Jakub Kiwior should definitely play central defence. For the majority of this season, we as fans have been on his case, criticising him for failing to impress at left back, doubting his brilliance, and forgetting that the Pole was signed to play central defence. We forget he is forced to play as the left back due to a lack of options when Zinchenko and Tomiyasu are out. He also plays there, as Gabriel Magalhaes has been so good that Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta is unwilling to rest the Brazilian international, thus opting for him to get game time as a full back.
With that out of the way, obviously Kiwior hasn’t had a good time, with transfer rumours tying him to a departure purportedly because he has failed to get into the Arsenal lineup.
Well, versus Crystal Palace, the ex-Spezia man demonstrated why he should not be disregarded and branded a transfer flop.
He completed 10 of his 10 passes in the 9 minutes he had on the pitch on Saturday after replacing Gabriel, with 5 of them played in the final third.
I don’t know about you, but after the Crystal Palace game, I am confident Jakub Kiwior should play at LCB, where he was signed to feature. In his cameo on Saturday, his passing was perfect (10 out of 10!), and he appeared a lot more composed and solid.
That being said, Kiwior is not a left back, but we currently have the finest LCB in the league, Gabriel, ahead of him, so he simply needs to be patient and continue to impress in the opportunities he gets.
If Arsenal wants to strengthen their central defence, I’d expect them to focus on finding William Saliba’s backup; Gabriel has a capable deputy.
What do you think of Kiwior’s performance?
Sam P
Why do we need a back up for Saliba when we have in White, Tomi and Timber, three natural right sided centre backs?
Am happy to see the rotation from the gaffer in that five nil demolition, with so many players involved.
The only draw back is that the gaffer hand may have been forced, players like Kiwior wouldn’t have gotten a Sniff, yet he perform credible playing his part ensuring a clean sheet.
Was meant to stand alone
I like him, he’s very good, LCB, LB or even possibly LDM, he’s definitely a keeper, that’s to say we keep him, not a goal keeper 😊
He’s not good enough at LB for me, no overlap or interplay, no passing that breaks through the lines, no crossing, doesn’t take players on and not fast enough either. Having said that I don’t think he is supposed to be a LB, so that being considered he does ok there, if he has a future at Arsenal I think it has to be at CB.