Jamie Carragher told Sky Sports during their live coverage of Arsenal’s 3-3 draw at West Ham that Calum Chambers played like ‘Cafu’ on Sunday.
At first, Carragher was joking about comparing the Arsenal defender to the Brazil legend, but as the game progressed, he stated that he was being ‘serious’.
It was a standout performance from the £16m defender (BBC Sport), who couldn’t stop whipping in cross after cross from the right-hand side.
Carragher was lavishing praise over Chambers’ performance as the game was going on before handing him the Man of the Match award for his ‘standout’ display.
“He’s been life Cafu,” said Carragher. “He has done really well today. I wasn’t quite sure. I mentioned before the game whether or not he would have problems, pace-wise, with Jesse Lingard and maybe Michail Antonio making runs down that channel.
“It hasn’t really materialised and it’s been about his offensive play, more often than not – It feels like panic stations every time Calum Chambers is in a crossing position. He has been Arsenal’s standout player. That’s the effect he has had on the game.
“I mentioned Cafu before, I was joking. I think I am being serious now – I’m going to go for Calum Chambers (Carragher’s MOM).
“If you look at the Arsenal team. You think why he’s in the team before the game to cope with West Ham’s set-piece-wise. You certainly don’t think he’s going to bring too much to the Arsenal attack, but without him, they wouldn’t have been able to get back into the game. A constant threat.”
It was interesting that Chambers played ahead of Cedric Soares and Hector Bellerin during yesterday’s action-packed London derby.
Was it just a case of rotation from Mikel Arteta or is he planning to use Chambers in that position a lot more because he was outstanding at the London Stadium?
Right-back has been a problem area for Arsenal over the years and it’s a position that needs to be fixed if they are to push forward in the long run.
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