Football pundit, Micah Richards, has been very effusive of his praise for Arsenal full back, Jurrien Timber after his performance against Paris St. Germain.
The Arsenal defender has done very well to recuperate and recover adequately from a season ending anterior cruciate ligament injury he suffered last season, sidelining him for the best part of close to a year. Timber has worked really hard to regain full fitness and has been a standout player for Arsenal this season.
Arsenal’s ever-present right back, Ben White, has been struggling with injuries, and in his absence, Timber has slotted in like water off a duck’s back. With Oleksandr Zinchenko, Kieran Tierney and Takehiro Tomiyasu nursing injuries, the Dutch defender deputized as left back, and has since moved to right back to cover for White while Riccardo Calafiori staked a claim for the left back berth.
Timber played his first 90 minutes in a long while in the narrow win over Tottenham and continued his run of good form that saw him retain his place in the first team consistently. However, there are fitness concerns for him after he was substituted at half time in Arsenal’s win over Paris St. Germain.
We will need to have a close eye on Mikel Arteta’s press conference tomorrow to confirm the fitness status of Timber.
What Micah Richards said about Timber
In his chat with The Rest is Football podcast, Richards said,
“You know who has been outstanding? Timber. Obviously he had his bad injury but he can play left-back, he can play right-back.”
“When you have that long-term injury, it takes you a while to get back before you sort of get into your peak fitness. But he has come into the team and he looks fresh as anything.”
‘What a signing he has been!’
Timber has proven to be a very astute signing for Arsenal and I’m glad to see him contributing positively to the squad. Hopefully, he would have an injury-free campaign this time.
