Arsene Wenger has insisted that Carl Jenkinson is suffering from a lack of confidence and maintains that it perfectly natural for a player to adapt after a long break, as per Arsenal’s official website.
The Englishman sustained a serious knee injury at the start of the year while on loan at West Ham United and returned to action in the EFL Cup 2-0 win over Reading.
Jenkinson has been criticised for his performances since making his return and the fans were also discouraged by his performance in games against Ludogorets and PSG. The defender was also exposed throughout the 2-0 defeat to Southampton in midweek.
Wenger has admitted that the right-back is not performing to the levels expected at the Emirates Stadium and has insisted that it will take time for the player to be ready to play at this level after being out for a while. Speaking to Arsenal Player, he said:
Jenkinson has not played for a long long period. What he is going through at the moment is, for me, a bit normal but very difficult to live with for a player. Why? Because you think you are there and you will only realise in six months that he is not completely there.
He has lost confidence because the Jenkinson you see at the moment is the Jenkinson who can play but not completely himself because he has no confidence. That will come back. He will be in and out and suddenly after one or two months, he will make the step and play. It is natural and very difficult.
Today it is even more difficult because, as you say, he gets quickly hammered by everybody on social media. I hope he doesn’t read all that and focuses on his game.
Most of the players performed well below their capabilities during this barren run over the past month, however the fans have been quite heavy on Jenkinson. He has been out with injury for a while and was immediately thrown into big games where he failed to make an impact.
It is definitely hard for any youngster to straight away slot in after an year and that too in big games. Even against Southampton, he did not look at ease and was found wanting for both the goals but coming off an injury it is definitely hard to reach that high level so soon.
It’s likely that Wenger will give the defender some time off for few games and may be even play him with the reserve team.
