Gary Neville believes Mikel Arteta has taken inspiration from Manchester City to solve Arsenal’s left-back ‘problem’.
Oleksandr Zinchenko has been the first-choice left-back for the Gunners over the last couple of seasons and started there in the 2-0 opening-day win over Wolves.
However, the Ukraine international has come in for criticism in recent months with his form taking a dip.
Arteta, instead, opted to start Jurrien Timber at left-back against Aston Villa on Saturday and the Dutchman rewarded his manager with a performance that saw him win three of his five contested duels while making two tackles, one recovery and 32 successful passes from 38 attempts.
Timber is, of course, still regaining full fitness after missing most of 2023/24 with an ACL injury. So, when he began to run out of steam, instead of Zinchenko, Arteta introduced new signing Riccardo Calafiori — who starred at Euro 2024 for Italy as a centre-back — to see out the match.
Arteta solves Arsenal left-back ‘problem’
Neville has compared Arteta’s use of centre-backs on the left to that of Pep Guardiola fielding Josko Gvardiol at left-back to great effect for Manchester City.
“Some of the most successful transfer windows is where you keep stability in your squad and you add one or two that make it the final two pieces of the jigsaw. In the two games against Villa last season, left-back was a problem,” Neville told Sky Sports.
“We saw what City did, in the last 10 games of the season, Josko Gvardiol’s impact from left-back was immense. Not just from a defensive point of view, but an attacking one – his power, strength, height. Arteta has reacted to that.
“He knows he has Timber coming back but he has Calafiori as well. He’s a big boy, powerful, strong, can play in a number of different positions. So that’s a definite response from what he needed last season.
“You talk about these fine margins of one goal or two goals that can tip the title race your way. That could be today. I like what Timber did, he kept a close eye on Leon Bailey. He’s a difficult person to play against but Timber was confident on the ball, he looked good when he went into midfield and still does the job of what Zinchenko does. And Calafiori when he came on looked really strong, up for the fight. He has that spirit about him.
“Zinchenko will still play his role against the bottom six or 10 teams, when you have a mountain of possession at home and you’re going to have to probe the ball through tight spaces. Zinchenko will be fantastic in those matches.
“But when you’re playing against a really top team and you need to keep a clean sheet, and you need someone at the back post who can defend and you need six big’uns, that’s when you’ll need Timber and Calafiori. He has got that now, Arteta – it’s a good way in which he has adapted.”
I said it before, give it time, that Timber will eventually become Arsenal’s number 6 defensive midfielder. Most agreed with me before preseason, except for Grandad. LoL.🤣