Arsenal: 5 solutions to Kieran Tierney left-back problem

3. Bukayo Saka at Left-Back

Back where it all began, and back to the same counterpoint: why move one of the best players in the entire team out of his best position?

That is the major issue with this move. Bukayo Saka can play left-back as everyone well knows; it’s where he burst onto the scene and started attracting everyone’s attentions, but he’s also playing a role out on the right of the pitch which is so tactically and physically demanding that no other player can come close to matching his level.

Shifting him out to quite literally the opposite corner of the pitch is something he can be trusted to do. His versatility is remarkable. Yet Arsenal, aside from Monday night, have been in fine form and are distinctly more threatening and decisive in the final third. So much of that is credited to the role Saka plays on the right.

He’s been building a fine partnership with Martin Odegaard in the right half-spaces, unearthing an even more brutal dribbling capacity to weave beyond multiple markers, and improving his output in front of goal.

Saka would fill a gap for Arsenal at the back, but he would leave an even bigger one up front.

Continued on next page…