Jurrien Timber joined Arsenal earlier in the summer and bedded himself in time to join the squad that travelled to the United States for the MLS preseason tour. Timber has always been known for his versatility, featuring as a center back, right back and right wing back from his Ajax days, but Mikel Arteta featured him in the Oleksandr Zinchenko left back role and he blended in like water off a duck’s back, giving his manager the confidence to feature him in the Community Shield victory over Manchester City as a left back.
Timber expectedly started in the left back inverting role in the hard fought win over Nottingham Forest but he came up short in an innocuous challenge late in the first half. I was surprised to see Timber come out after the break, but five minutes into the restart, he hit the deck when he received a pass and I feared the worst, as he was subbed off for Takehiro Tomiyasu, with Kieran Tierney, his regular substitute, not in the playing squad.
After the game, the gaffer shared his thoughts on Timber’s injury,
“No, the officials, the doctors, they looked at him and they were happy to continue, him as well, but straight away in the second half the first action he made a movement and it was a bit funny so we took him straight out and now we have to assess him to see what he has.”
Timber was accessed after the game and suffered an ACL injury, which will sidelined him for a very lengthy period. Timber was signed to provide depth for the defensive rearguard, but his unavailability has been very fortunate. Luckily, Arsenal has not lost key players like Ben White, Gabriel and William Saliba to any injuries, as they are very vital cogs to the defensive machine.
In his recent interview ahead of the Aston Villa game, Arteta has confirmed that Timber will have an in-house match organized for him, and he would feature for the Under-21s in the club’s bid to build up his fitness,
“He’s still got a few steps to make. He needs to play a game at least within the under-21s. He’s going to have an in-house game soon as well. He’s done everything in training.
“Now he’s getting that match fitness and having people around him and starting to compete in a football match, which is different to training.”
This is a great plan, as the fans will want to see Timber perform at a high level before the campaign concludes, but with Arsenal fighting for the Premier League and Champions League, I feel that Timber will probably feature sparingly, and we will be hoping for no further injuries to the defensive assets.
I wish Timber the very best in his recuperation and rehabilitation.
Sayonara.
Follow Gooner Daily on Twitter @goonerdaily.
Visit Gooner Daily’s Facebook page.
Click on the “Follow button” to join Gooner Daily’s Mailing List
Leave a Reply