Wenger must place his trust in youth

With Arsenal's challenge for a Champions League spot stuttering and Mikel Arteta's season ended by injury, the Frenchman should turn to the talented youngster in the run-in.After a near two-month absence, a sense of impending doom returned to Emirates Stadium on Monday evening as struggling Wigan plundered an unlikely victory which radically altered the picture at both ends of the Premier League table.The frustration which greeted the passing up of a gilt-edged opportunity to nail down third place and automatic entry into next season’s Champions League was only heightened by Arsene Wenger’s increasingly baffling insistence on limiting Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain’s role to that of impact substitute. Since the former Southampton tyro was unleashed on an unsuspecting AC Milan to devastating effect in the Champions League last month, Oxlade-Chamberlain has curiously been unable to force his way into Wenger’s starting line-up, even against relatively moderate opposition in the Premier League.Having seen the careers of Jack Wilshere and Theo Walcott stunted as a result of over-exposure from a young age, as well as the brutal injuries that have hindered the progress of Aaron Ramsey and Abou Diaby, the Frenchman’s cautious handling of the his 18-year-old prodigy is understandable, particularly with a European Championships on the horizon and an English public desperately craving reasons for optimism.To a large extent, Wenger’s decision to opt for a slow and gradual integration has paid off. Arsenal have won eight of their last 10 league games and have usurped Tottenham, who held a 13-point advantage at one stage, in the process.Furthermore, a settled midfield trio of Mikel Arteta, Alex Song and Tomas Rosicky, whose renaissance is rivalled only by his side’s narrow failure to overturn a 4-0 first leg deficit against Milan for comeback of the season, has prevented Oxlade-Chamberlain from retaining the central role he occupied with such distinction against the Italian champions.Meanwhile, Walcott’s improved output, prompted by an expertly taken double in the coruscating north London derby victory, relative seniority and partnership with Robin van Persie has ensured his place in the side, but on the opposite flank Wenger has opted to rotate Yossi Benayoun, Gervinho and the aforementioned Ramsey with only partial success.Defeat against Wigan, however, means Arsenal have, for seemingly the umpteenth time this season, reached the point of no return with the outcome of Chelsea’s visit to Emirates Stadium likely to have significant long and short-term ramifications.It would appear perverse to suggest a side that has collected 24 points out of a possible 30 requires fresh impetus, but the performance against Roberto Martinez’s charges hinted that a number of those who have propelled Arsenal to the brink of another top four finish are, as Wenger would term it, “in the red”.The goalscoring burden that has weighed heavy on Van Persie’s shoulders is inevitably beginning to tell – the club captain has managed just one successful penalty conversion in his last six games – while the ammunition Alex Song was regularly supplying has noticeably dried up in recent weeks.A cruel season-ending ankle injury suffered by Mikel Arteta, a steadying and surprisingly influential figure in the Arsenal engine room, could not have arrived at a more inopportune moment but the Spaniard’s fate does present Wenger with an ideal opportunity to unleash the one ace which remains up his sleeve.It would represent a courageous and daring move to thrust a teenager into the heat of a potentially decisive midfield battle against gnarly, seasoned campaigners such as Frank Lampard and Michael Essien, but Oxlade-Chamberlain has already proved he possesses the temperament to complement his rare fusion of pace, power, vision and elegance.