Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta knew he needed to have a significant overhaul of the club’s playing staff when he was appointed in late 2019. The squad now bears little resemblance to what he was supplied with when replacing Unai Emery and he has finally got a bunch of players who’re totally on his side.
Kieran Tierney’s response to being dropped against Liverpool proves exactly that. The Scot thought he was a shoo-in to begin the visit of Jurgen Klopp’s side last weekend.
Oleksandr Zinchenko was absent through injury and Tierney had been taken off early within the Europa League win over Bodo/Glimt for what he thought was to preserve him for the massive Premier League clash. Nevertheless, Arteta made a late call to play right-back Takehiro Tomiyasu on the other side of defence.
When Zinchenko is fit, he’s the first-choice left-back for the Gunners. So Tierney would understandably be fuming that he didn’t play even with the Ukraine star unavailable.
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Talk is typically low cost but there was an actual sense of meaning in what Tierney said, understanding the choice made was in one of the best interests of the team. The togetherness at Arsenal is best than it has been in a protracted time.
Arteta has moved on a lot of big-name players in recent times who didn’t align along with his way of pondering. It has taken almost three years for the Spaniard to compile a squad who’re on his wavelength, which is half the battle.
There remains to be loads of work to be done and nothing has been achieved yet. But there’s a way that is the beginning of something special on the Emirates.
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