Given the fact that it was going to be the first game in charge for Freddie Ljungberg, there was a lot of excitement surrounding Arsenal’s game against Norwich City.
In the end, it looked like the Gunners were lucky to come away with a draw as Bernd Leno produced a string of saves to keep the scores level. There were a few players that were not up to the mark and the fans made sure that they made their voices heard.
One such player that did not do well during the game was defender Calum Chambers who was playing as a right back. And it can be argued that he was at fault for both the goals that Norwich ended up scoring.
Here are some of the reactions from the Arsenal fans that summed up what they thought of him yesterday.
Chambers was absolutely awful today 😴 #AFC
— Michael Corcoran (@MCorcoran_) December 1, 2019
Mustafi, Chambers, Guendouzi, Luiz, Willock, Lacazette all dreadful today.
— H (@AFC_Haitham) December 1, 2019
Hope Hector is fit for Brighton, Chambers had a shocking day at right back #afc
— Mike D. (@MikeUSDK) December 1, 2019
Xhaka Chambers Ozil Mustafi just useless that should be the end of their time in the club. #Arsenal #AFC #Arsnor
— Ghaith (@ghaithAFC) December 1, 2019
https://twitter.com/RudyAFC/status/1201168071693611012
Chambers the worst player on the pitch has offered absolutely nothing either end.
— Ben (@Ben_Arsenal) December 1, 2019
Chambers has been shocking.
— SamW (@SamW_AFC) December 1, 2019
Chambers has been a disaster today
— matt (@mattlittafc) December 1, 2019
Some of the criticism may sound a little harsh because when you look at it, this is a player who is not playing in his usual position. For the majority of his career, he has played in the center of defense or at times being deployed as a defensive midfielder. Though he has played at right back before, he has never completely looked at ease there.
One of the reasons for this is that he does not have the pace that is required to track back and defend. In the way that Arsenal are usually set up, it requires the full backs to offer the necessary width. Now, this also means that they should be able to get back to their positions to defend transitions and counter attacks.
Norwich realized that this was going to be a weak link in the Arsenal defense and clearly made use of it for both of their goals. The team would not be in this predicament if first choice right back Hector Bellerin did not have a injury.
Bellerin is coming back from a long-term injury so it is important that the club does not push him too hard. The other option that manager Ljungberg has is to make use of Ainsely Maitland-Niles instead of Chambers. It will be interesting to see what he does for the upcoming games.
