Are you sure Kieran Tierney is meant to play in defence?
Stepping out for Scotland once again over the round of World Cup qualifiers, despite not scoring, Kieran Tierney showed why he is such a talent when he set up three goals to help lead his national team to a 4-0 win over the Faroe Islands.
Now we know he isn’t a stranger to scoring bangers but he can also assist and three in one game for a defender especially, is the perfect platform for him to come out firing with his creativity, ready for the game against Liverpool.
Would it be a risk if Kieran was deployed more on the wings for Arsenal rather than in defence? Given how he has the creative ability when bombing forward, to save him from tiring out too soon, shouldn’t Arteta just deploy him as part of the midfield or just in front of the defence to see how things work? Kieran is no stranger to goals and assists, and although he can defend he also does a good job on the wing when attacking.
Now really we don’t have anything to lose, and we have more than enough talent in defence to cover Kieran if need be, but worst case, Kieran himself can track back and stay back.
Seeing as we won’t win the league maybe Arteta should start exploring his options with some players, because at times Bellerin also does a better job going forward than he does at defending.
So Mikel if your reading this, why not give it a go, you have nothing to lose and you have more than enough defenders to be able to cover the players who are out of position!
Gooners?
Shenel Osman
At a time when there is a dearth of top quality left backs, why on earth would you contemplate converting one of the best into a left sided midfielder or winger where he has never played in his professional career?The fact that he had three assists against the Faroes who, with respect, are on a par with the likes of Charlton, is immaterial .The skills and techniques required of a midfielder are totally different to those of a left back or LWB and much as I admire Tierney he does not have the close control and awareness needed to be a top class midfielder.He needs space to rampage up and down the left flank and his pace and energy makes it difficult for opponents to man mark him, whereas it is easier to stifle him in a congested midfield.For these reasons Shenel, there is no need for Arteta to experiment with Tierney for whom we badly need a natural back up for next season.The last thing we need is for one of our major assets to suffer from burn out.
Tierney has already been playing as our true LW, as what Robertson and Alexander-Arnold have been doing for Liverpool. Just check the amount of crosses Tierney made and the amount of time he spent in the opposition’s half
Modern fullbacks are required to be the main dribblers and crossers in the team, unlike in Beckham’s/ Giggs’ era when traditional wingers were easy to be identified. Modern wingers are expected to cut inside and shoot more often nowadays
GAI, you really need to rethink your assertions that full backs are the main “dribblers” in a team in the modern game and your obsession with the need for inverted wingers.Neither Alexander Arnold, nor Andrew Robertson, KT,Shaw and Chilwell are dribblers with the ball at their feet.They are all pass and run merchants who are good crossers of the ball on the run.Messi is the finest dribbler of all time and in the EPL , Grealish, Trossard ,Pepe and the young winger at Leeds are good exponents.As for the merits of conventional wingers, you only need to look at the fabulous assist the other night by the aging Gareth Bale against the Czech Republic to recognise how important they still are.
Tierney has dribbled past many opponents more than any of our wingers and Robertson/ Alexander-Arnold are Liverpool’s main creators with their crosses
Grealish, Trossard, Pepe, Raphinha and Bale play on their opposite sides nowadays. They rarely go to the byline and they tend to cut inside more often, to shoot or pass
Tierney is a top class LB, almost everyone would agree with this. Why would you ever play him out of position?
Didn’t Arteta try him as a LCB in back 3? And how did the team fair? Remember Xhaka dropping back to cover? Absolute disaster from player and Manager trying to be clever.
How about instead we bring in a midfielder instead? Partey needs a partner and hopefully Bissouma comes in the Summer.
Unfortunately I think we will be stuck with Xhaka, Arteta doesn’t see his lack of pace and creativity as a problem. How many goals & assists does he provide?
Xhaka can’t dribble & drive forward, can’t dribble himself out of trouble, rarely finds a through ball to an attacker making a run.
Absolute joke to suggest we move our most consistent and reliable player out of position.
KT as the LCB was working in the bigger games at the end of last season (eg FA Cup final), but for whatever reason that 3-4-3 system hasnt worked this season. It seems to depend on the opposition (not great Vs teams that sit back) and on Auba being at his best in front of goal, and maybe teams have wised up to it?
Chad, exactly right; leave well enough alone. There are enough positions in the Arsenal starting eleven needing upgrading, without tinkering with a position, where the encumbent is performing well.
I like this! Let’s move kt up the pitch where we have too much talent and leave a monstrous hole in our defense. It doesn’t matter that he’s not comfortable on the wing and has never played there. He got a few assists so it totally makes sense! We should bench sake or auba to accommodate this as well. Now we’re talking!
Keep him as a LB where he excels
Gareth bale started as a left back. Played for years in that position before transition. This is not impossible for KT as I see him as more talented than GAreth at left back.
You are correct Stephen.Tierney is a better LB than Bale was, but that does not mean he could emulate Bale as a left winger where he excelled for Spurs.I am not a fan of Harry Rednapp, but he is right when he says that RM did not get the best out of Bale because they rarely played him in his most effective position, which was on the left wing.Let’s leave Tierney where he is and focus on areas where Arsenal, as a team is weak.
👍 My thoughts exactly, Grandad.
Then lets play Leno at left back, Auba in goal and Xhaka up front.
I mean really, 3 assists against the Faroe Islands and suddenly he’s a left winger?
if Arteta wasnt so ignorant he would use 4-4-2 with Tierney up front
……..and i am changing my name to mocker from now on.
Tierney, when fit can be great going forward. Clearly. However for me to be a defender means defending consistently well and on this front he needs to learn his opponents strengths to stay on top of them before showing his attacking prowess. The home game against Wolves against Traore comes to mind. Also overplaying him can reduce concentration i.e. West Ham third goal. He is good and has a winning mentality but when arsenal won leagues all the players captains. To make him a captain would purely be a fan appeasement job.
Again fans decides where and how a player should play….
Tieney is able to attack and move up more often because the opposite is weak….
Kieran Tierney = Scotland Gareth Bale