There was a significant debate about who would replace injured Riccardo Calafiori at left back in the match against Liverpool.
Like me, you probably expected either Oleksander Zinchenko or Myles Lewis Skelly to start there. Well, neither did; it was Jurrien Timber who played left-back.
This suggests that Zinchenko’s time at Arsenal may be nearing its conclusion. Against the Reds, Myles Lewis Skelly got a chance to feature, coming on in the 76th minute for Jurrien Timber, who couldn’t continue due to some discomfort he felt. Two games in a row, the Arteta and his technical bench have chosen to sub on Myles Lewis Skelly over Zinny, indicating that the teenager is ahead of Zinny in the perking order.
Zinchenko should have played against Liverpool, even if he didn’t start. Yes, he’s got his defensive weaknesses; his experience and ability to influence ball retention should have counted for something, but it certainly isn’t anymore.
The Gunners went into the Arsenal versus Liverpool fixture without 3 defenders: Riccardo Calafiori, William Saliba, and Takehiro Tomiyasu. However, Arteta intentionally played Thomas Partey, White, and Timber out of position to avoid playing Zinchenko.
It’s also important to note that Gabriel and Timber didn’t finish the game due to injuries, but Zinchenko still wasn’t introduced, which might just suggest that, like Kieran Tierney, Zinny’s fate at Arsenal is sealed.
Daniel O
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Zinny is a nice guy, but an absolute wretched defender. If he’s not good enough to just play the 8 or 10 as backup CM, he has no place om the team.
I’m surprised he hasn’t been tried as the backup No 10 since Odegaard has been out. Seems like the perfect position for him as he plays that for his country
Here’s hoping.
That’s not nice
Every RW Zinny has faced in the last 18 months has skinned him alive. What’s not nice is watching Leon Bailey turn Zinny inside out and score on us.
Gunsmoke,
Nice guys don’t win. 🤣
I hope so. We know his strengths and weaknesses. Time to move on.
Zinny should be played in midfield! He has the qualities to succeed there… good dribbling, passing, vision and can do some basic tackling. His weakness is defending and putting him at LB is setting him up for failure. I would like to see him play midweek in midfield, rest Rice/Merino. With someone behind Vinny to cover him he can show his strengths.
I suspect that he’ll be one of a few players (th likes of Tierney, and probably Jesus, for example) that Arsenal will be looking to offload in the summer if they can.
*the