What a boost Jurrien Timber has provided to Arsenal’s ambitions to win the Premier League and even the Champions League. Having missed his first season with Arsenal due to an ACL injury, everyone was eager to see how he would bounce back from the setback.
Well, he has performed admirably either as a left-back or right-back. He’s slowly securing his place in the Arsenal squad. Though he missed the most recent game against Southampton, everyone seemed to believe he has taken over the right-back position after excelling in it since Arsenal’s 2-2 draw with Manchester City.
Fans of Ben White are worried that he might lose his position to Timber. Intriguingly, Bukayo Saka has revealed why Timber could have been his ideal partner on the right side all along.
The Englishman believes that playing with the Dutch international is easier due to his skill with the ball at his feet, his superiority in one-on-one situations, and his ability to easily win the ball back, which instills confidence in him and adds tranquillity to that wing.
Saka said about Timber: “He gave me a lot of confidence that when he’s one vs. one with an attacker, he’s going to win the ball back and give it to me. On the ball, he’s so composed, so calm, and confident. He’s a top player.”
Fans believe tiny margins saw Arsenal miss out on the 2023-24 Premier League title fight by two points; Timber may have made a difference last season. His contributions could have helped Arsenal avoid several defeats or even win more.
Either way, that’s history; let’s hope he continues to impress and maintains his fitness, and we’ll see whether he’s one of the differencemakers in the Gunners’ title charge.
Daniel O
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Timber has brought competition and depth to the team, and like White, he can play in more than one position. All of which bodes well for our title aspirations. It’s the way of football, if you lose your place to injury and your replacement plays well, you have to be patient. Of course, there will always be exceptions, I would expect Odegaard to come straight back in of course. The bottom line is that Ben has serious competition now.
Ben has been in our top 5 players two seasons in a row since moving too Rb. His antics on corners alone have won us games. It would be unfair for Ben not get his spot back seen as its been rumoured he was injured at the back end of last season and played through the pain. Timber will get plenty of game time regardless either at left back or hopefully trailed at dm.
But Liam remember the plan is to have hybrid fullback that can invert, and Timber is miles ahead of White. Furthermore, we are not using the same corner kick antics as last season, so White isn’t that important in this context. I think Timber is technically and all round a better player than White
Dino
I agree with you about Timber, and he is a better technical option than White at RB.
White is a fantastic player, but Timber is simply a more physical defender, more pace, and better with the ball.
I agree with Liam about “plenty of game time,” but currently that applies to White not Timber.
Liam
Good points you make, but “fair” has nothing to do with anything. Would it be “fair” to drop Timber who has not set a foot wrong? Or “fair” to give White his spot back because he was here first?
Would it be “fair” to drop Trossard (like in the past) if Jesus finally gets his fitness back?
The point is the team first, and right now we are playing better with Timber at RB than White. There are plenty of games left, plenty of opportunities to outperform and win back that starting spot.
Personally I think White complements Saka better than Timber because he’s more of an overlapping fullback. Timber on the other hand is better at one on one defending. Timber is a better dribbler and ball carrier whereas White is the better passer. I think it will a case of horses for courses. Neither of them is at peak fitness so sharing minutes will be great.
I believe it’s about who plays the right 8, Timber plays well with Harvetz dropping to the right 8 and Saka tucking in. If it’s Ordegaard, White overlaps and it works But the good thing is that we have a variety of tactical options.
I think White will come back into the team and we will improve defensively I don’t think it’s a coincidence that we’ve been leaking chances since we’ve been bedding in two new defenders I would say the argument is more should Timber play at left back when we have big opponents because Timer one v one is strong Calafiori looks talented but I think he needs more time with our backline and he’ll get better
Isn’t it the case that we have been craving a more accomplished squad? How many times have we moaned about the lack of depth in the team? I have no doubt that there is room for both White and Timber and at last, Arteta is in a position to rotate and when injuries occur, is more able to have players available who are known to be adaptable
SueP
wonderfully stated, and the crux of the dilemma for many fans.
We finally have quality depth and options, and some may complain because their favorite player is no longer starting.
Competition naturally comes with quality additions, so we can’t have it both ways. If we want quality, then others will have reduced game time and starts. If we want depth, we many not have the horses to compete with the best.
My thinking is that if we play 50 games, that is 100 selections for 2 fullback positions. 30 games each for Timber, Calafiori, and White, and the last 8 or 10 to test MLS in the fullback spot.
On a competitive team, 30 starts is good; it keeps players fresh, healthy, and hungry when they do get an opportunity. The competition keeps everyone sharp, and a perfect scenario for our club.
I’m sure Arteta thinks the same way, hence 3 FB’s to rotate with those 2 positions is perfect for a competitive team.
Not to mention Partey, Rice, and Merino competing for those 2 spots, and ideally Saka, Trossard, and Martinelli competing for the winger positions.
Perfectly put Durand
30 starts plus 10+ more sub appearances and everyone is happy.
Maybe once everyone is fit it also means eg Zinch and White can also play in midfield as they play most games there anyway. !
Great thing is the versatility of most players now at the Club
I think we’ve been at our best defensively with white at RB and timber lb, but that could change as calafiori beds in. Of the three, imo timber is the best overall defender and has some useful attributes for attacking. Calafiori appears to be the best individual going forwards and is a very good individual defender, good in duels, but positionally hasn’t always been spot on with our other defenders. White is well balanced – makes some key passes in attack and doesn’t make many mistakes in defence. Nice problem to have – three great options.
Tomi is another excellent fullback – not far from timber defensively at all imo, probably better in some areas, but not quite as good on the ball.
Timber was bought to play RB but circumstances led to White playing RB all last season. That doesn’t mean White wont play RB and Timber will. It means that both are capable of playing a few positions. Timber was bought to be our RB, White was bought as a CD. But both are versatile.
But white was the RB before timber was signed, and he was one of our best players in the prior season from that position. Our weak point in the team was lb, and that’s where timber started the first couple of games before he got injured. If timber was intended to take over at RB, who was intended to be our lb last season? We were going to bank on zinchenko (a clear weak link for some games) and leave white (probably our most consistently good player at that time) out of the team? Doesn’t make sense to me.
Timber was signed as a RB, he was not signed as a LB. He has only started there as cover. Artetas intention was to play White back min his C B role. Not my opinion it is fact. We tried to sign a LB but it never materialised. And yes Zinchenko was our LB.
And Timber is a better RB than White.