Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain has admitted he is trying to learn from Juventus defender Dani Alves as he adjusts to life in a new wing-back role for Arsenal.
The 23-year-old has been shifted into the new position after Arsene Wenger introduced his new formation which has yielded some promising results so far.
Alves has been simply superb this season after swapping Barcelona for Juve and Oxlade-Chamberlain says he has been watching and learning from the Brazilian.
“When I’ve watched teams that play with five at the back and wing-backs, I’ve looked at their starting positions and positions out of possession because that comes a little bit more unnaturally to me,” he said via Sky Sports.
“I take note of anyone when they play. Tottenham play with that formation, Chelsea play with that formation. There’s a lot of teams who have played with that formation, so I watch all the full-backs, the left-back, the right-back.
“When I’ve watched Dani Alves recently, he might not play the five at the back, but the way he plays, he marches on and he adds a lot in an attacking sense as well as defensively. Players like that, you watch and you learn from them.”
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Oxlade-Chamberlain looks set to shrug off injury in time for Saturday’s FA Cup final against Chelsea and says victory at Wembley will give the Gunners a huge boost after a demoralising season.
“There will obviously be that feeling of wanting to finish higher up the league,” he admitted. “There’s no doubting that and we can’t hide from it. We need to own up to that.
“But it’s a big trophy, one that we want to win and it will definitely boost morale going into next season.”
There’s no doubt the Ox has been one of Arsenal’s better performers and with the amount of injuries the club have it is great news he’s fit for the final.
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