How Good is Oxlade-Chamberlain?

Only seen a few glimpses of this boy on the TV but he certainly looks an outstanding prospect - and this from a Spurs fan. Yes, I know there have been plenty of instances of bright young meteors streaking across the sky early on and then turning out to be damp squibs. But, rather like the young Rooney, O-C looks a confident natural. Thoughts ?

Oxlade-Chamberlain in my opinion is one hell of a prospect. He is hands down better than Downing and by far superior to the embarrassingly bad Theo Walcott. Theo has no football brain and his technical ability with the ball is appaling compared to that of Oxlade-Chamberlain. If it wasn't for his pace, Theo would be at best playing for a mid to lower premier league team and I stand by that comment. Theo is still living off that hat-trick that he scored against Croatia and Capello continued with him due to that night and the delusional belief that it wasnt a one-off. The defining and most important factor when comparing Oxlade to other players in his position, is that Oxlade has the natural ability to cross, create and pick out that final ball which is crucial for a winger. That being understood sets him apart from players such as Walcott, Lennon & Downing who's end product is quite simply not good enough. England's most dangerous wingers and most effective are Ashley Young (when fit), Adam Johnson & Oxlade-Chamberlain due to the reasons stated above.

Better than Theo, and that's all that really matters right now.

Not sure I agree with John about him playing mid-lower Prem if he didn't have his pace though. Actually think it'd be much worse - Championship or even upper League 1 level!

TopHat24/7 wrote:Not sure I agree with John about him playing mid-lower Prem if he didn't have his pace though. Actually think it'd be much worse - Championship or even upper League 1 level!

I was being kind in case there was some Arsenal fans waiting to pounce. I think Theo is shocking, quite frankly embarrasing!

To say he's better than Walcott is a bit premature. He definately has the potential to be better, and eventually probably will be, but currently he's unproven on the big stage and as inconsistent as Theo is he has scored an international hat-trick and has scored goals and provided assists at club level. I wouldnt write off Walcott yet, he's still got alot to offer.

Chamberlain could yet be Walcott v.2 and turn out to be ridiculously inconsistent. My guess is that if they stay at Arsenal they'll be vying for one spot on the teamsheet.

Anyone who's watched football for any length of time must have seen dozens of youngsters with masses of potential who have gone nowhere, or who have taken quite a few years to reach maturity.

We can only hope, for Englands sake, that OC continues to move forward unlike Theo, who although he is still highly talented; John at 3:53 pm, your comments are laughable; has stagnated and doesn't seem to have much of an idea where his future lies.

What's laughable about John's comments? Not sure where you're coming from with that comment....

Better than Theo and looks a good prospect to be in the Euro squad...

Wide men for the summer should be Ashley Young, Aaron Lennon, Oxley Chamberlain and Aadam johnson..

TopHat24/7 wrote:What's laughable about John's comments? Not sure where you're coming from with that comment....

Everyone who watches the Premier League week in week out and has followed Theo's career will agree with my comments. They are correct and the majority of people on here agree with what I wrote. Laughable?????? Oh dear mate!

I have to agree with Johns verdict of Theo Walcott. He is awful. He makes Arshavin look like a £20m player. How Walcott still makes the England squad is beyond me. Useless in the air, can't tackle, can't cross, can't finish, positioning is awful, no footballing brain, no physical strength, his temperament is questionable and he has no idea where his best position is.

One decent game against Barcas 3rd choice full back does not define a career.

As for Chamberline... He is very good. He deserves an England squad call up more than Theo. A very promising talent!

He is better than Karel Poborsky. But not as good as Andrei Kanchelskis. He is on par with Steve Stone at the moment. BUT He has potential to better than Steve McManaman.

TopHat24/7 wrote:What's laughable about John's comments? Not sure where you're coming from with that comment....

John wrote:the embarrassingly bad Theo Walcott.

Maybe it's just becasue I hate people who overexaggerate everything, call me a sad pedant if you will, but there are no good/decent/average players anymore to a lot of people, players are either world beaters or "embarrassingly bad", or "awful" as Alessandro Ciambella said at 3:17 and if those kind of comments aren't laughable then quite frankly, you all need to increase your vocabularies .

Alessandro Ciambella wrote:I have to agree with Johns verdict of Theo Walcott. He is awful. He makes Arshavin look like a £20m player. How Walcott still makes the England squad is beyond me. Useless in the air, can't tackle, can't cross, can't finish, positioning is awful, no footballing brain, no physical strength, his temperament is questionable and he has no idea where his best position is.

I don't think Walcott should be used as a winger. His crossing isn't good enough. The only good thing about him is his pace therefore he should improve his finishing and be used as a striker in the same way Michael Owen was.

Oxlade-Chamberlain has huge potential but it all comes down to how Arsenal and more importantly England treat him. Don't treat him the same way Walcott was and include him in the squad for the Euro's or World Cup only to leave him on the bench for every game and not play any part at all.

Chamberlain in his brief cameos so far has shown a lot of potential, would go as far as saying that he can even perform better than Walcott in a one off game but what is still unanswered is his consistency. All well and good looking good for a short time but he's got a lot of work to do before we can really judge him but the future does look bright for him. Would assume he's a given to be in the GB olympic squad.

I see Theo Walcott, as usual has come in for plenty of stick on here, despite most of his stats saying otherwise.

Walcott was well in the top ten wingers last season on combine stats. The only wide players above him were Nani, Malouda, Ashley Young, Arshavin and NZogbia were better than Walcott last season. David Silva (11th), Nasri (15th), Adam Johnson (18th), Gareth Bale (23rd) were all below Walcott. In fact when you compared the stats to minutes played Walcott was the second best winger in 2010-11.

So far this season only David Silva and Valencia have made more assists than Walcott. Walcott is currently the 5th best winger in the Premier League this season on those same combined stats. The top five wingers being Silva, Bale, Nani, Mata then Walcott & Valencia in joint 5th.

Now while Walcott's game does look messy at times, I think he gets too much undue stick that other players just don't get. At times, I think fans and lazy pundits criticizing Walcott just to try and get some cheap credit among their peers.

There are lies, damm lie and statistics

I actually quite like Walcott, I think teams struggle to cope with his pace, and he isn't given enough credit for his actual footballing skill. To suggest he's at Championship level is ridiculous.

He's still young, and in the past has shown he can finish, has shown he can put in some excellent crosses and has shown a tremendous ability to get past a defender, and obviously he is that amazing pace. He's got all the ingredients to be an excellent footballer, and they are coming together at the moment.

Crimey wrote:In the past has shown he can finish, has shown he can put in SOME excellent crosses.

That sentence made me laugh. I could not decide if you were talking about Lennon or Walcott. Both players had big potential but they have been playing on the big stage for some time now and all we have seen is glimpses of talent.

Did somebody actually suggest Walcott should play in the championship? He would be destroyed in that league without protection he gets from referees from the Premier League! Theo would not score 20 goals in the championship now. He is to fragile.

Arsenal did not pay for glimpses of this talent. They deserve it all the time. Walcott is to inconsistent to be considered for 1st team football and international football for that matter.

He and Lennon are disappointments of the mega talent they have thus far wasted. All that money spent on them pair, the salery they take, the investment in training, the experience they have been getting on pitch and what have we got back. About a 1 in 10 ratio of good crosses and both are lacking in front of goal.

Give me Matty Etherington or Chris Eagles any day of the week ahead of these pair of average Joes.

Agree about Etherington he's a very clever player unlike pathetic amateur Theo who is only a speed racer.

Oxlade has some real ability can do a number of giving jobs rather than just trailblazing into opposition players and losing the ball (Walnut).

Ross Barkley of Everton could be even better than Ox-Chamb from what i've seen of him and hopefully McEachran will keep developing.

Alessandro Ciambella wrote:He and Lennon are disappointments of the mega talent they have thus far wasted. All that money spent on them pair, the salery they take, the investment in training, the experience they have been getting on pitch and what have we got back. About a 1 in 10 ratio of good crosses and both are lacking in front of goal.

Interesting stats for assists/ crosses this season:-

David Silva - 17/26
Antonio Valencia - 12/99
Theo Walcott - 10/57
Juan Mata 10/77
Nani - 9/127
Gareth Bale 8/100
Adam Johnson - 7/20
Samir Nasri 7/35
Ashley Young - 7/62
Matthew Etherington - 6/92
Jermaine Pennat 4/89
Aaron Lennon - 3/12
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain 1/12
Stewart Downing - 0/94

sportsville wrote:

Alessandro Ciambella wrote:He and Lennon are disappointments of the mega talent they have thus far wasted. All that money spent on them pair, the salery they take, the investment in training, the experience they have been getting on pitch and what have we got back. About a 1 in 10 ratio of good crosses and both are lacking in front of goal.

Interesting stats for assists/ crosses this season:-

David Silva - 17/26
Antonio Valencia - 12/99
Theo Walcott - 10/57
Juan Mata 10/77
Nani - 9/127
Gareth Bale 8/100
Adam Johnson - 7/20
Samir Nasri 7/35
Ashley Young - 7/62
Matthew Etherington - 6/92
Jermaine Pennat 4/89
Aaron Lennon - 3/12
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain 1/12
Stewart Downing - 0/94

does it tell u how many of theos crooses beat the first man or went anywhere near another arsenal player?

cherriesfan wrote:does it tell u how many of theos crooses beat the first man or went anywhere near another arsenal player?

No but the stats do show his percentage of assists from crosses is higher than most and it was pretty much the same last season.

As I have mentioned above his game does look messy at times and that probably doesn't help him but the majority of his play is more than comparable against others. It is just that people see one or two shots/ crosses go askew and judge on that rather than his whole play.

Walcott could score a hat-trick in the Euro Final and most pundits would still criticize his performance.

Ghosty has it spot on. You can reel of silly stats all you like - back in the day Beckham came second to Steve Guppy [I think, was definitely a Leicester winger, back when O'Neill managed them] on the same basis when comparing crossing stats but you couldn't find a man on earth who would tell you Steve Guppy was therefore better than David Beckham. Theo's crossing is rubbish, we can see that with our eyes. His finishing is good and he scares defenders but that's about it.

Similarly, all this "he's still young, still learning" etc guff annoys me. In the same time (and from approximately the same age [Theo 17, Ron 18]) Ronaldo went from 'hot young prospect' to the best player in the world. Walcott's improved, what, 10%? He is a sprinter turned footballer and it shows.

Admittedly it's probably too early to tell with Ox, but his cameos have shown the same excitement as Theo and he seems to have a better footballing brain, taking up better positions and making better use of the ball. Has better skills too.

This appears to have degenerated into a "How bad is Theo Walcott?" thread. Please let's have more on O-C.

Walcott is a necessary and appropriate barometer against which to measure Ox therefore he has understandably come up. People's opinions on Ox have been voiced, it's only the discussion on Theo that's kept the thread going.

Stewart Downing - 0/94

Another vastly overrtaed English player IMO.

If he was Irish you'd be hailing him as the next Georgie best.....

A front three of Van Persie, Podolski & Oxlade is mouthwatering in my opinon

I would player a 4-3-3 next season

LK - RVP - AOC

JW - AS - MA

KG-TV-LK-BS

WS

Podolski is a sensational signing who's finally got some ambition in this life and left germany, well maybe the 100k a week was too hard to refuse now he's getting on a bit

Interesting CB partnership John, I'd have chosen exactly the same but got a lot of stick from PBF on here for considering donkey Mertesacker to not cut the mustard.

If Arsenal want to keep Van Persie they need to show some ambition to challenge for titles. The potential signing of Podolsky (personal terms yet to be agreed etc) is a step or two in the right direction.

chambo s also class at rugby and cricket

Plays with his head up. Always a good sign.

TopHat24/7 wrote:Interesting CB partnership John, I'd have chosen exactly the same but got a lot of stick from PBF on here for considering donkey Mertesacker to not cut the mustard.

WTF????? who's PBF? They clearly know nothing about Premier League football and the fact that Mertesacker is slower than a snail in the fastest league in the world! Easily pick Koscielny/Vermaelen but I would expect Arsene to go into the market for another CB!

Mertesacker doesn't have pace but it isn't the be all and end all of being a centre back. Technique, timing and tackling are far more vital. As long as he has someone with pace at his side he's fine.
The fact that he's got 79 caps for a German side that has Hummels, Badstuber, Howedes & Boateng also challenging for a CB position shows he's decent.

TopHat24/7 wrote:If he was Irish you'd be hailing him as the next Georgie best.....

The next wife beating alcoholic is not something the lad should be aiming for. I just think Ox is having a great season but for me one season does'nt make a great player and if he is doing this next season and the season after I will be the first one to say I was wrong but I don't think he will.

John wrote:

TopHat24/7 wrote:Interesting CB partnership John, I'd have chosen exactly the same but got a lot of stick from PBF on here for considering donkey Mertesacker to not cut the mustard.

WTF????? who's PBF? They clearly know nothing about Premier League football and the fact that Mertesacker is slower than a snail in the fastest league in the world! Easily pick Koscielny/Vermaelen but I would expect Arsene to go into the market for another CB!

LOL tell me about it. He's called The Genius of PBF (PBF being Pretty Boy Floyd [i.e. Mayweather]) an obsessive fan who tried to convince everyone for a long time he actually was Floyd before one of the mods IP checked him and called him out!

I understand Hero's point of pace not being the be all and end all of Prem CB's, but there is a difference between not being fast and being slow. Neither Terry nor Vidic are fast but are arguably two of the best Prem defenders of the last 10-15 years. Their positional awareness and reading of the game more than make up for not being fast - but they're not slow. Laurent Blanc was a great defender, but he came to the Prem and was shown up because his pace was glacial!