The Athletic‘s Alex Stewart has been speaking with Seb Stafford-Bloor on the latest edition of the Tifo Podcast about Arsenal defender Calum Chambers following his performance against West Ham United last weekend.
Chambers was selected to start as the Gunners’ right-back and turned in a good display that saw him earn an 8/10 rating from Football.london.
He also provided two assists, and Stewart speculated that Chambers could be the solution to Arsenal’s right-back problem.
He said: “All of a sudden, we see this side to Calum Chambers’ game that I really don’t recall seeing previously. Just a lot of dynamism, really good final ball a lot of the time as well; it wasn’t just that he was getting up and down; he was actually doing something with it.
“Right full-back has been a problematic position for Arsenal; I think it’s fair to say that [Hector] Bellerin has not been exceptional for a while.
“Have they accidentally, in order trying to counter one particular facet of West Ham’s game, which is height and delivery from set-pieces, have they actually found a longer-term solution for that position?”
Do you think Chambers should start at right-back from now on?
Yes, he deserves a chance
No, someone else has to play there
TIF Thoughts on Chambers…
The England man, who is valued at £10.8m by Transfermarkt, has been with Arsenal for a long time now and has mostly played as a right-back for the Gunners, but he has also played as a centre-back on occasion.
He is listed as a natural centre-back, but if he keeps playing how he did against West Ham, then maybe Mikel Arteta has found a new right-back.
The Gunners do have Hector Bellerin and Cedric Soares, but Bellerin has had his critics this season, and Cedric has had a few shocking games, perhaps most notably against Aston Villa.
Certainly, we would be intrigued to see Chambers at right-back in Arsenal’s next game against Liverpool, but we will have to see what happens.