blocked him better, how he could have stopped the crosses and to read the game of your opponent is an important part for a defender.”
Thank God Arsene has realized that he is not a RB.
Chambers was signed a week before Vermaelen signed to Barcelona, and at the time of the signing Wenger made it very clear he can see Chambers’ future in the middle as well as at RB (and considering at that point Chambers had only played as a RB for Southampton, it’s unsurprising he’d mention the RB position at this point), and I don’t think it’s a coincidence that we let Vermaelen go just after Calum’s signing. I’m certain that his development would have carried on in the middle, were it not for the Debuchy’s injures. Your comment reads as if Wenger… Read more »
The hypocrisy is arguing that Arsene Wenger, one of the best managers of all time, failed to spot something which to you was blatantly obvious it was inconceivable for him not to have spotted it.
Maybe there’s a good chance he knows more about what makes a footballer than you, me and everyone else in the comments.
He said “centrally” & I’ve said before I think he may cover 4th Centre Back & Defensive Midfield for a couple of seasons as a stop gap til Bielik can cover Coquelin. Wherever he ends up playing I think he’ll be absolute class & could very well be our first choice centre back for 10+ years in 2-3 years when Per & Kos are older
I think Arsene has put us in a quality position where maybe, just maybe in a few years when Per & Kos do end up retiring, we may only need to buy one centre back who will be 3rd choice & compete for a starting spot because Chambers will be 22/23 & Gabriel will be 26/27 & we have a really good youth prospect Julio Pleguezuelo who we signed from Barca a couple years ago, he’ll be 20/21 & he may very well be capable of covering 4th choice centre back by then hence only needing a 3rd choice. Add… Read more »
On Bielik, have any of you watched an u21 game in full and seen how he plays in CDM? The arsenal player highlights only usually show attacking play so it’s hard to get a gauge on how he is defensively. Any thoughts on him so far?
I havent, and to be honest not too sure how much value I put on the youth games anymore. The standard in this country really needs to improve. You see players like Bendtner, Lupoli & Jay Emmanuel Thomas absolutely destroy it at that level and do nothing at senior level. He hasnt played much though, he missed a month or so with injury. For Legia Warsaw he played a few times for the first team when he was 16 & did well. I think the biggest indicator for Arsene will be how he does in first team training but physically… Read more »
Well Bendtner has produced some good performances even after his youth carrier so the youth league seems to be a bad measurement but playing well there doesn’t mean that you can’t be good..
I’ve seen a few games on arsenal player with beliek, he’s either played centre back or centre mid. He stood out for his calmness on the ball and he’s good in the tackle but he’s so young and it’s so hard to tell. The U21s league pace is very slow. Lots of careless passes too and wrong decisions.
Capital one cup will be a better gauge of his progress.
As for Chambers, he can do a job at right back. No question he’s going to end up in the middle though.
Cheers for the reply. I can’t understand how asking a legitimate question can get a thumbs down for any reason only other than fuck the internet.
How do you watch u21 games on Arsenal Player? I only ever catch highlights.. are they broadcast/steamed live?
Yeah, they stream them. Last one I saw was against Reading.
I definitely don’t follow the youth as much as Jorge Bird, but you can get your fill…
It’s only one thumbs down, I wouldn’t take it personally.
It’s also surprisingly easy to press the wrong one on the phone.
I had the opportunity to see Bielik play against Reading in April. Bielik was deployed as a central defender. From my very humble and amateur perspective, he was quite fantastic at reading the game (he cut out a few passes) and was confident distributing the ball, starting attacking movements, and a powerful dribbler. Bielik was also strong in the air and calm in possession. Unfortunately his match was cut short by injury. The U-21’s lost the match 1-0. Diaby and Wilshere also played that evening…ohhh was it fun to watch Diaby! Hope he makes it back and is able to… Read more »
heès played mostly CB due to injuries, have only seen moments. But I think we can assume hes focused on the defensive side of things.
what I had read was that his performances were competent but not that he stood out or was the best player on the pitch, etc.
i agree fully. The lad is still very young and still developing, but definitely class. A good signing, for me!
Anyone else think BFG mk2 in the making
Let’s hope he grows another 6 inches then!
Bah, squad depth is not the Arsenal way.
Kidding of course, this kid’s got a big future for us.
Yeah, I think he will be a solid center back in the future. I don’t see us signing any defenders this summer, we are covered in every position. 3 experienced central defenders is plenty. No side has 4 top quality experienced CBs. The 4th CB has to be someone younger who is talented enough to step up when required and also young enough to not mind staying on the bench and learning from his seniors.
He is behind the other two big CB’s at City and Chelsea. Mangala and Zouma. Way behind i feel. But fingers crossed he can learn not to get beaten in 1on1’s so easily. He’s been shredded most of the season by anyone with an ounce of pace. Just being coldly honest
I’d have to disagree with you there. What city paid for mangala we paid for Ozil. Zouma looks a good player yes but I wouldn’t consider him better than Chambers in any sense.
He’s only 20 years old.
Zouma thinks he can win the Balon d’or. As a CB in a Mourinho side. Just saying.
Yes, It’ll be a job to stand out with 9 teammates playing the same position every match.
Can’t thumb that one up enough. Loved it.
You’re kidding right? Mangala’s turned out to be the flop of the season, and Zouma is mainly only employed by Mourinho as the third CB when he wants to park the bus. There was one game he did start where Chelsea lost 4-2 to Bradford, prompting Mourinho to say “this is why I don’t rotate”. And Chambers is way behind them? He’s had a couple standout performances, but mainly been consistent whenever he plays. The time he’s been found underperforming its been down to inexperience and being up against tricky wingers. Not to mention the fact that RB is not… Read more »
You’ve obviously never seen mangala play. If you have seen him play and seen Chambers play, and you think he is better than chambers, then I can only conclude that you don’t know football
You’ve obviously never seen mangala play. If you have seen him play and seen Chambers play, and you think he is better than chambers, then I can only conclude that you don’t know football. That City paid what they did for him is a complete joke
Please tell me you didn’t arrive at your conclusion by comparing their fifa ratings. Actually no, please tell me you did.
i dont agree with your “shredded by anyone with an ounce of pace comment”. As i recall, it only happened once, and i.m.o., in that game, he wasnt our worst player on the pitch either While he might not be a bellarin or walcott, he is not exactly a slouch either. pace is not an absolute pre-requisite for a good defender, positioning and reading of play ahead is equally as important as footballing brain, talent , technical ability, and physical attributes, all of which he has, aplenty. Arsene is respected worldwide for his eyes for talent and he wouldnt spend… Read more »
those are both 3rd choices, in mangalas case heès almost second choice.
chambers is our 4th, so i think that says something about our depth
Yeah compare him with Mangala who is a few years older with years of playing CB & cost £32m. Thats a good comparison. Also when everyone is fully fit, Mangala is either 2nd or 3rd choice CB for them so maybe comparing him to a young 4th choice at Arsenal is abit unfair. Zouma is 3rd choice at chelsea too at CB & he has had a year or two of playing regularly at CB for Saint Etienne before joining Chelsea. Chambers has basically played 1 season of football, half a season at southampton & half with us, at least… Read more »
It was 40m plus! Complete madness
Zouma is better than chambers…it’s the truth. There’s a reason why wenger was interested in him before mou got his dirty hands on him. Mangala has been a flop, no comparison.
thats too black and white. the world is a little more grey than that.
theyre both good young players with excellent potential.
zouma has more experience, always at his ideal position. chambers has played out of position almost always and has significantly less experience in general.
if anything id be inclined to say that chambers has been more impressive
Well we all know that chambers isn’t a great rb as well. Zouma has performed much better as a cb than chambers has as a rb.
You are right…both are very talented young defenders, however it’s clearly obvious that Zouma is by far the better of the two AT THE MOMENT.
Calum Chambers will be a top quality centre back in a couple of years and I can only speak for myself but I’m so glad we have him. There are weaknesses in his game but he has plenty of time to iron those out.
One of the only positives to take from the defensive injury crisis this year is that monreal, chambers and debuchy all played out of position – which I think helped all three develop into better overall defenders and also understand where they could help their teammates out more
Funny, I just saw the Arsenal YouTube video where Chamberlain was calling him out for that game at Swansea
I remember almost everyone being so excited about him in preseason and the first games of this year. I still feel excited cause i think he will be one of our stalwart defenders in coming years, he reads the game so well, he’s good in the air, fearless and will put himself about as well, and physically he is imposing for a 20 year old!
It’s quite normal that a young defender makes some mistakes, the key is for him to learn from those hard situations like the Swansea game vs. Montero who has so much pace.
Great so now we’re not buying a GK or a defender or a central midfielder, or any Wide player or a Striker.
It wouldn’t surprise me if we only sold this summer!
Arsene’s unwavering belief in his own players will be his downfall again, I hope he’s just posturing this time because if we can strengthen any position even at the expense of another one we should do it, but probably won’t!
I so wish we could engage in a direct discussion, would love to hear your thoughts of specific replacements.
Or is it just Wenger out? Surprising that you get fired up when reading we got good cover for CB aswell.
Also, remember that Wenger figuratively just now said that we’re only after world class players, i.e. potential upgrades to any of the first 11. One of which Chambers is not.
That’s real rich coming from you. I’m sure you’ve cheered on Ramsey as much as any other Gooner. Surely, he is the beast he is today because of that unwavering belief from Wenger.
We nearly have 2 quality players for each position I guess, Le Coq needs a back-up though, a disciplined midfielder whose aim is to break up play and keep it simple seems to be the most important element that makes this Arsenal tick, can even play alongside Le Coq in games we want to be a bit guarded
Maybe now santori will stop with his “theory” of chambers best position being a rb and how he is a better rb than jenko.
He definitely has the potential. He needs to become more dominant in the air and work on his positioning.
Also I would like to mention Hayden over here, he is as good but probably doesn’t get that much attention as he’s home grown and not a big money transfer.
Both of them are very good long term prospects and should be shown confidence in.
Calhim Centreback
Chambers’ most memorable contribution as a right back this season was a wicked cross he put to the far post for Gibbs to sidefoot home with just a few minutes to go in the comeback at Anderlecht. https://youtu.be/Qag5jf4sgqI?t=57s
He has the composure for Centrehalf. But he cut his cloth as a RB for Soton and may yet end up there. Wenger has also mentioned he may likely end up in midfield. I think Calum is yet to land in his final position. Midfield looks a bit congested if we bring another player in to cover DM plus there is Bielik and one of Arteta or Flamini to cover Coquelin. At Cback, he will have to go ahead of Hayden who looks increasing cut out of squad. Should he prosper in the position, he is a long term solution… Read more »