Despite Oleksandr Zinchenko starting at left-back in Arsenal's 3-1 victory over Spurs, he has been absent for the Gunners' last five fixtures due to a calf injury. Zinchenko had featured in every Premier League match for the Gunners since making the switch from Manchester City until he was ruled out with an injury against Fulham in Arsenal's fourth game of the season.
But in Zinchenko's absence, Tierney had slotted into the left-back role and had proven to be a useful alternative as the Gunners sat at the top of the Premier League. Takehiro Tomiyasu has also put himself into the mix, as in the last three Premier League games, the Japanese international has started at left-back.
However, there has been much debate about whether Tierney or Tomiyasu should be the main alternative to Zinchenko, and this discussion became even more intense after Arsenal’s disappointing 1-1 draw against Southampton.
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With that being said, Football.london’s Arsenal writers discuss whether Arteta should stick with Tomiyasu at left-back, or reinsert Tierney into the team ahead of Arsenal’s last push before the season pauses due to the World Cup in Qatar that kicks off on November 20.
Kaya Kaynak- Chief Arsenal Writer
I would personally look to bring Kieran Tierney back in for the visit of Nottingham Forest. I get the point of why they played Takehiro Tomiyasu for the Liverpool game to cope with Salah one-vs-one, but keeping the Japan international in hasn't quite made sense to me.
He offers things in the build up that Tierney can't when it comes to two footedness and an improved ability to drift infield in a manner more similar to Oleksandr Zinchenko. But at the same time he has struggled when pressed on to his left foot near the touchline. Leeds targeted Tomiyasu for that last weekend and Southampton did the same this time around.
I'm not suggesting Tierney is a silver bullet solution who will be able to solve all the problems Arsenal faced in those two games, but at this point I wonder if, by leaving him out again, you risk losing him all together. The Scot is a dedicated professional so it seems unlikely that could happen, but it would be wrong if he wasn't frustrated by the fact that he seems to have essentially been relegated to third choice left-back at the Emirates.
It's also worth noting that he can play the inverted role when required. He did it last season when Cedric replaced Tomiyasu at right back to allow the Portuguese full license to support the attack. While he's not the slickest on the ball he is more than a diligent enough defender to play the role, and you feel he could do Forest in particular some damage with his aggressive, attacking running.
Bailey Keogh - Arsenal Writer
The Japanese international was tasked with playing at left-back against Liverpool. And the natural right-back was sensational as he was able to keep Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah quiet throughout the match. It showed that in the long term, Tomiyasu could be the third left-back option for Arsenal.
Then, Tomiyasu started at left-back in a tough visit to Leeds where Arsenal were on the back foot for the majority of the match. But the resilience of the defence helped the Gunners to maintain a clean sheet, which Tomiyasu played a major part in.
Mikel Arteta clearly doesn’t trust Kieran Tierney at this moment in time. With another tricky away game to Chelsea creeping up, it makes sense to keep Tomiyasu in the team as he is more defensively assured, and continuing to give him game time in the build-up to the match will only boost his confidence and his familiarity with the left-hand side.
Arsenal’s last Premier League fixture before the World Cup break is an away match to Wolves where the Gunners will have to nullify the threat of Adama Traore, which Tomiyasu is best equipped at doing compared to all the left-back’s available. So, with two of the last three Premier League fixtures being extremely challenging from a defensive point of view in the wide areas, Tomiyasu should maintain his place.
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