Prior to our disappointing third-round encounter with Manchester United, news broke that Riccardo Calafiori would miss the game due to yet another injury setback. The reported muscle injury that kept him out now means he could potentially miss the next couple of games—a disappointing development, to say the least. Even more frustrating is the fact that this is Calafiori’s fourth injury of the campaign. These recurring setbacks have led fans to question the wisdom of signing him last summer, and it’s becoming increasingly difficult to argue against their scepticism.
One of the funniest observations I saw this past weekend, shared by a fan online, was, and I quote: “How good must Bologna’s medical team be if they had Tomiyasu and Calafiori playing regularly.” It’s a humorous take on just how unlucky we’ve been with the pair, but it paints a sobering picture of our current predicament.
For Calafiori in particular, the implications of his injury issues are especially concerning. Brought in as our long-term solution at left-back, his inability to stay fit could force the club to reconsider their stance on the futures of Kieran Tierney and Oleksandr Zinchenko—at least for the remainder of the season. While one of them can and perhaps should be sold this month, selling both in the current window would leave us perilously thin at left-back. If Calafiori’s injury troubles persist, we’d be left with Lewis-Skelly as our only natural option on the left—and even he is originally a midfielder.
Even if the decision to move on from Tierney is set in stone, Arsenal should strongly consider reversing their stance on Zinchenko’s potential sale this month. While he may not elevate the team to another level every time he plays, he would at least provide a reliable option for the rest of the season—a crucial factor given the current uncertainty around Calafiori’s fitness.
What do you think, Gooners? Should Arsenal rethink their plans for Zinchenko in light of Calafiori’s injury struggles? Let me know your thoughts in the comments.
BENJAMIN KENNETH
So MLS is a natural midfielder and Zinchenko is not?
There is more LB in Lewis-Skelley (especially defensively) than there ever was or will be in Zinchenko.
If we kept Zinchenko as a backup B2B or attacking midfielder it would be worth having a discussion.
Keeping Zinchenko on to masquerade as a LB is a no go in my opinion. I’d rather keep Tierney over Zinchenko; both are injury prone, but at least Tierney can defend and overlap, offer something different going forward.
Tierney is our only natural LB of quality, and when fit, he should be in our first eleven.Of course this is never going to happen with Arteta at the helm as it would be tantamount to an admission of him getting it wrong in terms of tactical judgement.
If our strategy is just to spam crosses, which it appears to be, then yes Tierney should be getting more playing time. if our strategy is not to be a boring risk averse side then yes Zinny should be playing. Arteta would rather we just pass in a circle than reconsider his stances on players
Zichvenko another player Arteta has just given up on
Yet we are playing a rookie out of position ?
Hopefully fans will say enough now ?