Arsenal’s priority is a left back and not a striker?
It’s being reported that Arsenal have turned their priorities from striker to left back in the January transfer window and although I think we should be trying to invest into the attack, left back has been somewhat of an issue this season. With FFP following clubs closely, Arsenal will be trying to find a solution that suits everyone.
Oleksandr Zinchenko has started the season at Left Back, being Arteta’s number one starting choice for left back for a while, playing an inverted full back role, he looked to pick up where he left off last season and looked to be in great form. But as the season has progressed, he’s started to be a bit more inconsistent and hasn’t looked at is best for a while and appears to be the main target for opposing strikers.
Takehiro Tomiyasu didn’t start the season off getting a lot of minutes but as Zinchenko’s performances started to decline, Arteta looked to Tomiyasu to step up and that’s exactly what he did. Playing the inverted full-back role also, but brought a bit more to the role than Zinchenko had, making his way into the midfield a lot. He was more of an attacking threat going forward and before he picked up an injury, was in great form, getting assists and helping the squad push forward and looked dangerous on the counter.
But both Zinchenko and Tomiyasu have had injury issues this season that has seen them miss out on a lot of important football, and although we do have Jakub Kiwior to possibly step in if necessary, making a left back a priority does make a lot of sense to me.
Kiwior is a good defender but hasn’t looked to be a starter for Arteta and I don’t really see that changing, and maybe if the left-back role wasn’t so up in the air, he would probably be gone by now, so as much as you can rely on him to step in, I don’t think he’s ideally what Arteta wants.
Due to FFP, it’s reported that we won’t be spending big in the January window and will be looking for loan options instead, which I don’t think is a bad idea at all. Wait until the summer to make any big decisions with defence or midfield and hopefully bring in someone good enough to fill the left-back shoes, and hopefully help push this Arsenal squad to silverware in the second half of the season.
It shouldn’t be too hard to find a player willing to come on loan but because it’s January, the options will always be somewhat slim and finding a good enough player who is willing to be loaned out in January is hard, but considering how well we could do this season, it’s an attractive project to join.
No real solid names have been thrown about yet so only time will tell.
What’s your thoughts Gooners? Should LB be our priority?
Daisy Mae
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