In the absence of the injury-hit Héctor Bellerín and Mathieu Debuchy, Arsène Wenger does not plan to turn to the next right-back in his squad, Carl Jenkinson, because he feels the player is suffering a crisis of confidence. On Saturday evening Arsenal are at West Ham, the club where Jenkinson spent a couple of seasons on loan to promising effect, but the player signed from Charlton Athletic in 2011 will be spared. Wenger intends to use Gabriel Paulista or the youngster Ainsley Maitland-Niles instead.
“He has lost confidence,” Wenger said of the 24-year-old England international. “The Jenkinson you see at the moment is the Jenkinson who can play but is not completely Jenkinson because he has no confidence. That will come back. He will be in and out and, suddenly, after one or two months, he will make the step and play. It is natural and very difficult. Today it is even more difficult because he gets quickly hammered by everybody on social media. I hope he doesn’t read all that and focuses on his game.”
In an uncomfortable moment on Wednesday, Jenkinson’s substitution was welcomed by many of the crowd during Arsenal’s home defeat to Southampton in the EFL Cup. Jenkinson has looked anxious in recent performances, but Wenger is sympathetic and maintains confidence can be fragile for a player working his way back from several spells out injured.
“Jenkinson has not played for a long period,” he said. “He had knee surgery after he had two shoulder surgeries and what he is going through at the moment is, for me, normal – but very difficult to live with for a player.
“You think you are there ... you play and realise you are not as good as you think you should be and you lose confidence. He is going through that period at the moment. Bellerín is one of the best in his position certainly in Europe but Carl can compete with him. At the moment, no, because mentally he has not found his total level of his confidence.”
Wenger accepted it might damage that confidence even more for a centre-back playing out of position to be selected ahead of him. “Look, the best way to help is to respect the fact to play them when they are competitive,” he said.
Gabriel is the favourite to start ahead of Maitland-Niles because of his experience of dealing with an aerial threat. Wenger is conscious of the damage Andy Carroll caused last season when he scored a hat-trick in the 3-3 draw at Upton Park.
Bellerín is likely to miss the next three games, at West Ham, Basel in the Champions League and at home to Stoke, and Wenger hopes the Spaniard will be ready to return after that.
The bigger conundrum Wenger is trying to solve concerns finding midfield balance in the absence of the injured Santi Cazorla. He has tried multiple combinations in the middle; finding the best blend of ball-winning and creativity has not quite happened yet.
“We are close with the balance as Granit Xhaka in midfield is moving upwards,” Wenger said. “He has a different influence to Santi. Santi is more of a guy who gets out of very tight situations with a very short techniques, right and left foot, while Xhaka has a pass and is not a dribbler. He passes through the lines.”
Wenger admitted Upton Park was a favourite place to visit, particularly when he first arrived in England 20 years ago. “I preferred the first version of the West Ham stadium, which was very tight; one the most intimidating stadiums I knew. I must say the atmosphere was always very heated but quite respectful always.”
Four of Arsenal’s next five games are away, and Wenger is urging his team to keep up a resilient run in the Premier League, with their last defeat on the opening day against Liverpool. “I believe that from the strength we have shown away from home, we have the belief that we can do well absolutely everywhere,” he said.