Former Arsenal man Mikael Silvestre believes it is an impossible task for Kieran Tierney to displace Oleksandr Zinchenko as Arsenal’s first-choice left-back.
The Ukrainian joined the club in the summer from Manchester City and has been one of its best players, forcing Tierney to spend time on the bench.
Tierney remains a quality player and probably one of the best in his position in the league, but he is struggling to get the game time he needs.
Ideally, if he works hard enough, he should regain his place in the starting XI, but it is a battle that Silvestre believes he has lost already.
The ex-defender said via Glasgow Live:
“Zinchenko is quite a special player. That’s what it is you have to compete with someone else who’s won the Premier League already with City and he’s doing well.
“So, you have to be patient. It doesn’t mean you just let go and wait. You have to prove in training every time that you deserve to play.
“But yes, it is difficult to get Zinchenko out of the team. It is pretty much impossible. That’s what it is, it’s just tough because of that.”
Just Arsenal Opinion
Tierney is a very good left-back and the defender would feel he needs to be in a starting XI every weekend.
However, the reality is that he is not as good as Zinchenko and the Ukrainian performs better in many parts of the pitch when he plays.
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It seems Silvestre is oblivious to the fact that Zinchenko plays central midfield for the Ukraine and always has done.It’s not a competition between Zinchenko and Tierney, but effectively between Tierney and Xhaka.While the latter has had a good season until lately, given his age profile and embarrassing lack of pace, I know where I would hang my coat.Where the man of steel has it over Tierney and indeed every other Arsenal player is that he is very rarely injured.
Crazy to think we were talking about the next captain 3 years ago…
We still need two quality players per position.
Without that the team will be considered thin and 2-3 injuries from disaster.
I totally agree with this.. Especially seeing that we will be playing in the Champions league where, unlike the Europa league , we won’t have much wiggle room to play second string players… Depth is what ultimately separates teams with similar quality in the long run
One big advantage Arsenal has when Zinchenko is in the team, Arsenal becomes more press resistant, he aides greatly when coming out of defense with the ball.
But players like Tierney and Maitland Niles are more difficult to go pass with the ball, Mudryk learned that recently against
Maitland.
Hope we find away to keep those two lads
AMN is miles better than Tierney in 1v1s – he can be incredible at defending those situations. KT is nothing special – I wouldn’t bet on him handling Mudryk tbh (but yes, he’s still better than zinchenko)
Think Maitland Niles only problem is mentoring, just don’t think he has a smart set of peoples in his corner like a Saka.
He’s more athletic than all those you mention above on his day he can be very good, he seems to be naturally talented just needs to hone his skills properly and focus,
This is one player a personal trainer could do a world of good.
I agree with you – my impression is that he’s not been willing to listen, though. If he’d taken the approach that Eddie and Nelson have (they’ve been patient and clearly absorbed a lot from discussions with arteta), I do think AMN could have been good enough for a place in our side.
I completely disagree with those who claim AMN is a good defender. The evidence for my view is that he no longer plays for us, though still being on our books. Plus what I SEE WITH MY OWN EYES.
I say he is sub par and will leave us this coming summer. I certainly hope so and believe so too.
He’s a brilliant 1v1 defender – we’ve seen him completely shut down top dribblers like traore at wolves (when he was looking unstoppable in most games).
I don’t think anyone has said he’s a great defender overall, but he is excellent in that specific area.
Personally I think he has the footballing ability to *become* at least a very good defender, capable of serving a useful role at arsenal, but he’s not been consistent, which suggests something isn’t right mentally.