When Arsenal signed a relatively young and inexperienced defender for a whooping 16 million pounds, few thought that was another over-hyped English lad but many were also aware of his massive potential and just the tender age of 19, he has been thrust into the action of Premier League and Champions League football for Arsenal. To make things a whole lot sweeter, his versatility has ensured that he has been used in two different playing positions this season, and the manager still harbors hopes of playing him in a third position further up field.
After a good preseason preparation, Calum Chambers played alongside Laurent Koscielny in the FA Community Shield against Manchester City and he was part of the defense that kept a clean sheet as the Gunners ran out as 3-0 winners. With Per Mertesacker given an extended break from his World Cup exertions, Chambers had his competitive debut with the same partner in the Premier League curtain raiser against Crystal Palace. Despite his tender age, he had a great game, making some inch-tackles as well as showing off his great passing range.
This was followed by a Champions League qualifier against Besiktas SK and he went on to have a good game, even though he committed an error that wasn’t punished the opposition. As the games kept piling up, Chambers started with a new partner, Mertesacker, when the Gunners visited Goodison Park but he didn’t have the same influence he had possessed in previous encounters as his team grabbed a spot in the back pages following a spirited late surge to share the spoils.
In the return leg against Besiktas at the Emirates, Chambers watched from the dugout from the start of the game but he was summoned when Matt Debuchy was brandished a red card. He moved to his favored right fullback position and almost created a goal for Alexis Sanchez that was launched into orbit. Chambers’ last game for the Gunners was in the disappointing draw against Leicester and he came on for an injured Laurent Koscielny and he didn’t put a foot wrong all game long.
In these six games, Chambers has been outstanding. The table below shows his Premier League stats thus far this season,
Premier League | |
Appearances (subs) | 2 (1) |
Tackles made (per game) | 7 (2.3) |
Interceptions made (per game) | 5 (1.7) |
Fouls committed (per game) | 4 (1.3) |
Clearances (per game) | 21 (7) |
Blocked shots (per game) | – |
Total Passes (accurate passes) | 177 (189) |
Pass Completion percentage | 93.7% |
Bookings (Yellow/Red) | (2/0) |
In just three Premier League games played so far, Chambers has made seven tackles and an astonishing 21 clearances, averaging seven per game. However, Matt Debuchy has the most tackles in the team (12) as well as the most clearances (24). Mertesacker edges his defensive peers out in interceptions (5) or, Merteceptions, as they’re fondly know it’s in part of the world.
After a survey uploaded on the official site, Arsenal has confirmed that Chambers in the August Player of the Month, with 34.8% of the votes, surpassing Alexis Sanchez (33.4%), Aaron Ramsey (17.2%) and Others. (14.6%). In my honest opinion, it’s an award that was well-deserved. For a player that age to show maturity beyond his years, the future looks really bright for the lad. Chambers has handled the expectancy well, he’s eager to improve himself and his talent knows no bounds.
Getting the lad from Southampton has been an absolute coup and Arsenal fans can sleep well at night with the confidence that Chambers can do a good job on the pitch when he’s summoned. With the Gunners challenging for four different competitions this season, Chambers is odds on to have his fair share of games and the fact that he’s a versatile lad gives him a good edge.
If he continues to put his head down and work hard, things can only get better for the lad.
Congratulations to Chambers on this award.
Sayonara.
You can download the Gooner Daily BlackBerry App to receive notifications on your Smart Phone when a post is published.
You can follow Gooner Daily on Twitter @goonerdaily. I’ll follow back
Feel free to visit Gooner Daily’s Facebook page and click on the like button.
You can also join Gooner Daily’s Mailing List to get notifications of new posts by email by clicking on the Follow button