(Q24N) Joel Campbell’s days as an Arsenal player are looking increasingly numbered. Arsene Wenger has packed his squad with midfield quality and must ship out some of his fringe players if he wants to keep a happy, balanced squad. Campbell lost his place in the first team to Alex Iwobi towards the end of last season and will come into the new campaign well down the pecking order.
Despite the Costa Rican claiming his future at the Emirates is secure, a move back to La Liga is looking the most likely future destination. However, if Campbell wants to make the most of his considerable talents then he should do everything in his power to stay in the Premier League.
Recent studies have proven that the Premier League is much more competitive than La Liga. Home teams in England have the lowest win percentage compared to any other division, with away sides boasting a 31% win rate, second only to the German Bundesliga. On the other hand, home sides in Spain win 48% of the time, putting them joint top of the home win percentage table with Belgium.
Home sides tend to use possession based football to dominate games in front of their home crowd, so it’s no surprise to see Spain top of that list, as the style of football played by the majority of La Liga clubs is very one-dimensional. Away teams in England have found ways to overcome possession football. They have become extremely adept at sitting back, not allowing home sides to pass the ball around them and when they do finally get their feet on the ball, they utliste counter-attacks to hit the home side on the break.
Just look at the Champions Leicester. The Foxes ranked 18th in terms of possession and also had the lowest pass completion rate in the entire division. But they found a way to win the title, by being extremely well organised and packing their team with pacey, attacking options.
Joel Campbell is very quick, powerful and direct. A style perfectly suited to the counter-attacking tactics used by many Premier League teams. True, he has shown he can fit in well with a possession based team like Arsenal, but if he moved to another English team he could have a much greater impact on the division. I’m sure he wouldn’t be short of suiters, with plenty of Premier League clubs crying out for a pacey winger of Campbell’s quality and I’m sure, once he does decide to stay in England, that he will flourish into a top quality attacking midfielder and take his game to a whole new level.
