Timberrrrrrrrrr!

Pepe LeFrits

Excited about this one.

James

Agree Peps. For some reason, most excited about him out of the three signings. Seem like a lot of comparisons to be made with Caicedo in terms of the attributes he has. But admittedly, I haven't seen much of him outside of the World Cup and YT compilations.

White was excellent last season, but I think we all saw the struggles he had making 36 starts with the vast majority at RB. Depth we have at the back now is ridiculous.

Gurgen

I'm very excited.

Just to reply on the aerial duel success rate discussion in the other thread: this stat doesn't really tell the whole story as it's quite important where on the pitch these duels take place and how many duels are actually fought. For example Saliba also has a success rate of only 55%, below Zinchenko, but only a blind man would say the former is worse in the air than the latter.

naz

Gurgen Has he played DM?

Like I said in the other thread, the options we have with all new players is intriguing. We have lots of versatility embedded within the team

Where does White fit, where does Timber fit, how do we make all new players work with the old... Etc. Someone is going to get shafted and that's fine. Just curious to see who.

Gurgen

naz He has but he has played mainly CB and RB. I think he would be great as an inverted RB in our system, that role is made for him.

Big Willie

Agree with @Pepe LeFrits and @James . This is the signing I'm also most excited about. Rice is a known quantity, just a case of where he fits, Havertz could potentially remain his pre Chelsea form but that remains to be seen. This guy however, at such a young age, has such a great mix of technique, speed, dribbling, and passing ability, that the sky could be the limit with him. And in potentially a number of positions as well.

Gazza M

I wonder who loses out. tomi is definitely on the outs but is fantastic depth if he stays fit. white could become holding-esque depth at RB and CB. might be a few grumbles, but if arteta can keep everyone focussed on the mission, we have an embarrassment of riches in defense. I think the saliba injury last season really stung mikel. he's referred to lack of depth a few times in his post season interviews, and it looks he's prioritised addressing it

Qwiss

Gurgen defensively how would he compare to White? Would it be sacrificing a bit of solidity for more on the ball ability?

Gurgen

Hard to say given the difference of the leagues they play in. I guess it's a fair assumption that White will be the more solid defender for the time being, though White also had his shit moments throughout last season.

Burnwinter

I'm guessing White will train like mad in response to pressure on his place in the XI ... in the ideal case his form will improve and he'll also be less fatigued.

Qwiss

Burnwinter I think this level of competition is great for players like White and I hope a few others across the back line. Its how it should be, raise your game or get replaced.

Burnwinter

Qwiss Yep. Most players' level is going to drop off unconsciously if there's not enough pressure behind them for selection. Felt we saw it from Jesus, Saka and Xhaka as well in the back half of last season.

Clrnc

est

This is a nice compilation. It seems like he's a right sided Zinchenko that can defend. I just became much more excited about this signing!

What do you reckon, is Arteta going to rotate Zinchenko and White with Tierney and Timber, or is he going full madness with both Timber and Zinchenko playing together?

HomeSteak

est I think someone posted his defensive stats here and he is worse then Zinchenko in that regard (who is bad). But stats...we shall see how he does.

Qwiss

Its very hard to tell because I just can't see him benching White regularly, he's been too solid since the move to RB. I'm hoping Arteta is set to rotate a lot this season in the FB spots with Timber/Tierney and White/Zinchenko offering balance depending on which side Arteta wants to leave exposed.

Clrnc

HomeSteak I have re-analysed more of his defensive stats, I think its apparent he is weak in the air but the rest of his defensive game is fine.

est

Nah, I don't care much about stats. You couldn't make that kind of compilation out of Zinch'es defensive contributions. Physicality and tackling look different class. We'll see about interceptions and reading of the game, but I've seen him described as an intelligent player, so I'm hopeful.

Coombs

Clrnc yep. He's especially good in the tackle. Needs to get up to speed aerially.

Tam

Clrnc Stats can be helpful but I don't think they can give you a feel for a player. We'll just need to see how he settles into a new team and a new league.

I think it was Nelson Mandela that said "Stats are all very well and good until you get punched in the mouth."

lorddulaarsenal

Looks a real competitor

Big Willie

lorddulaarsenal Looks a real competitor

Defensively he gives me the complete opposite feeling of what I was mesmerised by when I first watched Saliba videos as we were about to sign him. Saliba was calm defensively, never too far ot too close to his man, when it came time to win the ball he would just manage to find a way to outpower the attacker and get his body between the ball and man and come away with the ball without even making a tackle.

I haven't seen a lot of Timber defensively (his other videos focus on his on the ball play) and I've only watched the first minute of this video (will watch the rest when i get home) Timber seems very aggressive, slides quite frequently and is always putting his foot in, very Ligue 1 Gabrielesque and I was quite wrong about worrying about his potential rashness and possibly getting sent off.