After ensuring the arrival of Havertz, Rice, and Timber, Arsenal is rumoured to shift its attention away from acquisitions and towards departures.
Kieran Tierney is one player rumoured to be departing. Oleksander Zinchenko’s stellar performances at left back cost the Scottish international his spot in Arteta’s starting lineup last season. In his advice to the Arsenal left defender, the ex-Scotland legend Kenny Miller emphasised the need for a new beginning for him in order to rescue his career.
According to Miller, Tierney is a world-class player who should be on the pitch every single week if he wants to realise his potential and avoid wasting away at Arsenal. As per Football Scotland, Miller said, “I think he needs to now. He’s had his injury problems over the course of his career, but for me, when he plays, he’s a world-class left back. There’s no getting away from it.
“To play regularly, he probably needs to step away from Arsenal, and there will be loads of teams who are interested; there will be loads of suitors; there’s no doubt about it. Newcastle are a team who have been constantly linked with him.
“He was linked with Real Madrid at one point. He’ll have any number of admirers. He should go and play more regularly. It doesn’t seem to affect his performances at international level, but when you’re playing week in, week out, there’s a different edge to your game. There’s potentially more in from what we’ve seen.
“If he’s not going to be getting a game, he’s too good to be a sitting part of a squad. He’s one of our best players. A move to Newcastle with everything going on at that place would be a big step; they have Champions League football as well. If he moves, he’ll have a number of options.”
Most Gooners now approve of Tierney’s departure and would likkely agree that he should be playing much more often than he does now. Do you believe Miller’s advice will give Tierney’s agents the push they need to find him a new home and bring Arsenal some good money to reinvest in the team?
Darren N
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“Do you believe Miller’s advice will give Tierney’s agents the push they need to find him a new home and bring Arsenal some good money to reinvest in the team”
No
It is irreleveant
No. Not if you want to compete with Man City.
We need two players for every position without a major drop off in quality.
If Tierney stays at arsenal next season it will show he doesn’t really have any ambition. I love Zinny but there’s no way anyone will tell me zinny is better than Tierney, yes I know some will say zinny is a crucial plan of how arteta wants to play but the way arteta treated Tierney last season was so disrespectful and it showed at the end of last season. Tierney is in the same level with Robertson he can even defend better than Robertson. He’s too good to just be on the bench and be introduced in the 84th minutes.
*crucial part not plan. Sorry English is not really my thing.
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I would agree, Leno. I hope that’s why MA has brought in Timber. It would allow for the inverted fullback to be deployed from either side of the pitch, presumably therefore giving more game time to KT. I see it as KT playing LCB/LB when Timber is on the pitch and White/Zinchenko when the other way round. If this isn’t the plan then none of it makes any sense to me.
He & EsR didnt get much game time last season as i believe Arteta saved them for the gruelling upcoming season. Can see him being used a lot in the IRB (inverted right back) setup with Timber on the opposite flank.
The one & only reason i believe he could be sold is if Tavarez returns.
BangBang arteta didn’t save them from anything he just didn’t trust them enough that’s the bitter truth. How can you tell me arteta is saving a world class player like Tierney who has been playing first team football since the age of 17, what exactly is he saving him from. Arteta really needs to do better this season when it comes to rotation. Last season we fell off at the last minute because the coach didn’t rotate enough, he needs to trust the likes of Nelson ESR more.
No ,sell and get some cash ,injury prone and overhyped ,Arteta does not fancy him and I would agree ,unpopular opinion but where are all these world class teams wanting to sign him up ?
Would put him in the same bracket as Balogun,get 30 million and that would be good business.
Dan I always agree with most of your comments but on this I disagree, Tierney is class, yes injury has not really helped him but he’s class because the first duty of a defender is to defend and he Excell very well at that. It’s not his fault that he cannot play inverted winger or be an extra midfielder.
👍👍Lenohappy, big question is; how has Tierney upset Arteta to “earn” the treatment he has received?
You may be right in that regard, he has been plagued with injury, so taking a good bid would not be an obvious mistake. However, we would still need a good left back to replace him. I am not convinced that Zinchenko is the best choice for every tactical situation.
Please justify “plagued with injury” with examples of unavailability for selection.
Since joining us in 2020 he has been unavailable for selection due to injury for 48 games. Last season it wasn’t so bad but then again he wasn’t playing that much.
I tend to agree that he’s been overrated by fans and pundits – he’s very well liked (and very likeable), and I think because of that people overlook the fact he’s not a brilliant defender. He’s good, and better than zinchenko (at defending, to be clear) but he’s also been rinsed plenty of times – he’s no Ashley Cole.
I wouldn’t be unhappy if he stayed as I think he’s a good player, but if he wants to leave to play more matches, I’d let him. If he does stay, I would say that arteta should do more to accommodate him into the side when he plays – no point playing him in zinchenko’ s role he can’t do it very well imo. Just switch it up, ask the left CM to stay back and the left winger to tuck in, or get Tierney to stay back with the defenders and let others go forwards – something like that
@ Lenohappy
The 1st reason i say that is because of the injury pronlems both of those players had. A year ‘sabatical’ can do wonders for the body.
Secondly Tierney didn’t fit into the system Arteta was playing. The inverted fullback system is now part of our DNA. Tierney will fit into phase 4 Artetas project which is the inv rightback formation.
We should keep him, he will definitely get minutes in the next campaign. Steve Clarke has used him as a centre back for Scotland, so why couldn’t we do the same and use him in Gabriel’s position, for a new defensive pairing in cup games. I suppose that would mean he stays and fights for his place. He seems a decent lad so hopefully he does just that, we need the numbers to fight on all fronts and he is a top quality player which I hope to see more of, next season. I agree with anyone that says he shouldn’t be on the bench but you can’t just be given the nod to start ‘out of respect’ because you are a top player. No, he needs to earn the right to play by impressing the gaffa during training and performing at 100% when given the opportunity. Selling him to Newcastle would be a mistake as that would strengthen them. I’d rather sell them Holding but I’m not sure they could afford him after Arteta gets him to die his hair dark and change his name by deedpole to Robhinho Holdingio. Then again, one of those Saudi teams would probably hijack the deal, they are buying anyone with two legs at the moment.
Tierney is just a first choice class. He’s unfortunate not to play because in his position only Tomiyasu is better than him because he shut down Sala like he was an amateur.
Zinny is only better when we start pass the ball aimlessly, wasting time even to score.
I’d always be your fan, Tierney
I know many were sub appearances but Tierney played in 36 games last season. Previously it was 24, 38 and 25. I actually think he was managed well and needed a season where he was not being constantly pushed back into the side at the first opportunity after injury. It will do his career a lot of good in the long term who ever he plays for but all we have had from the Scottish press and pundits a pile of nonsense about how badly he has been treated
Tierney and Zinchenko are both quality players but play different rolls. Tierney has never let us down and it was frustrating to see him sit on the bench. Keep we may just regret selling him.
Tierney is more an old fashioned full-back and needs a club that plays a style that requires this type of player. That’s not Arsenal.
This ☝️👏
Tierney has enough quality to compete for LB at the very least.
Zinchenko and Tierney have different skill sets that are needed in different games and situations. Sometimes we need a defender and sometimes we need an extra midfielder.
Managers can’t have a “1 style fits all games” approach. It hurt Wenger in big games like it hurt Arteta as well. Not being flexible hurt them both. Hope he learned some flexibility from Pep with tactics, have to evolve in this game; not adapting hurt Wenger in the end.
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Zinchenko has been interesting in some matches, as he regularly switches from left back to midfield. It works fine against teams with limited firepower on the right wing. But it’s a disaster against the other teams: Bernardo Silva/Marhez, Antony, Bowen,… they just use the space he leaves and they destroyed him.
And I am also not really convinced by his pure attacking qualities.
Tierney is a far better defender, and offensively, when he is confident, he can be devastatingly fast. But he exclusively stays on the left flank: he doesn’t help the midfield and this is sometimes an issue.
It means both players are necessary, depending on the opposition.
Tierney should stay, but Arteta needs to better manage him, emphasise his qualities and select either him or Zinchenko based on the qualities of the opponents.
Yeah, so we sell Tierney and have Zinchenko and Nuno Tavares as our left defensive options? Are you kidding me right now? Both of them are mediocre defenders AT BEST. Am not even convinced Zinchenko should be a defender in the first place, he is more of a midfielder being forced to defend, something he constantly struggles to do. If he is so good there why was he always at the bench at Man City? Wake up people from this Zinchenko delusion!
It’s not clear what you are ranting about. The setup with Zinchenko at LB was essential to the way Arsenal played last season. We were therefore able to challenge for the PL and returned to the CL for the first time in years.
Hr was saying zinchenko is a terrible defender, many players were essential last season he wasn’t more important than saliba or Ben White, he was very poor at defending and cost us many goals too, he was influential yes and he was a terrible defender
We need to keep kieran tierney and play him in every game he is the best defender Arsenal have
I am a big fan of Tierney for his abilities and his character, which has been well referred to by my fellow Gunners here in.
For what is best for him, i am fine with whether he stays or goes to a team that values him…as long as Ziny doesn’t play defence; he will cost us many games with his silly blunders.
I think Tierney should stay put, Arsenal is set up with a lot of competitive games ahead and will need every firing calendar to be up and ready to blast. Tierney Is one of those players Arsenal can not afford to part with. We came short of lifting the cup due to lack of squad depth.
Tierney is a good FB and would be a perfect back up