Arsenal: How Kieran Tierney releases Unai Emery’s tactics

Arsenal have made a £25 million bid for Celtic’s Kieran Tierney. Should they sign the left-back, this is how he will release Unai Emery’s tactics.

Last season, Arsenal head coach Unai Emery, in his first season in charge of the club, was extremely adaptable with his tactics. He used a variety of shapes and styles, ranging from 3-5-2 to the throwback flat 4-4-2. Some of them were more successful than others.

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Part of the reasoning for that was simply that Emery wants a flexible squad. He likes to change up his team depending on the opponent, and for that he needs a collective group of players that is capable of playing in several ways. But that is not the only reason.

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Emery’s hands were tied at various points throughout the season. Early on, he struggled for fit centre-halves. Later, he felt he had to squeeze both Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Alexandre Lacazette into the same team but could not play either out wide. Then injuries struck down the right side of the defence, with Hector Bellerin’s absence especially hard felt, while the weaknesses on the left side were also exposed.

This all ended with Emery settling on a 3-5-2 shape to close out the year, playing with three centre-halves, wing-backs, and an attacking midfielder in behind two centre-forwards. But history says it is not his preferred shape. Emery has almost always been a 4-3-3 man. He was at Paris Saint-Germain, Sevilla and even Valencia many years ago. It is also the shape he tried to install early on at Arsenal but quickly changed when he realised both Lacazette and Aubameyang do not fit. If he could have his way, this is what he would revert back to for most matches.

And so we come to the ongoing chase of left-back Kieran Tierney, who was the subject of a second Arsenal bid over the weekend, a bid that matches Celtic’s £25 million valuation. Tierney is an orthodox, modern-day left-back. He still possesses the traditional defensive skills that the position demands, but he allies them with excellent stamina, athleticism and attacking endeavour to enforce an impact at both ends of the pitch.

He is the type of player that Emery did not have available last season. Nacho Monreal’s age started to show, his diminishing athleticism causing him trouble against quicker, more direct wingers — this is why he was much more comfortable when playing at left centre-back in a back three thanks to the greater protection around him. Sead Kolasinac possesed the speed and the power, but his defensive vulnerabilities were apparent and Emery did not trust him in a back four, only willing to play him at wing-back.

With the issues at centre-forward and right-back also troubling the Arsenal head coach, his hand was forced somewhat into veering away from the 4-3-3 shape that he prefers. The system requires two full-backs that can both handle their defensive responsibility, offer a pressure-releasing, ball-progressing outlet in the wide channels, and create chances in the final third. Neither Kolasinac nor Monreal could perform that role. But Tierney can.

This, I feel, is one of the key reasons why Emery is keen to sign a left-back this summer. He wants to revert back more frequently to the 4-3-3 that he loves and trusts. Signing Tierney, then, is the natural move that would allow him to do that. All Arsenal have to do is stump up the cash.