As Arsenal vanquished Liverpool and all but ended the Reds' hopes of finishing in the Premier League's top four, they delivered an impressive demonstration of their squad depth. The likes of Theo Walcott and Danny Welbeck could not find a place in the starting XI while the fit-again Jack Wilshere, Mikel Arteta, Mathieu Debuchy and Abou Diaby were not even needed on the substitutes bench.
There was one player whose exclusion was something of a surprise. Despite being available for selection, Calum Chambers did not even make the substitutes bench. The England international now faces a significant uphill battle to win a regular place.
At the start of the season, a spate of defensive injuries saw Chambers thrust immediately into the first-team picture. He featured most frequently as a centre-half, starting in the Community Shield victory over Manchester City and winning praise for his composure on the ball and preternatural positional sense.
However, in the second half of the season, Chambers' progress has stalled—it could even be argued that he has regressed. First came some unconvincing performances at right-back in which his lack of pace was exposed by some of the Premier League's nippier wingers.
Then there was the failed experiment of fielding him in central midfield away to Southampton. Whether he was disorientated by his new position or facing his former club, Chambers endured a difficult day. He hasn't figured consistently since.
His biggest problem is the arrival on the scene of two new defensive players. Hector Bellerin has risen through the ranks to become a credible long-term candidate for the right-back slot, and his goal against Liverpool will only have tightened his grasp on a first-team place.
At one stage in the summer, Bellerin was the club's fourth-choice right-back behind Chambers, Debuchy and Carl Jenkinson. Arsene Wenger has admitted to Arsenal.com that the dramatic nature of his progress has been something of a surprise:
He's one of the surprises of the season. He was at Watford on loan last year and didn't get the games. He's just 20 years old, if you look at what he does at 20 years of age... He played against a great player today in Sterling in the second half. Maybe he still has some experience to gain but defending one against one is good and going forward is good as well. He scored an important goal in a big game and that always shows that the guy has the mental quality to be there.
Bellerin's emergence means the obvious path to the first team for Chambers is as a centre-back—a position which seems to suit his physiology.
However, there's now the arrival of Gabriel Paulista to contend with. As promising as Chambers had looked at centre-half, Arsenal still needed experienced cover for Per Mertesacker and Laurent Koscielny, so Wenger moved to sign the Brazilian from Villarreal in January.
Gabriel has acclimatised quickly to English football, pushing Chambers down the pecking order in turn. The player who started the season as a regular fixture in the XI now finds himself as fourth choice in his preferred role.
That's not necessarily a bad thing. Chambers is only 20, and a spell out of the team will protect him from the overexposure that damaged the likes of Philippe Senderos and Johan Djourou in the past.
However, the next few months could be crucial for Chambers. In training and his limited first-team outings, he must convince Wenger that he has the ability to provide competent cover for Mertesacker, Koscielny and Gabriel.
It's vital that he doesn't drop any lower in the squad hierarchy. The arrival of another senior defender this summer could put Chambers' development in jeopardy.
James McNicholas is Bleacher Report's lead Arsenal correspondent and is following the club from a London base throughout the 2014-15 season. Follow him on Twitter here.
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