Mikel Arteta's £50m solution to Arsenal injury worry sparks huge Jurrien Timber opportunity
Ben White is the worst-kept secret in Mikel Arteta’s new Arsenal system which has coincided with an eleven-goal haul across the last two games. The £50million man has taken over the responsibilities of Oleksandr Zinchenko who has been missing since half-time in the 3-1 win over Liverpool.
The Ukrainian had delivered a new-look style to the Gunners’ full-back position but with the former Manchester City defender out injured along with Takehiro Tomiyasu – who has also shown promise inverting from the left – Arteta had to bring in Jakub Kiwior. Initially, the Polish international was tasked with inverting too however his first-half performance in the 2-1 away defeat to Fulham raised questions over his ability to play there.
Arteta had made the same mistake with Kieran Tierney in the past. The Scotsman spoke recently of his struggle with the shift to the new system and eventually, it would cost him his place in the squad entirely as he fell to fifth choice behind Zinchenko, Tomiyasu, Kiwior and more recently Jurrien Timber.
With Zinchenko out injured again and Tomiyasu not yet ready to return, he has had no choice but to use Kiwior again out of his natural left-sided centre-half preference and at left-back. Yet, the Pole did not invert against either West Ham at the London Stadium in the 6-0 win or at Burnley in the 5-0 victory.
Instead, White was the player seen coming further inside than he would typically. The below images show the average passing position of White compared to his teammates and notice how against both Nottingham Forest and Crystal Palace when he was not tasked with being the primary inverter he was slightly closer to the touchline than right wing teammate Bukayo Saka.
Compare that against the matches with West
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