Jamie Carragher believes Oleksandr Zinchenko is a defensive liability for Arsenal and blamed the Ukrainian for the Gunners’ dropped points against Liverpool yesterday.
Trent Alexander Arnold nutmegged Zinchenko before the Liverpool man crossed the ball for the Reds’ equaliser.
Zinchenko plays ahead of Kieran Tierney because the Ukrainian is much better in midfield and going forward.
However, that ability comes at a price and sometimes, he could be too exposed at the back.
The defender did poorly in the game against the Reds and Carragher believes he cost them the points and urges him to stay focused because Arsenal is in a title race.
Carragher said via The Metro:
‘I can’t get Zinchenko out of my head. You need to be more aggressive – the league title is on the line!
‘That can’t happen. It’s almost like he’s in training, there’s got to be more intensity from him.’
Just Arsenal Opinion
Zincheko is one of our finest players going forward and it is very hard to see a full-back who is good at defending and going forward at the same time.
He has found a good balance for most games and we should not criticise him too much because of his performance against Liverpool.
But we can criticize and blame Xhaka for our loss?
We have been shouting for a week about Zinchenko playing that position cos everybody knew Zinchenko is peforming because of Martinelli and Gabriel’s form on that wing with Xhaka covering up for him every game. but always suffers with a tricky or pacy front lines. The reason why we win Liverpool is bcuz Zinny wasnt in the line-up.
If Zinny wants to compete, let him compete with Xhaka and stop forcing him to bench our better left back.
People are saying Tierney get roasted. so what is so special.
I can bet u that it would av been far worst had Zinny played with Gabriel last year. This season was the best of Gabriel, White, Xhaka, Ode and that wasnt bcux of Zinny. So why not start Tieney and see if he will cope with it.
For me, i dont blame any player for our loss point, i can only point to the coach for not reacting early. If Arteta can remove Zinny immediately after the goal, it means he saw the problem earlier but refuse to give it any attention will later cost us.
That game has been screaming for Tierney even before our 2nd goal.
Xhaka was pissed off yesterday which can happen to anyone, what he needs is his coach to take control but he refuse to substitute him. Jesus shld av finish the game with Saka off for Trossard. if u want Kiwior in, why not put him as 4 and let Partey take over the Xhaka place, Jogin take over Ode’s place and then Tierney take ZInny’s.
But still my hat off to him, it just shows you cant be perfect all the time and i trust Arteta to bring them back to life in our next game.
I just hope we ground out draw against City and if this type of opportunity arise against them, we take it this time. Rant over
Tierney is a better all around player and a better fit for Arsenal, but Zinchenko is more versatile, and for Arteta, that seems to be the deciding point. He seems to want to play like City, with one of the full backs tucking in to midfield, with the defensive midfielder and opposite fullback dropping deeper. With Partey and Ben White, that mostly works, but against better teams who can match Arsenal for talent, it can cause issues.
So, is it really worth sacrificing a better all- round player who is a better fit (Tierney) for some one who is more versatile but a defensive liability (Zinchenko)?
What is the overall/net benefit to the team?
Don’t you think it be better just to play Zinchenko instead of Xhaka in midfield?
Don’t you also think it is the job of the manager to get the best from the entire squad…and not just a few?
Don’t get me wrong, I though your comment was extremely constructive and insightful.
RFrancis. You’ve got the important points. Getting Xinchenko to replace Xhaka. Tierney to take over Xinchenko’s position. This sounds perfect to me! Bravo!
I disagree.
Both players are very good players However, overall, Zinchenko is the better fit for Arsenal’s approach to games. Tierney is probably the better pure defender so it made sense for him to come on late in the game especially when our backs were to the wall and there was always a risk of a loss of concentration.
A further point: Suggesting that Zinchenko is a “defensive liability” when comparing him with Tierney is nonsensical. Tierney did not have a good game after coming on and has come up second best against Salah in the past.
In my opinion both Tierney and Zinchenko are needed at Arsenal, it’s down to how they are use, when introduced and tweaked with the right timings can result in devastating effects on the opposition.
I say blame the ref and var.The Konate tackle warranted a red if not yellow card.The ref and var,you can be assured ,would send off the gunner player .
The pgmol shd hold refs accountable if no action is taken for such incidents.
I believe its one law for Arsenal and one for the teams favoured by the fa
Yes, the manager took it too late to get subs on. Tierney surely needed the entire second half to secure three points for the Gunners. Arteta should fix the left-back. Teams are going to exploit it.
Zinchenko is not a defender of substance, not a surprise to many fans. You could see that exposure all match but Gabriel did a great job covering and backing him up with Salah.
Unfortunately when it was time to defend the lead Zinchenko got burned by TAA and the match was tied.
Surprised Arteta didn’t bring on Tierney much earlier, especially when we were defending for the 3 points for majority of the 2nd half.
Hopefully a lesson learned and if situation repeats itself don’t hesitate to bring Tierney on at LB.
The problem is Arteta who doesn’t always have plan B. Who says coaches don’t change pattern of play to defend goals? Through out second half the alarm bell was ringing for him to introduce fresh legs especially, those with energy. If you must remove Jesus which was the biggest mistake, why not introduce another player with energy like Nelson? Why do you have to wait for Zinny to cost us those points before realizing the need to remove him? Until Arteta learn how to switch game plan and tactics, we would continue to get such results from big teams.
Again, am surprised that some fans here are so happy going with a point because Anfield is a difficult place. This shows how ambitious we are. Will heavens fall if we get three points from Anfield? Arteta let Tierney play and if Zinny must play, draft him into his preferred midfield position, please. Enough of this heartaches.