Will Joel Campbell ever breakthrough at Arsenal?

Joel Campbell

The relatively unknown Arsenal loanee Joel Campbell announced himself to the world with a wonderfully taken individual goal in Olympiakos’ 2-0 defeat of Manchester United in the Champions League last 16.

Although he is yet to feature for his parent club, in the aftermath of the Greek outfit’s victory the 21-year-old made it clear that he sees his long term future in north London.

“I am still hopeful of playing for Arsenal, but I have not been given the chance yet, I hope to keep working at Olympiakos. I am making sure that I take this opportunity,” he declared.

The youngster is clearly keen to prove his worth to boss Arsene Wenger, but after a trio of loan spells since his arrival from Deportivo Saprissa in 2011, does he really have a future at the Emirates or will he fail to live up to the hype of his exploits last night?

Although the Costa Rican grabbed the headlines in truth he did not have a hugely impressive game at the Karaiskakis Stadium, but seized his opportunity in the spotlight to give his side a real chance of qualifying for the quarter-finals and pile the pressure on United boss David Moyes.

In the early stages of the encounter the Red Devils were not at the races, as they failed to close down Olympiakos’ attackers and the Greek side had plenty of space to pick apart that opponents. However, Moyes’ side did get a foothold in the game and had 56% of possession but on the whole Olympiakos were technically superior to United.

But Campbell’s individual pass accuracy of 64% was amongst the worst in the team and would have to be greatly improved in a team constructed by Wenger, who demands the highest standards from his players when on the ball. Even his total for the entire competition of 76% would leave him lingering at the wrong end of Arsenal’s squad. With 68% of his passes made in forward direction against United though, he is eager to drive his team forward.

Joel Campbell statss

The forward was utilised on the right wing and completed two of his six take-ons. Although a 33% success rate is far from inspiring, his opposite man Patrice Evra comfortably had the best game of United’s back four and is still an excellent defender in one-on-one situations and possesses the pace to recover if an opponent gets in behind him. All three of Campbell’s failures on the flank hand were against the Frenchman.

Joel Campbell Take-Ons vs Man Utd

However, the two in central areas were both against Michael Carrick. Not the most mobile of midfielders, Carrick thwarted an attempt by the youngster in the first half but was undone just shy of the hour mark, which directly led to the Costa Rican’s goal. Campbell produced a delicate touch to nutmeg the onrushing Englishman before unleashing a beautifully curled left footed effort past David de Gea into the bottom corner.

Although he failed to complete any of his tackles, four were deep in his own half, showing he has the desire and positional awareness to track his man even though his ability to complete his defensive duties lacked. But United were relatively poor in attack throughout the game it is also difficult to judge his talent on such a small sample size.

Joel Campbell Tackles vs Man United

Despite his goalscoring heroics the 21 year-old, who has previously spent time on loan at Lorient and Real Betis once he failed to secure a work permit in England, has a long way to go if he is to force his way into Wenger’s plans.

The Gunners have a huge amount of attacking talent within their ranks that are ahead of Campbell in the pecking order and would struggle to fit into Wenger’s favoured formation with one striker. Le Professeur would surely have pursued the Costa Rican’s permit application more fiercely if he rated him alongside those currently at his disposal. Although he clearly has an eye for goal, he appears to be a raw talent, but it looks doubtful that Wenger will be the man to nurture his development, with a future loan spell more likely than an introduction to life in north London.