Journalist Paul Brown has highlighted the left-back position as a big issue for Mikel Arteta after Kieran Tierney was sidelined due to injury.
Tierney recently sustained a knee injury that is expected to see him sidelined until the end of the season, while Nuno Tavares is the only other recognisable left-back at the club. Mikel Arteta opted for Granit Xhaka to occupy the left-back role on Saturday against Brighton & Hove Albion, but the Gunners ended up losing 2-1.
The Gunners have now lost back-to-back games in the Premier League, and fourth place is slowly slipping out of their hands as they now sit 5th place, but they remain three points behind Spurs and have a game in hand with a north London derby clash still to come.
After the recent dip in form for Arsenal, Brown highlighted to GiveMeSport that the injury to Tierney is a problem for Arteta.
He said: “That is a problem for Arsenal. I’m not even sure Arteta knows who should fill that spot. He took Tavares off against Palace and put Xhaka back there, a makeshift left-back. He’s tried Cedric Soares on that side, neither of those two are ideal, but they are capable of doing a job.”
TIF Thoughts on Paul Brown’s comments…
Before the recent two defeats, Arsenal were in fine form and had only lost once in their previous eight Premier League games. But the injury to Kieran Tierney has had a major impact on the side, and Arsenal now see themselves sitting outside the top four.
Tavares is the backup left-back, but he has failed to make an impact due to his poor form when he has been given the opportunity. He has started just seven times in the Premier League this season, whilst winning possession an average of 0.2 times per game and making an average of 0.4 interceptions per game, as per SofaScore.
Arteta clearly doesn’t trust the Portuguese defender, as he was left out of the starting XI on Saturday with midfielder Xhaka occupying the role, so the Tierney injury is starting to impact other areas of the pitch.