Former Chelsea man warns Jurrien Timber about his versatility

LONDON, ENGLAND - AUGUST 06: Jurrien Timber of Arsenal celebrates following the team's victory after the penalty shootout during The FA Community Shield match between Manchester City against Arsenal at Wembley Stadium on August 06, 2023 in London, England. (Photo by Shaun Botterill/Getty Images)

Arsenal appears to prioritise versatility as a crucial trait when signing players, particularly defenders. This was a significant factor in their decision to acquire Jurrien Timber and Takehiro Tomiyasu.

Timber joined the Gunners after excelling in multiple positions, including centre-back, right-back, and left-back, during his time at Ajax. He has proven to be a valuable asset for Arsenal.

He has started several games on the left side of defence and played as a right-back in their most recent match against PSG. The defender is enjoying his time at the Emirates, benefiting from substantial game time under Mikel Arteta. However, he has now been cautioned that being versatile might not always be advantageous.

Former Chelsea man Khalid Boulahrouz has been following the defender’s career, and after watching him as a right-back last night, he told Voetbal Primeur:

“Of course, he is coming back from a serious injury.

“Then you are very humble and happy that you are in the starting line-up at such a great club. You enjoy that. But is it good for the rest of your career? No.

“Is it good to be versatile? It can be an option every now and then. If he were to play right back, that’s closer to his nature, but left back… No, that’s not what you were brought in for. You played centrally and you deserved it.”

Just Arsenal Opinion

Being versatile gives Timber a chance to play in so many roles, so he would almost always have matches to play.

Every player wants to be on the pitch in every match, so Timber will not worry about what Boulahrouz has to say.


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Tags Jurrien Timber Khalid Boulahrouz

15 Comments

    1. Janick Seiler,

      Although Timbers played at left back, I don’t agree that he was brought there to play at left back.

      When you look at the players that can play left back you can call on 6 players. And at right back its 3.

      And just my opinion, but Timber looks far more affective as right back, which in turn must be giving White pause for thought.

      1. “When you look at the players that can play left back you can call on 6 players. And at right back its 3.”
        When he joined, though, we had white doing well at RB, but didn’t have a convincing lb – zinchenko fluctuated between excellent and a defensive liability, tomiyasu was good but frequently injured, and kiwior was only ever used in emergencies – very much the same situation as we have now wrt those three. The only difference is that we’ve since bought calafiori, who won’t have been in the thinking when timber signed. It makes much more sense that timber was bought mainly to play lb last season as the other defensive positions were well filled.

        1. In truth, Timber was brought in with an eye for his ability to play all the way across the back line.

          LB is a position that has been an issue for a few seasons already, so he was a great purchase to cover/bolster that role last season, that is true. But he wasn’t bought to be the final piece of the puzzle there. Calafiori may not have been specifically on the radar at that time, also true, but he does fit the profile Arteta wants there extremely well, so if it wasn’t literally him, it would have been a player very much like him. Someone who can cover at least two positions at the level we need.

          If we go back to the end of the season before last, we needed quality rotation/injury options right across the back line. As we take on the CL and the EPL, we still could still add another versatile player like Timber, given the availability issues we sometimes have there. It’s a cost effective way of getting coverage.

          Arteta’s goal in building Arsenal’s team has always been to have top-quality backup options for every single position. So Timber’s acquisition was a great win for us since he can cover any role there to close to a world-class standard. And since the club can’t just go buy every player Arteta would love to have in one window!

          1. I agree with you – I do think timber was bought to play the lb role initially, though. His versatility was touted from the start, suggesting that wasn’t always meant to be the case.

  1. It’s an interesting thought, but it seems to me that Arteta wants versatility in his ranks and I can’t see much wrong with that idea. Timber came off and Calafiori moved over. Odegaard is injured and Trossard filled his shoes very well indeed. In this day and age, is being a one trick pony the right way forward?

    1. Another spot-on assessment, SueP.

      It’s unrealistic for any club to obtain and hold onto two world-class specialists for every position. Players get poached, go out of form, or get injured. A great team structure these days means having versatile players, because a manager aiming for consistent success needs the flexibility to quickly adjust for circumstances. Timber is an ideal player for us (or really any top team…) because he’s so good right across the back line, and can fill in wherever needed.

  2. I do agree that it’s good to have versatile players in the squad. Which is sometimes needed to cover certain positions throughout a season.

    But that said, there are benefits for a player to play in his preferred position more often than not. For one thing they would give more consistent performances. Sometimes when your being asked to play out of your preferred position, the consistency of performance can suffer.

    And just another example of that, is when a manager signs a player after seeing him perform in a certain position, and then plays them in a completely different position, and then wonders why they don’t perform to the same levels as before.

    Sometimes it’s frustrating, because if for example if you want a right back, why not do something radical, and actually go out and buy one.

    Anyone else agree.

    1. I do agree Derek

      In terms of playing in their preferred position, that makes a lot of sense but combine that with having another string to their bow makes the player able to adapt tactically and if an injury occurs

      A footnote to your point about being bought as a midfielder and then being put up front for example, does have a few notable successes

  3. I think the only negative about being versatile is that you may often find yourself not starting and on the bench as cover for various positions.

  4. The modern game has become very fluid and players occupy different parts of the pitch within the same match making versatility a strength. It’s not like the past where plays were glued to the same area of the pitch. Even goalkeepers now roam about.

    Rather than thinking of players in terms of position,most coaches now think of players in terms of role. A player plays a particular role within various areas. For instance,White and Timber may play same position but perform different roles. Haaland performs different roles to Havertz despite occupying same position. Similarly Rice at 6 and Partey at 6 perform different roles.

    That said,I think it’s important for the spine of the team to be less versatile and have clear roles. Think of City. They have a spine of Gk-CB-DM-St that hardly changes when fit. The rest are versatile and keep changing to adapt to opponents.

    1. Great points, totally agree. Bringing in top notch, versatile players like Timber or Calafiori is critical to any top team these days, but certainly can’t come at the expense of disrupting a first team’s rhythms – you need that perfectly functioning core to win the top trophies. Arteta has a job on his hands there with more and more excellent players, but lately he’s managing it very well.

  5. Being versatile is good for in-game management as our players take up different roles depending on the phase It is why we are a difficult team to read as we can play defensive or we can play possession or we can play counter or we can play press We are a Swiss army knife playing multiple ways

  6. I don’t know if anyone else agrees,

    Having read some of the comments regarding Timber being brought in to cover all across the back, Looking at him at left back he was okay, but at right back he’s been superb.

    I think that Timber will be giving a certain Mr. White paws for thought.

    What do you think.

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