Arsenal’s young and upcoming star Alex Oxlade-Chmaberlain has called for patience admitting that this season has been a difficult one for him personally.
The Ox produced a great debut season at the Emirates and only at the age of 18, but in the current season has found starts hard to come by often coming off the bench to try and influence the match.
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This season Chamberlain has started 11 games, but has stated he will try to ‘kick-on’ next season in an attempt to try and pry his way into the starting eleven and certainly has the potential to do so.
Chamberlain is quoted as saying on his progress this season by The Sun:
It has been difficult. There is always pressure, but maybe people forget that I am only 19 and will still be 19 at the start of next season.
When you have a good first season, especially at 18, people hype you up and really want to see you kick on. They expect you to play lots of games and do really well.
I have tried to carry on from last season, but sometimes you have to realise that you are a young lad and have a lot to learn.
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The experience of being in a club and league like this is a great education at this age.
You always want to start but your responsibility when you are on the bench, especially as a winger, is to come on, change the game and help drive the boys forward, that is what I have been trying to do, to make things happen and add a different dynamic to the game.
I have been working on things like my team play, my defensive play and getting back into the right positions off the ball and these things aren’t often noticed.
I started pre-season playing in central roles and have played there in training, so I am trying to develop that as well.
I am happy with the way things are going and the most important thing is that the team finishes where we need to. I am happy to be a part of that.
At times this season I have certainly felt Chamberlain has deserved a start over other players, particularly Gervinho who is consistently erratic.
Part of me also feels that Wenger is reluctant to throw Chamberlain into the limelight while he is still inexperienced in order to subdue excessive pressure.
In spite of this however, I still feel the excuse of age isn’t really warranted. We know he has huge potential and we know he already is a talented footballer. Others have proven you can earn a starting spot at a younger age.
It is good to see he is improving and learning more about the game however and it will no doubt shape him into a great footballer into the future. Time is still certainly on his side and hopefully we see him have more of an impact next season!
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