Does the sale of Tierney signal a change of tactics for Arsenal next season?

It seems that there will be a lot of changes as far as the Arsenal defence is concerned before next season. There’s speculation about Kieran Tierney leaving and a new centre-back and a right-back being signed. There’s so much we can learn from these transfer speculations.

One thing that comes out clearly is that there may be a hole at the left back (there are no links to any left backs yet). One may ask why Arteta would want to risk not having another reliable left-back option other than Zinchenko, and what happens if the Ukrainian is injured, as he has been quite a few times in the campaign just ended.

I feel Arteta may offer Takehiro Tomiyasu a new role at left back. Tomiyasu is supposed to be Arsenal’s right back, but with another top right back to be signed, he loses favour in that position; the new right back and Ben White may be Arteta’s options there.

If moved to the left, Tomiyasu may shine there. His versatility and defensive alertness may help him compete with Zinchenko. The Japanese international played well at left back last season against Leeds, Liverpool, and Sporting Lisbon.

Lest we forget, he once admitted that he is ready to play in any position to help the team: “When I was in Japan, I used to play as a number six; I started playing as a full back three or four years ago in Bologna.”

“But it doesn’t matter where I play. I’m happy to play anywhere on the pitch, as long as I help.”

This would certainly be a great help if he can easily make the switch, as it would free up any proceeds from the Tierney sale to go to towards more pressing needs.

Do you think not signing a Tierney replacement means we are going to see Arteta changing his tactical setup ahead of the new campaign?


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Tags Takehiro Tomiyasu tierney

10 Comments

  1. Romano said Arsenal are ahead of other clubs at approaching Rice. If we manage to sign him, I suspect Arteta would instruct him to play as Stones does for Man City

    Romano also said Arsenal haven’t made any contact with Sacha Boey’s agent. I also suspect all rumors about the fullbacks tied with us, such as Fresneda, are false

    The best two EPL teams played without conventional fullback and Man City would most likely become a treble winner with that tactic, so I don’t think Arteta would change the 3-2-4-1 formation

  2. Is this a follow up to yesterday’s article on Tomi who may be out of action until October apparently? As I suggested yesterday Kwior is likely to be used as a back up for Zinchenko in the inverted LB role in the event of our best left back being sold.

    1. I think that’s one of the reasons we signed kiwior (who I’ve been extremely impressed by, despite his one blunder) – versatility. Don’t think it’s ideal for him to be our second left back, though – I imagine we’d want him to be third choice in that position, behind another who’s more conformable going forwards, or to be used as a defensive alternative for specific games (as Tomi was vs Liverpool)

  3. For me, Tomi’s Arsenal career is over. He’s had two seasons with us, and has been constantly injured, with no guarantee he’ll even be fit for the start of next season.

    Love the guy, but we’d be crazy to rely on him on next season.

    One could even argue that his injury this season cost us the title. With Saliba missing the crucial run-in, the natural move would have seen White at CB, and Tomi at RB, or vice-versa given the versatility of both. Instead, we had to rely on Holding and Kiwior, as we saw our defence collapse.

  4. After hearing the worrying news about Tomiyasu yesterday, I too have serious doubts about his future. Players have recovered from such injuries and come back stronger, but it is not a good omen that poor Tomi has suffered regularly from injuries. Of course Kieran has also had his fair share of injuries but nothing as serious as Tomi’s. I feel even more strongly now than ever that KT shoud not be sold, and should get much more playing time. Unfortunately it seems like MA just doesn’t fancy him, and because of what seems an obsessive desire to play with the “inverted” LB system, Kieran has probably lost out.

  5. Injuries caused misfortunes for any team, hence I would like Arsenal to have a backup for each position. To sum it up, a big squad is a must-have to get to challenge what the league throws at you.

  6. Well Kiwior was playing there for the last two games, playing a more defensive game than Zinchenko but with Partey as a more attacking right back. This is a great option as it increases squad competition and makes us less predictable

  7. This post by Admin Pat has only provided more information to support the retention of Keiran Teirney and the stupidity of selling him.

  8. I would rather keep every players that played this season into next season. Why do we need to sell?

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