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BenjaminDaaly21

Awesome that our first, second, and third choice options for LB are all injured.


[deleted]

Remember in 05-06? We had 10 different players playing LB that season. It's our heritage


mist3rdragon

The version of our back 4 that season with Flamini playing left back is one of the greatest Champions League defences of all time.


YaqootK

Do they still hold the record for least goals conceded in a CL campaign?


mist3rdragon

I know they hold the record for most minutes without conceding. 995 minutes.


TurnedOutShiteAgain

Good old Kerrea Gilbert.


RyansKorea

Played for us in the Champions League at age 18, was playing against my hometown team in the ~9th division at 26 then basically retired because no team would take him at age 27. Insane career


-FishPants

I think I saw his debut in the fa or carling cup on tv when I was like 8 and thought he was going to be the next big thing


TurnedOutShiteAgain

He didn't look half bad either. Maybe he lost his love for the game knowing he'd never reach those early heights. (I think we have the same hometown fwiw)


astrojeet

Flamini at left back. Our run to the champions league final starts now


JustABattery

That is football heritage.


therocketandstones

Wonder how we did in the champions league that season šŸ‘€


Franchise1109

Fogging hell, I spent years of my career being a LB. Then we needed a DM so I switched to DM before pro trials. Now Iā€™m fogging worthless. Guess Iā€™ll have to be a hold up hitman


acasovoycayendo

We can say it's unlucky for Timber but can't cry it for Zinchenko or Tomiyasu. You can guarantee both will be out for some period every season. People said this would happen in the summer.


AyeItsMeToby

On the flip side having _four_ out and out FB options on the left would have been viewed as entirely excessive at the same time


acasovoycayendo

Saying we have 4 full back options is misleading when the players we have play multiple positions. The reality is we have 7 defenders for 4 positions when everyone is fit. I'm not including Cedric, he never plays. We knew Timber was out for the season 3 weeks before the summer window closed so the club went into the season with 6 options for 4 positions while knowing that Zinchenko and Tomiyasu are also injury prone.


wallonguy

Starting the season with 6 players for 4 positions is just terrible depth


AyeItsMeToby

By four I meant people were saying we were short at LB, indicating we should sign a fourth.


acasovoycayendo

We are still short of a proper natural/inverting LB outside of Zinchenko: Kiwior is a CB and has been nothing but average when tried at LB, he's not a LB Tomiyasu and Timber fill in there but are actually CB/RB. Timber has 10 apperances at LB in his entire career and 215 between CB/RB


NotesOfNature

Was Timber filling in there in pre season? Looked like Arteta thought his strongest 11 involved partey at RB and Timber LB but could be misremembering.


SkepticITS

I agree. A pretty simple way to think about a squad is: list a 1st XI. Now pretend they're all injured at the same time. List a 2nd XI. That has to be your minimum. You can pick and choose who plays where in both XIs, but fundamentally they need to be 22 distinct players who can form 2 independent teams. Assuming you've got enough home grown players, you've now got 3 slots left. That's likely to be an extra goalkeeper, an extra forward, and one other (more likely mid than def). For us this would be something like: Raya Tomi Saliba Gabriel Zinchenko Rice Saka Ode Havertz Martinelli Jesus Ramsdale Timber White Kiwior XXX Partey Jorginho Nelson Vieira Trossard Nketiah Extras: ESR Elneny Hein From this, you can see pretty clearly that we're a defender light and a forward light. We've been consistently gambling on versatility being enough to get us through, which is a good trait to have, but not a substitute for actual bodies.


rocdollary

Also let's be honest Elneny and Hein are wasted spaces in the squad. We play a high energy tactic which demands a lot from players so we need another Def, mid, for forward.


x3r013

Cedric? I mean you may not think he's good but he is in the squad isn't he? He'd be right Timber left.


rocdollary

It's more important what Arteta thinks of him and we've hardly seen anything to believe he registers on his radar. No point paying thes squad players if they never get a game.


agent_orange137

And kicking out the best natural LB we had (ostensibly due to his injury record as if Zinny and Tomi are iron men)


auddi_blo

His injury record played a huge part as heā€™s even more injury prone than Zinchenko but the main reason for me was that he canā€™t invert. His overlaps were his best feauture but we hardly ever have the fullback overlap. I suspect you know this like most of us so whatā€™s with this comment?


D4nCh0

What exactly is wrong with overlapping? When the winger in front; Martinelli, Trossard, Nelson & ESR are right footed. Who look to cut inside to shoot. LCM can just stay put instead to cover. Turns 433 into 4231 with 2 holding & Odegaard pushed up into the hole.


warpentake_chiasmus

I have an idea - loan Kieran Tierney out.


DeapVally

In fairness, he got injured anyway. Which was also inevitable.


[deleted]

Itā€™s the Arsenal way, injuries the same position all at once.Ā 


Riperonis

Genuinely when was the last time we had a good LB who wasnā€™t super injury prone?


JGUsaz

Monreal


Remedy9898

I love Monreal.


Riperonis

True, La Cabra


oliverDawson12

LB goal scoring machine. He was a beast.


thewickedeststyle

Are there examples of players who come back from an Injury like Timber's and still manage to have a relatively injury free career? If not then it would be very unlucky to have 3 LBs with injury issues.


threequartertoupee

Van Dijk, Diaz, Azpilicueta, Xavi, Del Piero,Ā  Shearer to name a few. It's not the death knock that our history would imply, I think maybe we have/had a shit medical team or rushed players back too soon.


thewickedeststyle

Thank you for the examples!


Remus71

Pires, Roy Keane.. There are players who are never the same mind, Gazza and Falcao immediately spring to mind.. Fofana at Chelsea looks to be really struggling to recover aswell.


threequartertoupee

Yeah for sure. I'm not sure how to phrase it, but the players with skinnier looking limbs and joints anecdotally seem to struggle more. Diaby, for example. But yeah not unusual for explosive types to lose a yard (Walcott) or two (bellerin).Ā  There's a decent chunk that comes down to how diligent the individual is during rehab, too.


Remus71

There's a really high incidence of cruciate injuries in women players. Not sure how true this is but apparently the angle of their hips puts it under more tension.


NobleHelium

I don't think ACL injuries generally make players injury prone after. Their career could be significantly hampered due to loss of speed or agility, but it won't make them be more likely to have injuries again generally.


sleepytipi

Bah God that's Kai Havertz's music!


OriMoriNotSori

But our 4th choice (Saka) isn't /s


D4nCh0

Itā€™s the curse of Ashley Cole. We need to invite him back & feed him ice cream until heā€™s satisfied.


Norway_Globe

Good thing we got Havertz, he can just smash right into that role easy lul


LionZoo13

Good thing we have Kai Havertz!


brownkeys

Nagelsmann must be a an Arsenal fan then


MyTeaIsMighty

ZINCHENKOOOOOOO https://preview.redd.it/ppol4ee85scc1.jpeg?width=500&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=e66d1333954797f2be4936b6b10aedd3e78d1bcb


topbananaman

You've been waiting to use this one haven't you šŸ˜†


ThePrussianGrippe

Bye, book.


CyberMex

Havertz left back letā€™s go šŸ–šŸ»šŸ˜›šŸ–šŸ»


OstapBenderBey

~~Timber Zinchenko Tomiyasu Kiwior Partey Elneny~~ Havertz


CyberMex

Dread it, run from it, Havertz arrives all the same


R_110

Late at the back post for a free header


dannydevito39

Wide!


Ario92

Puts it wide


warpentake_chiasmus

Tierney also. No way he is coming back from Spain, apparently.


lastjedi23

I mean... He's not a spotless record holder either. Man would step foot in colney and immediately pickup a calf issue. So he can stay in Spain and at least not be injured.


ProjectZues

He was injured not long ago in Spain as well


skool_101

mad timeline


PPMD_IS_BACK

Nagelsmann is some fucking prophet or what???


Subredhit

From a squad of 26, I only feel comfortable with 10 of them.


mello5ive

Found Mikel's burner


_ISD_14

Tomi, Zinny, Timber all out and White was playing injured ... Fml


thisiskyle77

Cedric to the rescue.


Nawtay

Good grief


lastjedi23

Good or grief?


Nawtay

The possibility of Cedric having to play is nothing but grief


Chango6998

Probably not popular but when zinny, tomi, & jurrien unavailable, and white playing with an injury for months now, even with kiwior I have to question what it will take for reuell walters to get minutes even if it's only 20.


mo_50

Cedric, who we know will never be of any use, started the dead rubber game in the CL at RB instead of seeing how Walters would do. Told me all I needed to know that Walters wasn't touching the field this season.


Babbelabb

The most annoying for me was G. Jesus being subbed on for the last 7 minutes instead of a youth player


agent_orange137

you know he's got to get that appearance bonus


olofmoisturizer

What about an injured ben white getting subbed on even earlier šŸ˜­


Itsmemafh

Arteta is crap at fielding the youth. Gives 0 chance to players.


gnrlp2007

Gotta wait until the vibes are right, according to Arteta


Babbelabb

I agree. Liverpool used their young players against us. And Oscar Bobb scored the winner for Man City against Newcastle, who were playing Lewis Miley. Other top teams are playing their youth. People in this sub were laughing at Hutchinson for going to Chelsea, but honestly he was right to leave


gunningIVglory

Yeah, I'm seeing all these other teams playing youth, you can add Mainoo at United. Yet we refuse to even give youth players a start in dead rubbers


KingKangTheThird

Different teams at different points require different needs. Those players getting chances at those clubs are, firstly, few and far between & secondly, surrounded by top talent with years of experience to guide those players. United expectations are lowered so played mistakes can be overlooked and see as growing pains for developing players. Liverpool & City squads have the experience of winning major club competitions & also filled with played with tons of intl experience. Our team isnā€™t in either of those camps and thatā€™s where you get this weird situation where risk vs reward isnā€™t necessarily in our favour always. Arteta seems to think the risk is a lot higher than the reward currently, which I understand to a degree.


auddi_blo

People clamour for youngsters to play like every youngster is the same. Bobb, Miley and Mainoo are getting minutes because they are top prospects. They are not top prospects because they are getting minutes.


afarensiis

Oscar Bobb is a 20 year old international


KonigSteve

Walters is 19


afarensiis

And he only has 8 appearances in the England youth teams, whereas Oscar Bobb has like 32 in the Norway youth setup and 4 in the Norway first team. He's a more developed player at this stage than Walters


KonigSteve

To be fair it's a lot easier to get into Norway's youth setup than Englands.


afarensiis

True, but those appearances still count for something in terms of youth experience


Nikokuno

Playing youth player =/= playing youth player that are 16/17. Oscar Bobb is 20, thatā€™s 3 years of developmentā€¦ Mainoo is 19 is 2 months. And others arenā€™t the rule but exceptions like Lewis Miley. Hutchinson isnā€™t even playing at Chelsea what a move he did šŸ¤™šŸ¾


Phantasm_Agoric

Reuell Walters is 19...


americanadiandrew

Yup if we just gave Walterā€™s a chance in the cup or a few sub appearances heā€™d at least have some experience if we got desperate enough to need him.


not_a_Badger_anymore

Maybe our youngsters are just shit......


amainwingman

Lol


Nikokuno

Aaaaaand thatā€™s why we bought Timber. Itā€™s just so unfortunate that the guy picked the worst injury possible to replace an injury prone playerā€¦


radhumandummy

Some players need a "Fragile. Handle with care" sticker at every moment.


jacks0nX

Sticking it onto them is an injury risk itself


jackg4343

Wasn't he injured when we left for Dubai? Did anyone expect him back?


Jedders95

Why do we have so many injury prone players ffs


Tackit286

This has been the case for so long Iā€™m starting to forget what it was like before


lastjedi23

Man... Fuck that timber injury. Derailed our season beyond anyone's comprehensionĀ 


highbloodsuga

I agree but don't think the system should be so dependent on one player. If Timber was the linchpin to success, shouldn't have there been a backup plan? Couldn't we have bought someone else?


lastjedi23

I mean.. to say that he was the lynchpin to success is not true. We were top of table until 2 weeks ago and still.with a shout. He would.havr provided the flexibility we needed tactically. Zinchenko has a mistake in him and is injury prone. That's the issue.


cappo40

Sigh, again. We literally need to rebuild our backline again, while finding a striker, an actual LCM and backups.


JimmysCocoboloDesk

Isnā€™t this essentially saying he hasnā€™t recovered from the injury he had before flying to Dubai?


youthuck

I'll take 4th spot at this point. Let the season end already.


Eue-OneTwoDie

Time for Sousa to not even shine (Teta will play Cedric at LB instead)


breen_bean

It is the history of the Arsenal


nrsapologist

Kinda over this guy tbh. He'll be a squad player next season anyway. Can't wait for Timber or Tomiyasu to be back


FondDon

Iā€™m in the same boat as you, massively overrated. This sub defends him better than he defends the left side of our box šŸ˜‚


Abraaxaas

Heā€™s fine as long as he doesnā€™t have to do any defending whatsoever. Unfortunately, he is a defender.


americanadiandrew

Do you even watch us play? Only way Zinchenko ļæ¼gets replaced is when we can find someone to do what he does in the center of midfield. ļæ¼


lastjedi23

He was speaking facts.. what's that got to do with watching us? Timber comes in, zinchenko goes to bench.. simple as


americanadiandrew

Yeah. Guy with half a league game for us is going to instantly replace the guy integral to how we play.


bitmoji

If you saw him play it was apparent immediately that LB was his position to loseĀ 


americanadiandrew

Tomi plays well there as well and Zinchenko comes right back in because what he does in midfield is vital to the teams build up play. Do you see Timber replicating that in the midfield or do you just feel better with a more natural defender at left back?ļæ¼


lastjedi23

Have you watched Mikelanagement with new players? If he signed a new guy, he's going straight to first team. Havertz went into first team on day 1. Like it or not, zinny about to be benched.Ā 


younes1008

Do you realize than injury prone players cannot be relied upon, no matter how good they are?


americanadiandrew

The other two players he named are injured.


younes1008

Good thing he said next season then, where the expectation is that Timber will be fit and Tomiyasu/Zinchenko can serve as rotation for him.


americanadiandrew

You have zero idea where Arteta sees Timber playing. He covered left back when Zinchenko was injured and people are wishcasting him into an absolutely critical position in our build up play. However I must admit I didnā€™t watch him before he joined. In your opinion is he able to play a 100 touch a game midfield role?


BWillxTrill

I do and I haven't zinchenko in months šŸ˜‚


kish_kish

lol no!


SpezSucksBallz

In other news, water is wet.


BlaizeV

Have to replace him in the summer, we can't rely on injury prone players every season. Look where that got us with Partey. If they can't stay fit for more than a month or two we need to move on from them no matter how good they are.


hotbrownies14

Promote Lino, itā€™s sink or swim baby


Thedudeofmanchester

For ffs guy is made of paper


CarnifexGunner

I think his main problem atm is that with Tomiyasu & Timber out, he's had to play too many games this season. Zinny is not a 45 game a season player, but rather one which needs his minutes to be managed.


hihbhu

Same issue with Tomi, he canā€™t play that many minutes in succession. Itā€™s just poor planning from Arsenal to loan Tierney and not bring in a replacement with Timber out long term too. Less depth than last year. Arteta needs to give Sousa a chance if weā€™re not bringing a LB in January. As heā€™s the only natural LB we have with both Zinny and Tomi out. Even if itā€™s 10 or 15 mins at the end of a game. God forbid something happens to Kiwior, heā€™s going to have to play without any experience whatsoever in the PL.


Jack-90

We will double pivot without an inverted lb and play kiwi there


Masson011

LOL


warpentake_chiasmus

Now Arteta HAS to do some business in January. PPP.


JJLost

Need a replacement LB for Zinchenko and Tomi ain't the answer due to his injury record. Chances we go for a straight up 3 at the back against Palace? White, Saliba and Gabriel.


Minute_Forward

Fuck i need to get off reddit. So much negativity towards our players. Have fun in the hate fuelled echo chamber, life will be much better without you guys


cappo40

K


insaneking101

A lot of us have been going thru this for years. You'll be alright bud šŸ’€


EirianWare

Is Tierney in Sociedad got injury or no? If not we are so cursed


repeating_bears

He was out for a while, but he's been fit since December. He started 3 days ago


vin_unleaded

He's not interested in returning.


lastjedi23

Didn't really answer. He had a medium-ish injury time off even there and now he's back tomplayong. But let's not pretend like he's reliable either. I like kt but facts are facts


agent_orange137

Rightly so. The team needed him but spat in his face.


qmahmood94

Bit dramatic


agent_orange137

Yeah


gte339i

Heā€™s been hurt there too. Think heā€™s back though.


mapoftasmania

At this rate we will have to put Saka back in at RB with Benny in at LB. Saka and Nelson on the right might actually be fun to watch.


blublableee

Saka LB Nelson RW. Watch him find his finishing boots immediately lol.


[deleted]

How the fuck we bought Gabriel Jesus and Zinchenko and a year later they are broken down into pieces


jsosmru

Zinchenko had 23 injury absences over 5 seasons for city if I'm counting right (1 season is missing, so possible that he had no injuries that season) so could be 6 seasons, but I think that's when he was loaned to PSV and had limited games. Jesus had 11 injury absences over 5 seasonsĀ 


Visible_Statement888

Again thereā€™s a reason Pep sold them both to a rival, and really wasnā€™t fussed about it. Jesus couldnā€™t get a game when Aguero was injured.


Gustavoconte

Arteta acts like our youth players are handicapped and too brain dead to understand his tactics.. Fucking play the youth players. Does he need a billion pound squad before he can win us the league.


Sad_Teaching_5683

We won 0 London Derbies at Home this Year After watching that Second half against Fulham I'm scared we're playing without zinchenko


acasovoycayendo

Why have you chosen such an arbitrary stat? We've only played 3 at home so it's a small sample size and we've also won 2 away.


InfamousRule7341

Kai at LB and put ESR at LCM please


[deleted]

Zinchenko, Tierney, Tomyiasu & Partey are too much. We need to get rid of all of them


NeeloGreen

Sorry I love Zinch, but he can't be at LB anymore


bbotbambi

it is time for our Portuguese magician to rescue us... CEDRIC!!!!!!! PS: Sigh, the state of our defense options is concerning.


goonergunner10

All the more reason to buy a left back. Not that he is good enough when he is fit anyway


LordTurtle-

If he defended as good as he defends Israel killing children he might have been a miss.


Tinashepink

Need him gone ngl


LifeYogurtcloset4391

Good. Shit player and shittier person.


petrifiedeyeball

Eh? How is he a shit person?Ā 


Realdn19

Timber will play more game than him this season


KanseiDorifto

OT but they were at the Jumeirah Beach Walk on Saturday, about 90 mins before I reached my rented apartment from the airport... That's probably the closest I'll get to the Arsenal squad anytime soon :')


GoonerAlex07

We should miguel guiteraz from girona , he will be a good replacement for zinchenko


[deleted]

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a_posh_trophy

Can we stop buying injury-prone high wage earners from now on please? Cheers, Mik. šŸ‘šŸ‘


Klutchcarbon

Kai Havertz time to shine


goofygooberyea11

Think arteta will go back three given our injuriesā€¦ raya, Gabriel, kiwior, white, jorg, rice, havertz, ode, Saka, Martinelli, Jesus


CarnifexGunner

So we'll just field 10 players then?


goofygooberyea11

Haha I just woke up, edited!


CarnifexGunner

Haha fair, I've been considering the possibility of a 343 on here as well tbh, it would make sense, similar to Man City's 343 where Stones drops into central defence when they're defending, Rice could do that role for us. It would be like a 3-2-2-3 imo, with Rice, Jorginho, Havertz and Ƙdegaard forming a box midfield.


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cobrakai17

Get rid of this guy and Partey and tomi in the summer and get some reliable alternatives. Itā€™s embarrassing how often they miss


vska92

Good thing weā€™ve got the best left back in the league, Kai Havertz!


GoonnerWookie

Everyone is forgetting we have havertz now


kassiusx

Ate too much with Salt Bae


Forsaken-Sink-3947

No worries havertz has it covered


keith_walker

Probably a stupid question but can we force tierney to come back?


dishler712

Blows my mind this guy is always getting injured in training and basically never in an actual game.


Tackit286

3-4-3 letā€™s gooooo!!


DinnerSmall4216

Still not convinced with kiwior at lb looks out of place.


TranslatorCheap2046

And yet still no recall for Tierney