Eyecatchers: Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain
It wasn’t the ideal result for Arsenal last weekend against their arch rivals Tottenham, but one particular Englishman would surely have turned the fans’ heads with a very impressive eyecatching performance.
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, otherwise known as ‘the Ox’, justified his selection in the starting XI and showed the type of work ethic and attacking instinct Arsenal have been lacking so far this season.
In an otherwise struggling Arsenal outfit on the night who couldn’t find their cutting edge in front of goal, the Ox topped off his night with the equalising goal to spare the Gunners’ blushes in their 1-1 draw at home to the Spurs, and also took away the 'Man of the Match' honours.
It has been an up and down road so far in the 3 years the Ox has been at the Emirates Stadium. Opportunities in the Arsenal starting XI have been few and far between for him so far, partly due to injuries, but mostly due to his young age. Arsene Wenger has never been shy of starting his young stars but the Ox arrived at the age of 17 from Southampton, following in countryman Theo Walcott’s footsteps in making the switch from the Saints to the Emirates Stadium 5 years earlier.
The Ox joined the Southampton academy at the age of just 7 and made his first team debut for the Saints at just the age of 16. The only player to make a Southampton club debut younger than him was the aforementioned Theo Walcott.
At the Saints the Ox scored 9 goals from 27 starts as a teenager in his only season in the seniors. He managed to help them gain promotion to the English Premier League as well, and it was there and then that Arsene Wenger and the rest of the world knew that he was going to be one very special footballer.
The initial transfer fee of just £12 million Arsenal paid for him in 2011 seems like a bargain now, considering he has already notched up 16 caps for England at the age of just 21, and is also looking primed to really explode at club level for the Gunners as well.
With the unfortunate injury to Aaron Ramsey that will leave him sidelined for at least 4 weeks, along with slight injury concerns for Jack Wilshere and Mikel Arteta at the moment; the midfield stocks for Arsenal are currently running on low and it seems as though the Ox will finally receive some regular games in the starting XI, and he is already showing that he is definitely ready to grab this opportunity with both hands.
If he keeps producing the types of performances like he did against the Spurs then we may just be seeing a new star in the making, and that will certainly reflect kindly on his fantasy output as well.
The 21 year old has some serious pace to burn when getting forward and has a tendency to get himself into dangerous attacking areas because of it; as seen against Tottenham. With more games under his belt who knows how good he can actually become, as his potential ceiling is as high as the best in the Premier League this year.
This may just be the beginning of a breakout season for Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, definitely keep an eye on him if he still happens to be available in your league.
Article by Duane Silva, Footy Prophet
Follow Footy Prophet and Duane on twitter: @FFProphet and @Duane_0343