Arteta must ruthlessly axe Kiwior & unleash Arsenal's "warrior" instead
da esport bet： It’s a massive season-defining week for Arsenal.
da 888： Mikel Arteta’s side are still technically in the Premier League title race, but with Liverpool now 11 points ahead with seven games to play, it is all but over.
The Champions League, however, is most certainly not. The Gunners play host to European royalty Real Madrid on Wednesday, and to ensure they have the best chance of heading to Spain with a lead to protect, Arteta has to make a few changes.
Heroes could certainly be made but whether Jakub Kiwior goes on to evoke memories of Philippe Senderos and Co remains to be seen.
Why Arteta has to drop Kiwior
Kiwior played most of the game against Fulham last week and then started against Everton on the weekend due to Gabriel Magalhães’ recent hamstring injury.
To his credit, the Polish international was fine against the Toffees, but against the Cottagers, some of the same issues which have plagued him throughout his time in North London showed themselves again, such as lacklustre ball-playing and questionable positioning.
For example, he was partially to blame for their late goal after getting into and losing a tussle with the rapid Adama Traore.
Moreover, we’ve already seen how he fared against top European opposition in the past, when he started at full-back at home to Bayern Munich last time and seriously struggled, picking up a 3/10 match rating from the Standard’s Dan Kilpatrick, who described him as ‘flat-footed’ while content creator and fan Alexander Moneypenny labelled him as “shakey.”
In all, while Kiwior is a useful squad player and perhaps someone who can come on towards the end of the game, he’s not got the quality to start, especially when there is already a perfect replacement in the squad.
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The Arsenal star to replace Kiwior
So, given the extent of the injuries to the team’s defensive options at the moment, there are only really two options to replace Kiwior at centre-back tonight, and Arteta should go with Ben White.
The Englishman started at right-back at the weekend and, when fit, has almost exclusively started off the right of a back four across the last three seasons.
However, the former Brighton & Hove Albion ace was initially signed as a centre-back and spent the majority of the 21/22 campaign there, with 34 of his 37 appearances that year coming in a back two.
White’s positional versatility
Position
Appearances
Goals
Assists
Centre-Back
208
4
9
Right-Back
113
5
13
Defensive Midfield
13
0
0
Left-Back
4
0
0
Right Midfield
1
0
0
All Stats via Transfermarkt
In fact, across his career to date, it’s been his most played position by quite some margin.
He has made 208 appearances there, so he should be able to slot in without an issue.
Moreover, by starting the Gunners’ “warrior,” as dubbed by talent scout Jacek Kulig, alongside Willliam Saliba, Arteta can once again start Jurrien Timber at right-back, where he has made 26 appearances this year.
Doing this would at least keep most of the team as they have been for much of the season, and when coming up against a team like Real, the rest of the starters need to be confident that those around them will know exactly what they are doing.
Ultimately, it’s not an ideal solution, but Kiwior has not shown enough in his limited appearances to warrant starting a game of this magnitude.
In contrast, White has been Mr reliable during his time at Arsenal and has yet another chance to show why his £50m price tag was more than justified all those years ago.
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