Arsenal started their Premier League campaign on Sunday, with a relatively tricky away fixture versus Newcastle United.
Rafa Benitez is no longer in charge of the Tyneside club, but Steve Bruce's generic perception of football isn't too dissimilar, with an emphasis placed on pragmatic, balanced, streetwise football.
Usually, the Gunners would become unstuck against such an opponent based on recent seasons, as a result of the hostile atmosphere in the stadium, the general lack of endeavour, and the tactical approach used.
This weekend, though, Arsenal managed to secure a win that was somewhat out of character, as the team appeared able to rely on their defence.
Arsenal are used to having to outscore their opponents using the finishing prowess of the likes of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Alexandre Lacazette, but on Sunday, the team was able to gain a lead, and close the result by restricting the opposition.
This was without the presence of new signing David Luiz, and interestingly, at the heart of the defence was a centre-back who's barely played for the club over the course of the past three years.
Calum Chambers is the player in question, as having spent time on loan at Middlesborough and Fulham, he slotted in alongside Sokratis and performed efficiently for the most part.
The issues with Arsenal's defence are widely reported, with Shkodran Mustafi in particular being a centre-back that Unai Emery wants to avoid using when possible.
With Rob Holding injured and Luiz not yet ready to start, Chambers' opportunity was circumstantial, but nevertheless, he seems to have seized his chance with both hands.
As a consequence of the 24 year-old being a centre-back, though, it's difficult to summarise his performance using statistics, considering defenders are notoriously hard to judge using numbers.
However, according to Wyscout, he completed 100% of his defensive duels, made five interceptions, and four clearances. The downside was that he appeared weak aerially, winning none of his three duels, but arguably the most impressive feature of his game was how he was able to manage and assess situations in a composed, sensible manner.
Below, for example, Chambers is aware of Miguel Almiron's run in behind well in advance, and he's thus able to deal with the problem constructively.
He tracks the run, reads the pass, and guides the ball out of play with Almiron eventually having to hit the floor, pictured below.
Around 10 minutes later, Chambers again showcased his alertness and ability to read the play around him. Matt Ritchie played a ball inwards towards Jonjo Shelvey, with Chambers sticking tight to Joelinton as he initially expected him to receive the pass.
Once the ball goes in a different direction, though, Chambers continues moving and immediately tracks the Brazilian's forward dart into space. The move ends with Chambers making a clearance having reached the pass ahead of Joelinton, shown below.
When re-watching the English defender's performance, it's remarkable to see how often he opted to simply clear his lines, almost in an old-fashioned manner.
As the Premier League has developed, there has been an added emphasis placed on the shoulders of defenders to contribute offensively with the ball, which is fair, but it can result in needless overplaying.
Too often, central defenders are made to look calamitous by burdening themselves with too much responsibility, and Chambers contrastingly took a pragmatic approach into Sunday's fixture.
Whenever there was a possible option to control an opposing through ball, for example, Chambers instead opted to deal with the situation in a streetwise manner, rather than trying to overplay and consequently making a detrimental mistake.
Ultimately, it remains to be seen whether this performance indicates a coming of age for Chambers, but regardless, the pragmatism that was evidenced in his game seemed highly effective in securing the win for Arsenal, and it's worth monitoring moving forward.
