Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Arsene Wenger plays down Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain England omission

 

Jim van Wijk
Friday 24 February 2012 16:45 GMT
Comments
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain bursts past Mika Vayrynen
and Aidan White
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain bursts past Mika Vayrynen and Aidan White

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger feels Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain should not be disheartened by his exclusion from the senior England squad for the friendly against Holland.

Caretaker-boss Stuart Pearce defended his decision to leave the livewire 18-year-old out of the game at Wembley, claiming Oxlade-Chamberlain would benefit from more competitive game time at a lower level, where England Under-21s take on Belgium at the Riverside next Wednesday.

Wenger signed the attack-minded midfielder from Southampton in a £10million deal last summer, and gradually integrated him into the first-team squad.

The Gunners boss believes time is very much on Oxlade-Chamberlain's side.

"I believe for any player he must play 100 games and then you talk about him," said Wenger.

"When a player has five or six games in the Premier League every time you have ups and downs.

"He learns his job at the moment. I am a strong believer in Oxlade-Chamberlain and I spent quite good money for him, but he needs time.

"You are not ready from one day to the next at the top, top level."

PA

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in