Timberrrrrrrrrr!
flobaba yeah. But Arteta doesn’t play with flying fullbacks for the most part. He plays with a back 3 oe 4 to shut up shop. And then he uses the midfield and attack to score.
He’s in line with what Mikel likes. Big, physical. Can play inside or outside. Can play as a traditional fullback or a lot in as a third centre back. He’s an important asset on set pieces.
On top of that he has a critical asset that you can’t sneer at : availability. Before yesterday, he had started over 70 straight games. Which other fullback has given us that?
Claudius Before yesterday, he had started over 70 straight games. Which other fullback has given us that?
Not quite. He got injured around the time of the Brentford away game last season and missed a couple of starts. But other than that, as you say, super available - even minus a pair of working hamstrings. He's a hero really.
RocktheCasbah yeah. He’s a massive asset. I also like that he’s a protector. One of the first to get stand up for others when it gets tasty. Important part of our new culture
Mirth I hope we don't go down that road into being overly protective and defensive. All for building a strong base and having a team focus on defence. But line up changes like that reek of lacking conviction in your team and attack, and compromising too much compensate. We are already and overly defensive attacking team - by which I mean we've done to death the impact defensive duties have on the likes of Saka and Martinelli. That sort of line up will not free them up to do less work, it will just make us drop deeper and effectively function like we did against City wtih 10 men. We'll be a low block and counter attacking team, with Odegaard nullified and Havertz looking for long balls.
- Edited
DiabyKungFu he had 93% pass completion against Atalanta, decent against Brighton and Villa too. Spurs he was a bit dodgy and obviously not great at City, although he did complete one pass, the no passes appears to be an exaggeration.
Claudius There are guys that talk the talk and guys that walk the walk. Benny Blanco is definitely in the latter. I don't think there's a single City player that isn't in the former. He was ready to put Haaland in the dirt if Arteta gave him the nod at the end there and I loved it. The clips of him in the past grabbing Foden by the collar after a game were so good.
The truth
Let's see if this stat is plastered everyone like the zero passes vs City was.
So it turns out he’s not limited on the ball, he was just out of position at left back
Claudius I want to know what game in 16/17 that was.
Bring Back Kerrea Gilbert probably the period that these guys have been recording data. So it’s a disclaimer - they don’t know what happened before that season
Clrnc both will have ample time in the 11. Both excellent.
Bring Back Kerrea Gilbert this is what you need to compete with city. The type of situation where some combination of Timber, White or Calafiori at fullback means we can beat anyone. That’s a robust squad.
He was never the progressive passing type inverter. His strengths were his agility and ball control which favour running up and down the flank.
I really feel like all three of White, Timber and Calafiori are in the top 5-7 fullbacks in the EPL right now, which is incredible to see. I think I'd put Gvardiol and TAA in that group with maybe Cucurella in current form as well but having all 3 at Arsenal is awesome. Add to that with Tomiyasu when healthy and Zinchenko here and there and we really have a great group of defenders to choose from. Really hope that we can keep the top 3 healthy this season though - that will be up to Arteta to effectively manage minutes and rotation.
We've got a warrior in White who will play through pain but that carries risks for us so very important to have options. Tomi is good when available but we can't rely on his fitness.
Also while White possibly offers more going forward Timber looks rock solid against more tricky wingers, that is an area where White struggles.