Latest Arsenal sensation Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain recently revealed he’s willing to remain patient for a proper run in the first-team.
The winger-forward has tasted Premier League football only once since his arrival in the summer, coming on as a sub in that dreadful defeat 8-2 at Old Trafford.
Oxlade also said in the past that he is very confident Arsene Wenger will mould him into a brilliant player for the future (You can read that article HERE). But at the same he also has slight concerns over lack of regular first-team football.
‘I signed for Arsenal expecting not to get into the team straight away because this is a massive club with a lot of top-quality players.’
The England Under-21 star must learn to be patient as it’s not going to be easy at all to get into the side. As the player himself admitted a while back, his best position is at right wing and that is being occupied by another Soton academy product Theo Walcott at present. In addition, the Gunners also have Yossi Benayoun and Andrey Arshavin, who can also play in the same position as AOC.
‘I’ve signed a contract which is for a number of years so it’s just about being patient for me. It’s my first year and I’m not going to get as much game time but I’m learning loads in training and just taking everything I can to develop my game. You can learn so much from the boys in training, even just by watching them.’
Even though Walcott was two years younger than Alex when he joined Arsenal, he still had to wait a good 6 months to make his debut and made only 13 starts in his first full season. Oxlade-Chamberlain has got 3 starts to his name so far this season and his last appearance in an Arsenal shirt came against Bolton in the Carling Cup, quite some time ago now. But he remians confident he’ll grow as a player when he gains more time on the pitch:
‘Getting appearances along the way will feed me in slowly – there’s no rush to push me. Obviously I do want to play but I trust the boss and he knows what’s best for me.’
So, should he be sent out on loan in order to gain more experience?
Will a Wilshere-like loan spell at a top-flight club help him in the long-term?
Starting from tomorrow until the end of the year, Arsenal will be playing 9 games in the space of 37 days. Oxlade-Chamberlain will certainly play in the Carling Cup quarters next Tuesday against Man City, but what about other games?
One of the 9 games is a dead rubber against Olympiakos on 6th of December, during which Wenger would/should really be looking to give some rest to his regular first-team players, and there is a good chance AOC will play against Olympiakos for the second time in his short career at Arsenal. In addition, Arsenal will play 4 games in the space of 10 days, so there is a very good chance he’ll get at least a game somewhere.
Furthermore in January, the Gunners will again be playing 8 games (including Carling Cup semis, if we qualify) out of which ideally 4 of them will be cup-ties. On all probabilities, AOC could make at least 5-6 appearances in the upcoming two months. If the north Londoners manage to go further in the FA Cup, he might be chipping in with a couple more appearances in February as well.
Finally, there is a huge factor called ‘injuries’ which might strike anyone at anytime as the season progresses. Ideally, sending out AOC on loan will not be a wise decision as Arsenal will need squad depth after before and during January.
Courtesy of Gunndersphere.com
