Is it time to replace Tierney? by Jonbo
I seem a little obsessed with injuries at the moment, given this is my third article on the subject in just over a couple of weeks or so. I promise, it’ll be something different next time.
I stand by the fact that injuries derailed our top 4 hopes, but when it came to Kieran Tierney, Arteta could have been better prepared for any possible injuries, because we are all aware of his injury record. Arteta did recognise this as an area that needed strengthening, but it was too much of a gamble with the inexperienced Tavares.
Tierney has spent three seasons at Arsenal and has only managed an average of 29 games per season across all competitions, and only an average of 21 games per season in the league. He has only appeared in over 25 league games in one of those seasons, his maximum being only 27. He wouldn’t have even been fully fit in all of those games either, given it takes a few matches to get match fit again.
I absolutely love Tierney! Quality player, the right attitude, work rate, strong mentality, and captain material. We are so much weaker without him. But it doesn’t matter how good you are if you’re rarely available.
I am one for patience. You don’t just dump a quality player after an injury or two, but the situation does need looking at after two seasons if it has been a continuous issue. We are now into our third season of Tierney’s injury problems. We simply cannot go into another season relying on him as our first choice LB anymore.
Given Tierney’s appearance record, and the fact we’ll have a lot more games next season with European football once again. Tavares could easily end up playing more than 25 games next season… and that worries me! So even more reason to sign a new LB.
I have always criticised Wenger for not dealing with injuries, so the same rule must be applied to Arteta. Wenger stuck by so many injury-prone players that it became farcical in the end! And who suffered? The club and its fans. If it’s some injuries early on, you have to be fair and patient, but if it keeps happening, then you cannot keep dishing out contracts to these players, and refusing to adequately replace them.
Like I have stated, I love Tierney, but it doesn’t matter how good a player is, if they’re rarely available they’re not much use.
Arsenal MUST sign a new LB this summer.
Jonbo
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Meant for ur pocket.
Arteta needs to rotate to build confidence and experience. His mismanagement of both sambi and taveres cost us in the end. Don’t forget, they both started the season quite well (unexpectedly well). They then rotted on the bench until they were needed and once they had their chance, they folded. Why not periodically rotate (especially in games you can afford to)? It keeps people honest competing for spots and also helps keep the next man up ready and focused. We can’t afford to write off sambi or taveres. They CAN come good. Hopefully Europe will force arteta to improve in this field but you can’t play the same 11 every match and expect your bench to step up out of nowhere
White has to be the weakest of our defenders physically speaking.
Arsenal’s loss from the top 4 is in my view attributable to the defense. White has the right temperament and no-nonsense attitude and will earn a red card which is ok by me.
Tierney and Gabriel and TomTomiyasu are not strong defenders. Take a look at the defense of Liverpool!!!.
We need to invest in the defense and NOT keep hoping and shopping for strikers. What use is it where we are pushed to the back and have no use for the strikers? This incidentally is usually the case, The strikers stay all by themselves as lone wolves. I fear the sought highly prized forwards may not suit the Arteta pattern of play and will get underutilized and frustrated.
Oof. Your description of White’s temperament would be a much better fit for Gabriel. Some of the interceptions and tackles Tomiyasu has made this season are the sort that make you think of the best defenders of recent memory. I can’t think of anything like that from white, some good recovery runs, perhaps.
White is the least talented of the four defensively, imo, and is the most easily beaten in 1v1s, which is not good for a centre back, especially one with some pace. He’s not awful at all, and I do rate his ability with the ball, but he’d probably be the easiest one to replace.
“obsessed” lol, especially considering some of your “inclinations”
as for Tierney, on his best day he’s a beast, unfortunately his best days are few and far between, as he can’t seem to handle the rigors that come with playing both sides of the ball…as such, he went from a guy wreaking havoc on the wings, to someone who became known more for his improved defensive play, but rarely did we see both on display on any given evening
the real problem is that we can’t afford to repeat the financial mistakes of the past, like we did with Leno and others, by actively searching for his replacement before he’s been sold on to the highest possible bidder…based on our recent history, this sort of savviness isn’t in our organizational tool box, so it does worry me that we’ll sh** the proverbial bed once again
Well said Thirdman
Been saying this for the last 18 months .
Cheers DK…it’s like the whole FF gig, as it only seems to exist if it comes out of their respective mouths…I hate even mentioning FF by name as it reminds me of some sort of Candyman horror gig(lol)
So went through the archives
And realised that FF as had about 5 different names ,his original name was David ,then went through a few different ones then Wyoming now FcKF
Thirdmans on his second AKA Jonbo (lol)
DK, who’s FF?
nice one Ken
Dan kit is wrong on that one, but he seems obsessed with thinking I am someone else. Maybe you should join CNN Dan? You’d make a good addition to their wild conspiracy theories!
I remember FF (Wyoming at the time),posting a comment in which he complained and blamed others for having to change his username(once again).
i could be wrong but if you take Tomi ,TP, Tierney…even White it looks like a matter of players being rushed back from injuries,which again goes back to a lack of depth and quality.
Yeah that’s a fair point
Why were they rushed back?
Perhaps selling Chambers and loaning out AMN, Mari, Saliba, Bellerin had something to do with it?
As for Tierney – of course we need cover and it seems MA is, belatedly, trying to solve this problem… after spending over £100,000,000 on his defence.
How I wish we could move on from AW though – it seems those who hounded him day after day, still use him as a yardstick for comparisons eh Jonbo, Loose Cannon, Goonster to name just a few. 🤔🤔🤔
When it came to Wenger, he was our best and one of worst managers all rolled into one. Legend, but one of the strangest legends.
But why keep bringing him into all your articles?
Of course, Jonbo, I should have realised that you weren’t on JA during the Wenger days, I should have said TMJW.
As for conspiracy theories, dear old Fox News and Donald Trump must surely take the biscuit, as they kept on and on about a rigged election…. OH and TMJW for believing that covid wasn’t as serious as the flu epidemic.
I love Tierney but he is full of injury,if arteta can bring in another player to backup him it will be much better aleast two in that position it will be much better.and Tavares need to be loan out to gain experience.
Arteta’s lack of rotation is what killed us, it does 3 things:
– over plays starting 11 causing injuries
– bench players drained of confidence
– overall team morale is gone if bench is unhappy
There’s been many games where we were cruising where we could of brought of Lokonga/Tavares to get some game time in a low pressure game but MA simply refused. He only plays them when he absolutely has to and pressure is on big time which is poor management.
@Jonbo you don’t see this as an issue?
🎯
MA cannot complain about the drop in quality from starters to subs since Cédric,Tavares,Lonkoga…are his signings.as NY Gunner would say IJS!!
Fully agree, need to supplement Tierney with another quality LB.
Same argument applies to Partey also
I love Tierney too. Certainly we need better reinforcements. I also believe that Tierney, TP and Tomi need to be handled differently to other players, training needs to tailored better, maybe less is more in their cases, idk.
I doubt that Tavares will ever make the grade, in fact, I believe he never should’ve been invested upon. Great physical qualities but he’s not a player, can he play ball, I don’t see it.
I doubt that MA is going to give up on him after one season.his first season in a new league,new country…. it would also means that he got it wrong when recruiting/signing him.
Speaking of injuries but I read that Arsenal have confirmed that Shad Forsythe, the head of performance, will leave the club this summer after eight years of service.i don’t know if it is good or bad news.it also means that MA has the chance to hire a top candidate to replace him which can only be a positive.
I don’t think we need a replacement, if we did what many teams are doing and switch to a back 3. Without anymore signings this would be my line up, obviously some new signings will change everything
Ramsdale
Tomiyasu Saliba Gabriel
White Odegaard Partey Tierney
Saka SmithRowe Martinelli
Turner
Ballard Holding Trusty
AMN Xhaka Elneny Tavares
Nelson Nketiah Balogun
Runarrsson, Cedric, Sambi, make up the 25 Arteta said he wants.
Obviously I am assuming Leno, Bellerin, Mari, Pepe, Torreira will be sold.
Jonbo is simply being a realist when saying he loves Tierney but as he is so often unfit, we need a proper cover. And TAVARES IS NOT A FULL BACK AT ALL IMO!
That injury situation, with any player who is not often fit being little better than useless, ought to be obvious to everyone but to some it seems not to be.
We only need a defensive midfielder in the park and Bissouma is the ideal option there is.Partey can do the B2B role given his transitions.We only see how weak the defenders are because of how exposed they get.