3 reasons why Kieran Tierney needs to play more

2. Pace, power and creativity

Despite all his technical qualities, Zinchenko is neither quick nor overly strong, which is something Tierney has in abundance despite his relatively small stature.

As an overlapper, Tierney brings huge quality to Arsenal down the left and is extremely accurate with his driven, low crosses into the box which the likes of Bukayo Saka, Martin Odegaard, Gabriel Jesus and Gabriel Martinelli could all benefit immensely from.

It was this style of play that made him one of Arsenal’s most important attacking forces early in Arteta’s tenure, and throughout last season, until injury once again brought it to a premature end.

Tierney’s contrasting style with Zinchenko gives teams two completely different options to deal with, and after his stellar showing against Newcastle, you’d hope that Arteta starts to embrace his strengths as they can be highly valuable in transitional games, or to make the pitch wider when teams set up with a low block.

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