Arsenal are blessed with a wealth of fullbacks, so good, quality players may get shoved to the side. Thanks to Nacho Monreal, that has happened to Gibbs.
I started out Arsenal’s match against Tottenham by pointing out on Twitter that I planned to harp on every single thing Nacho Monreal did wrong. I was not happy with him starting over Kieran Gibbs and seeing as how I can’t just email Wenger and tell him I’m unhappy, I had to let it out on social media.
The only other thing I said about Nacho Monreal for the duration of the match was that I owe him an apology. He was absolutely superb at a time where we absolutely needed him. Not once did he look outmatched. Not once was his pace called into question.
It was the perfect return from injury and it absolutely justified leaving Gibbs on the bench.
Which made me think after the match that this may have been the final nail in Gibbs’ coffin. Unless the Englishman has the patience of a titan, there is nothing to be found here. He could be 30 himself before Monreal makes way.
By now, Gibbs has to understand that Wenger is a man that doesn’t make changes all that often (which makes it all the more shocking when Gibbs took a seat for two years following what seemed like a single mistake).
That being said, Monreal may have been fading, but with this stalwart performance, he has reasserted himself and I wouldn’t be surprised if he had completely undone all the negativity he was starting to pile up this year.
Gibbs will not make it back into the Premier League starting XI so long as the Spaniard is healthy. Not this year. Not unless Monreal starts backheeling balls into our own net, and I’m not so sure that’s a likely outcome.
Kieran Gibbs is incredibly talented and for as much as I want to see him given his fair chance, I have to be realistic and see that it just isn’t going to happen. Not with Wenger in charge. Monreal has the key to the mint at this point. He has put himself in a similar situation as Bellerin.
Unless Gibbs wants to stay on for secondary competitions and for the false feeling of fighting for a position, there is nothing here for him. Again, unless he has supreme patience and is willing to wait it out.
More games: friv
