Arsène Wenger believes that Kieran Gibbs can follow Ashley Cole and make his mark at England level. Gibbs, who is back to fitness for Arsenal after his latest muscular injury, will play against Galatasaray in the Champions League on Wednesday night, with the England manager, Roy Hodgson, and the assistant, Ray Lewington, due to be in the crowd at the Emirates Stadium.
Hodgson names his squad on Thursday for the Euro 2016 qualifiers against San Marino and Estonia, and Gibbs is in contention to add to his three caps. With Cole retired from the international scene, Wenger believes that the England left-back spot is more “open”. Hodgson took Everton’s Leighton Baines and Manchester United’s Luke Shaw to the World Cup.
“Ashley Cole, for a long time, was no discussion,” Wenger said, of the player that he brought through at Arsenal. “Now, it’s a bit more open. And I think Kieran will be recognised if he performs like he did on Saturday [against Tottenham Hotspur]. He looks to me that he’s going into second gear now and he realises that he can trust his body.
“He was inhibited for a period and what doesn’t help is when you’re in and out because of injuries. You need a consistent presence in the team. We sometimes forget that the first quality of a good footballer is health.
“If Kieran just lets it go – he has such great potential, because he can dribble as well. When he arrived at the club, he was 16 and he was a winger, a midfielder but I thought maybe I could transform him into a defender. It was a bit similar to Ashley Cole.”
Wenger believes that Cole, now with Roma, is a role model in terms of his professionalism. “It’s a good example to follow because Ashley is top,” Wenger said. “You see stories about Ashley Cole but on the day of a game, when it mattered and when you had to be there, he was always there. You have to respect that.
“Many times, we’ve tried to show Kieran confidence. Look, I let Gaël Clichy go [to Manchester City] because I had Kieran, a young English left-back. That’s the main reason I let Clichy go. I wanted to give Kieran a chance.”
Galatasaray have fond memories of the Emirates, having won the pre-season Emirates Cup in 2013. They arrive with a new manager, Cesare Prandelli – who resigned his post with Italy after their unsuccessful World Cup – and he is still seeking the right balance to his team.
Prandelli has not named an unchanged side so far and Galatasaray have taken seven points from their opening four Turkish league matches to sit fifth in the table. They drew their opening Champions League tie at home to Anderlecht. But Prandelli said on several occasions at his pre-match conference that he wanted them to show “courage” and “play their own game”.
Blerim Dzemaili, the midfielder who signed from Napoli at the end of the summer transfer window, echoed the call. Dzemaili played in Napoli’s 2-0 home win over Arsenal last season – a result that was not enough to see the Italian club progress into the last 16.
“I remember one thing about Arsenal which is that they are a team, they go together, everyone gives everything for the team,” Dzemaili said. “We must be the same, we must defend strongly and play our game. We must not be afraid. We have to have respect but not fear. We have a good team and we can play against anybody. It’s going to be in our hands.”
