Why Arsenal should start using Calum Chambers next season

Things haven’t gone according to the script for Fulham on their return to the Premier League. The Cottagers find themselves staring at relegation and it looks like the Londoners will have to prepare themselves for another long and hard slog in the Championship next term.

Led by interim manager Scott Parker, Fulham once again crumbled to a 2-1 defeat at the hands of west London rivals Chelsea, despite putting up an inspired display.

Besides a few individual performances, there have been few positives for Fulham to take from their lacklustre campaign so far. While Aleksandar Mitrovic has arguably been the brightest spark of Fulham’s faltering campaign, this week it was Arsenal loanee Calum Chambers who impressed the most in the defeat against Chelsea.

Chambers was at the right place and at the right time to score the equalizer for the Cottagers on Sunday. The 24-year-old brought up his second goal of the Premier League this season after scoring in the 4-2 triumph over Brighton and Hove Albion towards the end of January.

Looking at it from the player’s perspective, the successful loan spell at Craven Cottage has allowed him to regain his confidence, whilst also strengthening his chances of playing a substantial role in Arsenal’s first-team next season.

A youth product of the famous Southampton academy, Chambers was signed by Arsenal in 2014 and became a first-team regular in his debut season under Arsene Wenger.

However, he gradually slipped down the pecking order at the Emirates and found himself on the fringes of the first team in the subsequent years, spending time on loan at Middlesbrough. Chambers has made a total of 83 appearances for the Gunners across all competitions and the loan spell at Fulham might just prove to be the turning point of his Arsenal career.

The Englishman has proven his worth as a versatile defensive asset once again this term. He was used as a centre-back and also as a right-back earlier in the season but the transition to a holding midfield role has really extracted the best out of him. Not only has he looked solid with his calmness and composure in possession but he has been instrumental in cutting out the attacks as well, often halting the opposition with crucial tackles and interceptions.

He has shown that he is more than capable of playing in a defensive midfield role where he can be pretty useful with his ball-playing abilities. Furthermore, Chambers has also contributed a lot to the build-up play in the middle of the park, switching the play, picking out the right pass and always threatening to put his foot through the ball from outside the box.

To go along with his pass success percentage of 76 and 2.8 successful long balls, the English international has averaged 2.2 aerial duels, 2.3 tackles, 2.6 interceptions and 3.5 clearances per game in the Premier League this term, figures which speak volumes of his all-around contribution to the team.

Now, the question is – where exactly will a player like Calum Chambers fit into the team at Arsenal? Well, the answer to that is pretty simple. The Gunners have been hit hard by the lack of depth in their defensive options, with Emery being forced to field a makeshift defence on several occasions to cover for the injuries to Shkodran Mustafi, Hector Bellerin, Nacho Monreal and Rob Holding.

Furthermore, Granit Xhaka hasn’t been too consistent in central midfield and the Swiss international has struggled to cope with Emery’s philosophy, which leaves room for the manager to recall Chambers in a bid to increase competition for places in the midfield.

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Chambers, with his versatility and ball-playing abilities, has all the makings of emerging as a useful squad player under Unai Emery. Arsenal need more depth in their options to excel on all fronts. That said, the Gunners should consider the Englishman as a part of their plans heading into the upcoming season.