Kieran Tierney lost his first-team place to Oleksandr Zinchenko at Arsenal last season and fought hard to get it back, but failed.
The Scotsman is still being tipped to leave the Emirates this summer, but he appears ready to keep fighting to regain the spot.
Zinchenko has been one of the finest Arsenal signings in recent times and seems to offer exactly what Mikel Arteta wants from his left-back.
This makes it very hard for Tierney to get chances and former Aston Villa man Alan Hutton believes the defender is now just a squad member at Arsenal.
He said to Football Insider:
“Unfortunately, I think he will be a squad player.
“I think Zinchenko is number one and it is up to Tierney to dislodge him. Does he have the potential to do it? Absolutely.
“I think he is a brilliant footballer who gives you everything. The problem for him at Arsenal is that the way they play does not suit Tierney’s strengths.”
Just Arsenal Opinion
Tierney is a fine player, but we all know Zinchenko is special and performs better in certain aspects of the game than Tierney.
The Ukrainian will keep his place in the team this season, making it difficult for Tierney to get more game time he no doubt desires.
Presently I will go for Timber has our left back defender, I luv the energy he put in his game
The energy of timber is too much the guy is dope it’s our best singing this season
Arsenal should keep Tierney he’s a solid reliable player.
Zinchenko who fits better than Tierney into Arteta’s plans, but he is unfortunately injury prone. And therefore could still miss many games for Arsenal this season if he regular injury picking does not abate to allow regular games playing for Arsenal.
This means Tierney who was at one time was regularly falling to injury picking but is now looking to have stopped. Should be retained this summer by Arteta as a different option to the options Zinchenko and Timber give him in games in his team right back position.
With the performance of Timber against City in the Community Shield game, and with Kiwior and Tomiyasu available as additional options on that left defense, I wouldn’t be surprised if Tierney were to be on the way out the Emirates door this summer. His performance after coming on from the bench didn’t do his cause any much favor either.
The problem for Arsenal, Tierney is every thing a fan wants to see in a player who represents the club and passion, unwavering determination and accountability.
The Scottish sports all three in abundance, the emotional connection, one I feel very strongly myself, but he needs to be playing more often to keep ring rust away.
Agree timber had one good game, see how is after 10 or 15 and we are under the cosh, this is where Tierney beats zinchenko and others hands down. Matinelli is doing twice work rate covering zinchenko and being double teamed but Tierney alleviates this. How many goals conceded last season because left hand side left exposed forcing Gabriel over without saliba to cover middle last few games wher we lost league
No surprise to see him starting to drop in morale and performances after it’s been made very clear he’s not in the plans.
There is only so much you can take PJ as you say and you cannot be sharp and match fit it you do not play.As for playing Timber at LB, brilliant in defence but will not contribute much going forward and this will have knock on effect on Rice and Martinelli and will reduce the number of chances created from the left flank.Timber is a terrific defender who is not only excellent at RB and CB but I am sure would be very dominant as a DM.Our best buy for some time and I can fully appreciate why the Man Utd Manager was depressed at his failure to get him last season.
I think you’ll find timber is very good at attacking as well – it just depends whether he will get much licence to run forward with the tactical setup we play. He has quick feet, is a decent passer (not unlike white, I think) and can even shoot reasonably well.
It seems right-footed LBs will be effective against left-footed RWs as seen in Timber and Tomiyasu, Kiwior, though left-footed might have an edge because of his strength.
Davi I also think Tierney is a favourite for some of our fans and as such it’s a bit hard for them to acknowledge his deficiencies/shortcomings.We all have our favourites and sometimes it creates a bias because we minimize the faults of our favourite players and exaggerate the weaknesses of the players we don’t fancy.For instance,claiming that Tierney is not sharp or match fit because he’s not been given minutes is just false. Of all the players who have played at LB in preseason,Tierney cumulatively has the most minutes. If Zinchenko was beat by Palmer in the way Tierney was, we’d have heard how awful he is defensively. I think it was a bit similar to what Trent did to Zinchenko against Liverpool.But because it’s Tierney,excuses will be made. Tierney is a good LB,but unfortunately he just doesn’t suit the way Mikel wants to play . He’s not as dynamic and secure on the ball like White ,Zinchenko and Timber.
I’ve heard people say Martinelli was not effective because he wasn’t supported by Timber and/or Rice but is that really true? There were many instances where Rice or Timber passed the ball to Martinelli only for him to lose it. I think Martinelli is just lacking in fitness or out of form – his awful set piece deliveries also point to this. I expect Martinelli to do better with game time.
Yes, I think you’re completely correct – I don’t want to harp on people having biases towards their favourite players, because people in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones, and I’m prone to making excuses for players I like as much as anyone.
I don’t think martinelli looked off his normal game, I just think walker did well against him. GM is often reliant on his pace to beat defenders, and that weapon is removed against walker. I think GM should work on his movement so he can receive the ball more often in dangerous positions – I think this is why trossard is sometimes more effective, and it’s maybe an area GM still needs to improve on (not that he’s bad in that respect, but against city, everything needs to be at a higher level).
I probably missed a few of his set pieces, but I was surprised to see him taking them – I can only think he’s shown he’s capable of playing good crosses from dead balls in training. Might be that he’ll get better in future matches.
Tierney actually slipped on the surface and was not beaten by Palmer who was not engaged by Gabriel, who stood with his arms behind his back when he ought to have bust a gut to try to block the wingers shot.
I just watched it back. I don’t think the slip mattered, nor do I think it was Gabriel’s fault particularly (it happened far too quickly for him to be able to react effectively imo). Tierney had an opportunity to clear, but couldn’t do so effectively because he was being pulled in different directions. Basically city has a major overload on the left, which gave Tierney too many jobs to try to do at once – I can’t blame him too much for the goal.
The reason they scored was because of the tactical changes by guardiola, and our shape wasn’t set up to stop them in that instance. The most at fault from our side was partey for being turned too easily in the build up, next was Tierney because he could have cleared more effectively, but he was put under a lot of pressure on that situation.
Akanji’s overlapping run had Tierney and Gabriel looking to their lefts, which allowed the space for the city player to shoot
Tierney looks a shadow, he needs a move. He isn’t going to make it under the present set up.