Jakub Kiwior had made only four league starts for Arsenal prior to the winter break. He could have easily left or pushed for an exit since many teams were interested in him during the winter transfer window, but he chose not to. He has now made seven starts (out of eight games) since the winter transfer window closed.
Kiwior has established himself as worthy of starting as Arsenal’s traditional left back in recent weeks, so the Polish international can now stop sitting around reading online casino reviews and can simply concentrate on playing his very best football.
Mikel Arteta found himself in a situation where he didn’t have a reliable left-back option in recent matches. Oleksander Zinchenko was injured, and Tomiyasu left for the Asian Games, returning injured. Arteta needed to come up with a solution to the dilemma at left-back. His quick thinking led him to deploy Jakub Kiwior there. Many people were worried that Kiwior couldn’t manage the inverted left back role. And he clearly struggled at first, but Arteta instead asked him to forget the inverted role and play as a regular left defender. Ben White, the right back, took over the inverted role.
With the ex-Spezia man playing as a typical fullback, he found his place in the Arsenal team. And the left wing was back to being dangerous, as it should be, while still being defensively sound, as many had hoped (it could be with Zinchenko). Arsenal became efficient in front of goal. The 24-year-old has established his spot in Arsenal’s starting lineup week after week. There were even concerns about whether Mikel Arteta would drop him after Oleksander Zinchenko returned.
Zinchenko made the matchday squad against Brentford over the weekend, but Arteta did not drop Kiwior for him. This was likewise true on Tuesday night.
I guess the defender has vindicated himself, and he is now gradually proving his worth. According to Polish journalist Piotr Koźmiński, Mikel Arteta in January opted not to approve his exit, with 15-20 clubs interested in signing him.
Koźmiński, as per Transfery.info, discussed the defender’s situation during the winter transfer window. “As far as I can tell, he had about 15, maybe even 20, loan opportunities. It was all about Spain or Italy. There were so many inquiries for him. From the very beginning, Arsenal didn’t agree to it, and we can see now that it worked out for him,” he remarked.
Koźmiński does not mention the squad, but it must be satisfying that Arsenal’s decision-makers consistently make the right decisions.
Given how brilliant our Gunners were against FC Porto, Kiwior’s brilliance played a significant role in their victory and their ability to proceed to the Champions League quarterfinals, and we should feel very relieved that Arteta didn’t let him leave in January….
He is proving his worth with every start. Solid defender, consistent, and we have been putting up clean sheets since he has been playing.
Also, it has helped the team. White inverting on the right side has tweaked our attack, and we seem more solid as a team and especially at the back.
Timber and Kiwior will be battling for that LB spot next year, and either Zinchenko shifted to the midfield rotation or sold because we need the funds in the Summer.
Kiwior is improving every game and is defensively solid. It will be interesting to see what his ceiling is.
There is absolutely no way Arsenal would have sanctioned an exit for Kiwior: that would have been pure madness from a football management perspective.
I mean; he is the closest thing to a Gabriel option; Timber, Zinchenko and Tomiyasu were all unavailable at the time of the January window. so how would anyone in their right senses even contemplate such a decision! Certainly those who look over affairs at Arsenal are smarter than that?
Credit to the defender for all the hard work he puts in to play as a full back which is unusual for him.