Arsenal advanced to the quarter finals of the English Football League Cup on Tuesday night following a 2-nil victory over Championship side Reading. An Oxlade-Chamberlain goal in either half saw the visitors off, and it was no doubt the England international’s best game in an Arsenal shirt in a long while.
The brace saw Chamberlain’s season tally increase to 5 beating the record of the 4 goals he set in the 2011-12 season when he made his Emirates debut. Prior to that, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain’s highest goal return in a season peaked at 10, and that was in his last season at the Saint Mary’s.
Since moving from Southampton to Arsenal 7 days to his 18th birthday, he hasn’t quite been the most impressive of performers. But the promising talents have always been there. A few weeks ago, the 23-year-old expressed his frustrations with being left to play a bit-part role in recent seasons.
Ox, whos is rated at €31.2 Million by the CIES Football Observatory, has been more of a fringe player at Gunners, coming off the bench to make most of his appearances, and that hasn’t gone well for him developmentally. He has lost his berth with the national team and has seen Iwobi rise above him in the pecking order.
Despite playing 7 out of the 9 league games thus far, Chamberlain has just acquired 284 minutes of action under his belt in the EPL, that is approximately equal to 3 full games. He has been able to score once and has created 3 chances. In the Champions League where he has played thrice amassing 173 minutes, he has scored and assisted once. In the EFL, he has 3 goals in 2 appearances.
5 – Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain has scored five times for Arsenal in 2016/17, his best tally in a season for the Gunners. Firing.
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) October 25, 2016
The former Southampton winger is no doubt making most of his chances, and he is beginning to force himself into the starting XI reckoning off his attacking contributions. The goals sure won’t stop, and neither will be assists and chance creations. Suffice to say he would no doubt play a great role in Arsenal’s title challenge this season.
Chamberlain’s poor form in the recent past is partly down to his constant injuries and fitness struggles, and it appears he has finally put them all behind him and is now ready to live up to the billing. The figures speak for themselves. It’s left for Wenger to discover that Ox can bring a lot to the table and help with the club’s title ambitions this term.
What took him 70 games to achieve in the last 2 seasons have been made possible in just 12 appearances this term, and his form and new-found confidence can only get better. Chamberlain deserves more games, as that will further boost his abilities. Moreover, he brings a different type of energy and urgency to the attacking third with his speed and ability to unsettle defenders with ease.
Long gone is the Oxlade whose end product and inconsistency made many question and doubt his talents. He is slowly rediscovering the form that convinced Wenger he could help turn him into a fine player, and he is paying back the manager’s confidence in him.
It’s a blooming season at the Emirates, and Ozil, Sanchez and Walcott aren’t the only ones getting better, Oxlade-Chamberlain has gotten his groove back and will definitely be a key player in the club’s title challenge this season.