I feel Timber was brought in to replace Zinchenkos dodginess at the back. White is just unfortunate to be affected.

We'll soon see Timber playing the big matches and Zinny brought in for the weaker teams where we can be more attacking.

    banduan I feel Timber was brought in to replace Zinchenkos dodginess at the back. White is just unfortunate to be affected.

    I wouldn't be surprised to see us line up sometimes with a back four of Gabriel, Saliba, White and Timber. Timber steps into midfield to form a double pivot with Rice and then you've a back three of Gabriel, Saliba and White. White could still occasionally overlap on the right to combine with Saka and create overloads.

        Clrnc Timber has never played as LB though. Probably will be Kiwior instead and Timber on the right

        Timber as a LB isn't what I was saying. Gabriel could nominally be the LB in that situation

            Yeah it wouldn't be super surprising for Arteta to start picking teams with four players who are thought of as credible centre backs, that's what Guardiola's been doing.

            I'd like us to be a bit less predictable this way than last season though.

              Pepe LeFrits Good shout.

              I think he'll most likely play the Rijkaard role (I refuse to call it the Stones role as Guardiola basically copied the Ajax 95 set up) whenever he plays CB

                Need to see how Timber defends, and if it all he can (or is allowed to ) give something different, say overlapping Saka occassionally. However, I've practically done a 180 on this signing. I wasn't comfortable with Edteta taking spending on defence to nearly 200 million, strengthening an area that we're already looking healthy in, and the tactic of deploying CBs out wide. However, hard not to get excited by Timber's comfort in possession and style and what it could do for this team.

                  KingslandBarge

                  I welcome the increased defensive investment after years of not doing so. Up until Mustafi, did we even break 10m for a defender?

                    I was ok with existing investment at the back heading into this summer. Operating on a one-out for one-in basis would have been fine (Cedric and Holding don't count to that rule). I guess it comes down to what one thinks is sufficient depth at the back, and whether one thinks White, Tomiyasu, Kiwior and Tierney offer sufficient quality and relevance as part of that depth, and whether 38 million could be spent in different area of need. I am progressively understanding the play as I see more and more of Timber and the contribution potential.

                    Critical look at some aspects of his game that need ironing out.

                    16 days later

                    Thought he was really good today, out of position against the top side in Europe.

                    Pepe LeFrits He looks like the complete package.

                    He doesn't look like much of a midfielder. He just looks like a defender who's good on the ball. That's probably what we needed in the context of today's game but in most games where the opponent isn't really competing for territory, that's not really what we need.

                    I feel like we need another Zinchenko, but it seems like he's closer to Ben White than Zinchenko.

                      Agree with that, when Zinchenko is on form he adds another dimension to our play and control of the game.

                      The problem is defensively he is a liability, so in the big games do we try to get on the front foot with Zinchenko and risk being exposed?

                      Teta has a headache ahead of him. Saliba, Gab and White are undroppable in current form. Does Zinny slot in or do we ease him in while giving Timber the chance to impress. I thought he was excellent today.

                      The one benefit could be offensive coverage. Timber ironically was solid in defense and ok on the offense.

                      There's going to be a lot of rotation this season - as Arsenal fans we've never seen anything like it before purely because we've never had this kind of depth.

                      Instead of viewing players by their relatively strengths and weaknesses, we almost want to think of them as tools to be used based on the opposition (with the exception of Saka, Odegaard and Saliba).

                      In this case - teams that are likely to attack us aggressively? Timber probably starts because he's press resistant and can defend. Otherwise Zinchenko for games when we're on the front foot and need to pick a pass through 10 players.