Arsenal: How should Hector Bellerin, Kieran Tierney be used?

Hector Bellerin and Kieran Tierney played for the under-23s last week. As they near first-team action, how should Arsenal head coach Unai Emery use them?

There is always an eagerness to rush key players back into the fold. Because of their undoubted importance to the team and the desperate need to get results each and every week, managers can be easily coerced to fielding returning stars before they are actually ready for significant first-team action.

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And even once these players are fit enough to start, it can take them several games to find their sharpness, especially if they are coming off the back of muscular or joint injuries that have kept them on the sidelines for an extended period and rid them of that initial explosive power. Patience, then, is vital.

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But simultaneously, you do not want to be too cautious. These players need to play to test their bodies and physically improve their condition. They also need to eventually work their way back into the starting XI because, at some point, they will offer the best chance of winning. How to balance these two juxtaposing requirements, then, can be quite challenging, and it takes a manager of great resolve, resilience and awareness to tip-toe the fine line between pushing too hard and not hard enough.

This week, Arsenal welcomed back Hector Bellerin and Kieran Tierney to first-team training. They played their first match with the under-23s. Premier League matches are probably too high intensity for them at this present, but they are on the cusp of returning to the senior side, starting on Tuesday night against Nottingham Forest in the Carabao Cup. Head coach Unai Emery was asked about whether the pair might feature in Arsenal’s opening EFL Cup tie. His answer was a little coy:

"“We are going to decide tomorrow but the first idea is if we can, they will have minutes on Tuesday. This is the first idea, but it depends on tomorrow for their feelings and the decision for the first XI because we played today and we are going to play on Tuesday <…> We are going to decide tomorrow with Hector and with Tierney [if] we will want to use them. I don’t know if that’s starting in the first XI or after from the bench, or if they are feeling well.”"

After they came through the under-23s match on Friday unscathed, you would presume both are physically able to at the very least make an appearance from the off the bench, which would be a major step in the right direction. But would Emery be tempted to start either in an attempt to accelerate their rehabilitation process?

Perhaps. Ultimately, it depends on the physical assessment of the doctors and physios and what they recommend. It is possible that Tierney may start because Sead Kolasinac is the only other fit left-back and is need of a rest, but rushing him back just to provide rest to another would not be a wise decision. If Emery does start Tierney, it must be because the Scottish defender is ready, not for the benefit of another player.

I would be slightly surprised to see either start against Forest, however exciting it would be. Ultimately, their long-term fitness and availability is the only concern here. That is what Emery must base his selection decisions on, both on Tuesday and for the next few weeks.