Tag Archives: joel campbell

Joel Campbell OUT: Was he ever given his chance?

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132So it seems Joel Campbell is off to Sporting Lisbon (I am writing this pre-Leicester see by the time it is published on Monday he might have already gone, or the deal might have fallen through. I am bored, at home, waiting to leave to go watch The Arsenal away).

Was Joel Campbell ever given his chance at Arsenal? Or is it simply a case that he was not good enough?

Personally, I think he was never good enough. He scored a cracking goal for Olympiakos against United, and had a decent WC (so did Bryan Ruiz) and suddenly he was the next coming.

For me he was the poster boy of the anti-Wenger’s.

A pawn used in the massive online chess game where people align themselves with an agenda and create a narrative to suit that agenda.

For people who see no good at Arsenal. Who are negative about everything, Joel Campbell was a player who was good enough for Arsenal. He should start every game. He was a superstar in the making. And it is Arsene Wenger’s fault he has not played enough. Arsene Wenger’s fault he has not developed.

Arsene choosing not to play him gave fans a reason to bash Wenger, to hold up a player being unfairly treated, when the reality was he wasn’t good enough.

The main point came at Stoke away a few years back. Someone shouted out “get out whilst you can Joel”. And this launched Campbell as the icon of the anti-Wenger movement (even though that sounds cringey).

I was at Stoke that day, on the platform, waiting to go home from an awful away day where they did not serve beer at half time. It was a torrid performance, and Arsenal players and management got a torrent of abuse as they got onto their privately booked 10 carriage train back to London.

Everyone got abuse, except for Joel Campbell. “Get out whilst you can Joel”.

It kind of shows how fickle fans are. Had he played a lot of football before that game for Arsenal, been given his chance, and in the type of performances he has done in an Arsenal shirt (mainly average ones), those singing his praises would have done a 180.

Those that criticise Wenger for not giving him the chance would have then complained that he was once again playing a cheap foreign import who is clearly not good enough. the narrative would have changed to suit the agenda.

Yes, Joel Campbell worked hard at times. Again, this was put up as a reason why he was a class player. He was praised mainly because he was not Theo Walcott. Walcott often seen as the poster boy of the recent Wenger era. 10 years of disappointment.

Joel Campbell was put on a pedestal for the two reasons:

  1. Wenger did not rate him
  2. He was not Theo Walcott

The reality is he was simply not good enough.

Now 24, Joel Campbell had 4 distinctly average loan spells away from the club. Since returning to Arsenal, he has scored 4 goals in 40 games. Last season, Theo Walcott nabbed himself 9 in 42.

So here we have a dreadful player (Walcott) out performing Joel Campbell. Yet people think Joel Campbell is better?

Then go down the pecking the order. Joal Campbell is older than both Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Serge Gnabry. Both are vastly more talented.

The Ox has not really progressed over recent years due to injury / poor decision making, but I think only an idiot would deny that he is better than Joel Campbell.

Serge Gnabry has had an unlucky 2 years. A poor injury and a poor loan spell at WBA where Tony Pullis just did not want to play him (look at Pullis’ treatment of Berahino and Kenwyne Jones, he does not like flair players).

But Gnabry is still just 21. 3 years younger than Joel Campbell. The performances Gnabry put in in an Arsenal shirt in 2013/14 as an 18 year old were better than anything Joel Campbell has done. He is showing at the Olympics his ability. If it was a choice between the two, Gnabry or Campbell, there is one who I would want to see get game time, Serge Gnabry.

Finally we come to Alex Iwobi.

Just 20, he is 4 years younger than Joel Campbell, and keeping him out the team. He is better than the Costa Rican.

I think if we go back to around 1998 we will discover 2 players who had a similar level of talent and output as Joel Campbell.

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All played at Arsenal at a similar age, played in similar positions, had a similar style of play, and had an almost identical output. Christopher Wreh, out of interest, was last seen playing for Bishop’s Stortford in 2004. Just 4 years after leaving The Arsenal.

The fact is, Joel Campbell was not given his chance because he was not good enough.

Alexis Sanchez, Theo Walcott & Danny Welbeck were/are better options on the wings when it comes to senior players. Ox, Gnabry & Iwobi are better younger players.

I said after the World Cup when rumours of a £20m bid from AC Milan were floating around, we should have taken the money and ran.

So what are your thoughts? Was Joel Campbell not given his chance? Or was he not good enough?

Keenos

PS: & Theo was shit

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Freshness the key for Arsenal’s new boys

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I am going to start by saying something a little bit controversial. A little bit OTT. A little bit extreme.

Francis Coquelin, Joel Campbell, Mohamed Elneny and Alex Iwobi are not good enough to be regular starters for Arsenal.

Now before you spit your coffee out, start writing angry Tweets, or stop reading, please suppress your thoughts that I am stupid and read on. Listen to my rational. Understand the point of the blog.

I am not saying that they are poor players. Nor am I ignoring their contribution to Arsenal over the last 18 months or so. But let us be honest, they are not top players. They are not going to win you the league.

But they have all at some point over the last 18 months become fan favourites. Putting in some exceptional performances. Playing well. Cheered on by the fans with everything they do.

And that is where they have become important to the side. All 4 have bought a freshness to the squad that was lacking after a transfer policy which has seen us sign just 2 outfield senior players in 3 transfer windows.

The squad always needs to remain fresh. When staleness creeps in, it creates apathy in the terraces. Fans get on players backs more. They turn nasty as they become bored of seeing the same old errors.

Yesterday Theo Walcott came on. His first pass was misplaced. And the groans that followed were to be expected. I thought of this blog at that point.

Had it been Alex Iwobi miss placing that pass, it would not have got the reaction from the crowd that Walcott’s error did. As he is fresh. He has the backing of the fans.

Let’s start with Francis Coquelin.

He has become an important player in the side. In 18 months he has gone from Charlton loanee to potential future captain. Amazing progress. They should make a film about him.

But what Coquelin gave us 18 months ago was a freshness. Since 2013 we had been screaming out for a midfield enforcer. We went and signed Mathieu Flamini on a free. He screams a lot, he shouts a lot, he runs around a lot, but frankly, he is a poor player.

And Mikel Arteta. He did a job when he came to the club, but his lack of mobility had become frustrating for many. He has been past his sell by date for 2 years.

And then Coquelin broke through 18 months ago. He has performed well. But the biggest thing in his favour was that he was not Flamini or Arteta.

He could miss place passes like Flamini, or let players run away from him like Arteta. But he was not Flamini or Arteta. He showed what Arsenal had been missing since Flamini left on a free to AC Milan a few years earlier. A defensive midfielder who knew his role.

The rise of Coquelin just further highlights the error in judgement of not having a decent defensive midfielder. And personally, I believe we can improve further on Coquelin.

We then come to Joel Campbell. Get out whilst you can Joel seems to long away now. He is another who in a short period of time has become a fans favourite. Even though his actually contribution has been not much. 4 goals in 28 games this season.

But Joel Campbell has something in his favour. He is neither Theo Walcott or Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain.

We had become bored of Theo Walcott going missing in games. Of Oxlade-Chamberlain running down a blind alley. It had become boring. It had become predictable. Campbell is not as good as either of these two players, and does not contribute too much more, but he is different to them, as fans are not yet bored of him.

Campbell runs down as many blind alleys as Oxlade-Chamberlain. He go’s missing for periods of the game like Walcott. But due to not being either of them, his efforts are applauded. Rather than a groan as the Ox gets tackled after trying to take on a 4th man rather than pass, Campbell is applauded for trying.

And over the years, how bored have we become of the ever so predictable Aaron Ramsey. The back heels. The miss placed passes. Even before Elneny’s recent game time, the likes of Jack Wilshere and Santi Cazorla were favoured by fans for bringing the freshness to the staleness of Aaron Ramsey.

Elneny is not as good as Ramsey. But he is fresh. As a fan, you accept his miss placed pass. Or the odd poor back heel. As he has not done it 100s of times previously in an Arsenal shirt.

Finally we come to Alex Iwobi. A breath of fresh air. 2 goals in his last 2 games. He is in the same bracket as Joel Campbell. His success if further exageratted due to not being Oxlade-Chamberlain or Theo Walcott.

Think about yesterday. He scored and he assisted. Many would have him as man of the match. Theo Walcott also scored (albeit a lesser important 4th goal rather than Iwobi’s 2nd). A Walcott goal gets less of an excitable reaction than an Iwobi one.

Iwobi is benefiting, like Coquelin, Elneny and Campbell before him due to being fresh.

Keeping the squad fresh is important. not just to stop training going stale, and keep everyone on their toes, but for the fans too.

The excitement that the fans generate when a new player is about to be substituted on is transmitted to the players. Seeing Iwobi or Campbell coming off the bench provides that excitment. Even Danny Welbeck coming in still does.

You compare that to the groans when the likes of Walcott or Giroud comes on. It is groans. Half hearted applauding. And people very quick to get on their back. Giroud had been on the pitch for 30 seconds yesterday when the bloke behind me was already on his back with his usual “You’re fat lazy and useless Giroud. Chase the ball”. Whilst it is unjustifiable abuse yesterday, it comes from weeks, months and years of apathy. Of seeing the same players making the same mistakes, putting in the same sort of tepid performances time and again.

A key part of our unbeaten season in 2004 was a January signing.

Arsenal spent £10.5m (then reported as £17m+) on a 20 year old Spaniard. Jose Antonio-Reyes.

I remember the excitement when he joined. The excitement in the crowd when he was warming up. The cheering blowing the roof of the old North Bank when he would come on.

Reyes was a breath of fresh air in 2004. Helped by his two goals against Chelsea to knock them out of the FA Cup, he became a key part of the unbeaten run, even if he did not actually contribute that much in his 13 league games (7 starts, 2 goals). Reyes was fresh, and enabled us to remain excited about the season, rather than things going stale.

And this is what Coquelin, Elneny, Iwobi & Campbell has provided recently. Bar Coquelin, none of them are better than the players they have replaced, but they are fresher than said players. The crowd give them a bit more time, allowing them to express themselves without that fear.

I remember many years ago when England were rubbish at cricket. In 2005 England had not won an Ashes series for 18 years. And then we went and won against Australia.

One of the key reasons often stated for the success of England that series is the lack of players who had Ashes experience. Only 5 of the 13 men who played had ever previously played against Australia. That meant that only 5 were mentally scarred from previous Ashes defeats. The 8 that had come into the squad were fresh. They were fearless. And England went on to win.

Teams need to be continually freshened up. Arsenal’s lack of transfer activity over the last 3 windows meant that the squad was stale. Everyone was bored of the mistakes from the likes of Giroud, Ramsey, Walcott & Flamini. There has been apathy a plenty.

Whilst I do not think Coquelin, Elneny, Campbell or Iwobi are top draw players, they are fresh players. And that is what is important.

To be successful, you need to keep things fresh.

Keenos

Man City, Wenger’s Tic Tac’s, Joel Campbell And now you’d better believe us

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Man City

Well what a win that was.

Yes, we did it the hard way, inviting the pressure, conceding the inevitable goal with less than 10 minutes and holding on at the end. But who cares? It is a brilliant victory which keeps us holding onto Leicester’s coat tales going into the festive period.

I have a headache this morning after the beers last night. But it is well worth it!

Wenger’s Tic Tac’s

For a long time, and quite frustratingly, people have always claimed “Wenger doesn’t tactics”. It infuriated me. And was incorrect.

It was a line that was rolled out every time we lost a game. Easy to blame the manager and his tactics.

As this season has shown, teams lose games. Does Luis van Gaal not tactics when losing to Norwich? Does Manuel Pellegrini not tactics when failing to score against Aston Villa? Does Jose Mourinho not tactics in any of the 9 games Chelsea have lost this season?

And then you look at someone like Barcelona. Is Luis Enrique a tactical genius? Winning 5 trophies. Playing Neymar, Messi & Suarez upfront?

Against City, Wenger got his tactics spot on. Allowing City’s defence and midfield to have the ball, he knew that none of the back 7 had the ability to pick out a killed pass. It was only when the ball went into David Silva, Sergio Aguero or Kevin de Bruyne did Arsenal put pressure on.

And to a large extent, it worked. Whilst in the first half City had a lot of position in Arsenal’s half, they did not have a single shot in target.

On the flip side, it was Arsenal’s lack of pressing that caused us to concede a goal, but it was a glorious strike by Yaya Toure.

Wenger got his game plan right. And should be praised for it.

Joel Campbell

I will happily admit when I am wrong.

I felt we missed a trick after the World Cup by not flogging him whilst his stock is high. And this summer, after another average loan spell, we should have just cashed in. He looked like a headless chicken every time I saw him play. Continually running nowhere with his head down.

And how wrong I was. It shows perhaps that Arsene Wenger does just know what he is doing.

He is still very rough round the edges, but he has ability. Skill, pace and a good work rate.

I still do not feel he has the talent to be a regular long term starter for The Arsenal, but as a squad player, he could be key.

The fine run of form he has been in since breaking into the team has forced him ahead of Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain in the reckoning.

I am more than happy to be wrong when something positive is happening at Arsenal. I am honest enough to swallow my pride and admit that I was wrong. Now if only some people were the same with Mesut Ozil.

And now you better believe us

In what has been an unpredictable season so far, you would be stupid to predict that Arsenal will be top by New Years Day. But I am stupid.

Leicester next two games are at Liverpool before hosting Manchester City. Whilst Arsenal travel to Southampton before a home game against Bournemouth. It would not be a surprise if Leicester lost both, with Arsenal winning both. Then again, I am probably setting myself up for a fall and a lot of mocking.

What is for certain is that Arsenal are competing. Over the years it has been what we as fans have been calling for. We do not expect to win the title every year. No one has that divine right. But we do expect to be competing.

2 points off top going into the festive period is certainly competing. It still grates a lot that our lack of transfer movement has probably cost us a few points this season. For every point Petr Cech has won us, you have to wonder how many we have dropped by not having the options and squad depth. But that is over. For now.

With January coming up, we need to get the signings right to help us push on. We are still a defensive midfielder short with Francis Coquelin out – although Flamini has performed well. And with last nights news that Alexis Sanchez is out until mid January, coupled with Danny Welbeck’s extended absence, we still need a striker to ease the burden on Olivier Giroud.

We make the right January signings, and continue the great run of form we have had over the last 14 months, and we will be crowned Champions.