timbers footwork and balance is fantastic. he would've been a winger 15-20 years ago. he does have tendency to overcook things and get caught on the ball, but you take the rough with the smooth with players like him

timber and calafiori will get minutes. the LB starting berth is up for grabs for either, and we need to reduce the mileage on wilo and gabriel so there should be minutes available at CB as well. i have a feeling if gabbys form dips in any way, arteta is keen to try calafiori at LCB for his qualities in build up play

lorddulaarsenal Our squad's bulging in a few positions and short in one or two others. If Arteta was Wenger we'd be seeing a couple of "conversions" happening.

      Burnwinter the good thing is a lot of these players are flexible. Calafiori can cover 3 positions. Timber can cover at least 4 positions. And then you have guys like Jesus who can cover the entire frontline. So we’ve actually expanded the squad with the flexible profile of player we have.

        He's ridiculously good on the ball. If he didn't get that unfortunate injury last year I suspect he would have made the RB spot his own.

        Will be interesting to see where he is deployed. I suspect we’ll see a lot more rotation this season

        7 days later

        Considering this was his first start in 12 months up against a good Villa side I thought he was very, very good. Some moments of rustiness but plenty to work with and his base level is pretty high. We really missed him last year.

        He will be amazing at RB. That kind of dribbling ability is immense.

          Clrnc yeah, feels like that's probably where he's destined to play once Calafiori is up and running. I'd say that White, for all his output the last two seasons is most under threat.

              Don Pacifico It's an extremely happy problem to have. Timber will have his fair shares of niggles this year because of his ACL previously, White needs a breather evidently as he often tires after 70th minute like yesterday. This year UCL schedule is brutal, a big squad will be kept happy as everyone gets enough game time.

                  White will be starting most games, no questions about it. Pretty much cemented in the first 11, like Lauren back in the day.

                  Yeah I don't see White getting dropped any time soon.

                  He, Odegaard, and Saka have a strong understanding, and I think he also helps simplify Saliba's job (in comparison to what Zinchenko does for Gabriel).

                  I dunno. White was bought as a CB and was then shunted to RB when Tomi got injured and Saliba returned from loan. I think that tells you that whilst he's been brilliant, he doesn't represent exactly what Arteta is looking for in that role.

                  We also thought Ramsdale was a dead cert and we brought in Raya. This is a manager who is always looking to upgrade and there are few loyalties in that regard.

                    Don Pacifico I dunno. White was bought as a CB and was then shunted to RB when Tomi got injured and Saliba returned from loan. I think that tells you that whilst he's been brilliant, he doesn't represent exactly what Arteta is looking for in that role.

                    We stumbled into his ability in that role, regardless what Mikel initially thought. He's gonna be there for a while I reckon. But whoever else is in RB will defo get game time as Benjamin looked fucked towards the end of last season and especially the end of the previous one.

                        banduan yeah that's my thought as well. I think White is too good to be dropped but he is still not a natural RB, certainly not as natural as Timber. First half of last season before Tomi was injured he was preferred in many games to White and I feel Timber will be rotated as much which will be beneficial for us. We need White as fresh and fit in the crucial run in as possible. Tomiyasu will also be back in October.

                        Our defensive depth is insane, rightly so since we have kept up the trend of signing one big defender every window

                          banduan We stumbled into his ability in that role

                          Not exactly ... I'm pretty sure we shelled out the £50m because of his calibre and versatility, and with a weather eye on Saliba's progress at Marseille despite all the protests at the time.

                              Burnwinter it's like we bought Havertz as a CM and have all the ideas of how he could succeed there, but when he turns out not as good as we thought that we moved him back to CF and the rest is history...

                              Sometimes plans do change, and stumbling into the right role for players despite all the scouting saying otherwise happens. White only played as a RB twice before he joined us, played alot in DM so I'm not sure our scouts we have seen him as a RB.

                              But then again... Timber has NEVER played as a LB and we immediately played him as a LB lol.