Chamberlain looking for a more central role at Arsenal

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The centre of midfield for OX?

Arsenal star and England International Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain has told the media that although he wishes to play in his favoured midfield position, he is happy to play anywhere on the pitch to help out the team.

Chamberlain stated; “It’s not really for me to say (where I play) at this stage. I need to make sure, whether I’m asked to play in the middle or out wide, that I put in good performances and develop my game so I can be called up in different positions. I grew up as a more natural midfielder, so whenever I get the opportunity to come on in midfield I try to do so and I’m happy and excited to show that I’ve got some attributes in midfield.”

“I’m only going to get better in that position with game time and when I’m out wide I’ve got to improve my game and keep improving just in general. When the opportunities are to come on in the middle, I’ve got to try to show that I can take them – that I’ve got another side to my game if you like.”

It’s true that he should focus on where he is told to play and if Wenger thinks that he should be played on the wing then maybe he will look to develop him in that position rather than midfield. But say the Ox does begin to play more regularly in midfield then should Arsenal be looking to add another winger to our ranks.
With Gervinho possibly on the way out, Chamberlain moving to the middle, Walcott and Podolski wishing to be central strikers it seems as if we aren’t left with any natural wide players at the club.

Over the course of the season Chamberlain flourished several times in midfield and as he stated he takes the opportunities he gets and this can be seen is how comfortable he is playing there. In every match you’ll notice he always drifts inside from the wing and so this pre-season maybe it would be good to see AOC get a few games in the middle.

1 thought on “Chamberlain looking for a more central role at Arsenal

  1. Yeah it seems to me the Ox is a tricky one. In CM we have Cazorla (who is not a wing), Rosicky and Wilshere, so he isn’t exactly needed here, but we are particularly thin on the wings. Hopefully Walcott realises he is an top notch wing but only a pretty good CF, and I hope Podolski plays more at LW next season, occasionally filling in at CF if needed. Then we would need Ox as back-up on the wings. But he’s also very good in the centre. But he’s still young so we’ll see. Can we afford to buy another wing when we also need/want a striker, DM, CB, RB, GK?

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