Arsenal have FANASTIC DEFENSIVE OPTIONS ! | What is our 1st choice fullback pairing?

Arsenal fans, do you remember the days when we never had good centre-halves or good full-backs and our defence was, quite frankly, appalling and shocking really and truly? It's fair to say the sun is shining now at the Emirates. Now we've all seen the famous quote by Sir Alex Ferguson, attacks wins you games, you look at the goals we're scoring and that's reflected in such, defence wins you titles. The jury is still out as to whether Arsenal can actually win a league title but when you look at the players we have at our disposal, variety is the spice of life and we've got defenders that can help close out games, defenders with a bit more quality in the final third, we've got some all-rounders and, in short, Mikel Altea is assembling the perfect blend of defensive players in our defensive unit which all complement each other and all have different strengths and weaknesses and can all give us something different according to what every competition demands of such. There's no way around it, Mikel Altea is a man with a plan and he knows exactly what he's doing, in my humble opinion. He's operating at a different frequency level to the rest of us and he's calculating every move for this football club but, to me as an honest football fan, I do have to ask the question, who is our first-choice full-backs? What is the first-choice pairing? Now, to play for a Mikel Altea team you need to be an intelligent footballer, you're going to be involved in several different phases of play all across the football pitch, individually and collectively. You're going to be creating triangles, you're going to be pulling into certain spaces where you might not necessarily receive the ball but it's for a teammate to exploit. It's not an easy job at all, if I'm completely honest with you. Now, again, every position in professional football is very difficult but I would argue the hardest role to play at Arsenal Football Club is an inverted full-back or just as a full-back in general under Mikel Altea. It's very intricate, there is no margins for error and you need to stand up to be counted and you need to be consistent. Clearly, Mikel Altea makes it simple for you to understand but it's also complicated. You're involved in several phases of play defensively and offensively and it is extremely difficult once again. You know, Mikel Altea is a chess master and you need to be able to play chess to do such. Now, to be honest with you, first up, Mr Zinchenko. It's fair to say, at least where Arsenal fans are concerned, his stock has been steadily falling. The only criticisms I can really have of Zinchenko, while I believe personally, folks, he has improved his heading, his positioning, his defensive awareness, I don't think he's good enough at the level required and respectfully, he is a bit of a liability defensively. But there has to be a correlation for when he first arrived at this football club, with him playing week in, week out in his own individual way, he collectively participated in a title challenge. Obviously, when you think of inverted full-backs, you probably think of Pep Guardiola's Philipp Lahm, you definitely think of Trent Alexander-Arnold at Liverpool. But where Arsenal Football Club are concerned, Zinchenko was the poster boy. Obviously, between Tommy Assu and Benjamin White, Arteta has flirted with such before. But when Zinchenko came in, he was a revelation. I didn't want to get rid of Quirin Tini, but I must admit, when I saw Zinchenko playing in that inverted role, it was a breath of fresh air and he does give us a lot of creativity and simply put, it's an extra man in the middle of the park. He's obviously got a fantastic bit of vision on him and passing range. It allows the sackers, the other guards, whoever to be higher up the field in areas where they can hurt the opposition. He clearly is the poster boy of the inverted role. I mean, you go back to Mikel Arteta's days at Manchester City, he converted Zinchenko into this role. And I do think his level of experience, being a Premier League winner, being in high-pressurised environments, there's a lot of transferable skills he can give to our team and his teammates. He fully understands what Mikel Arteta demands of him. He fully understands what Mikel Arteta is specifically asking. And I can see why he's in the team. I must admit, I am a bit shocked with some Arsenal fans' comments about Zinchenko. They act like he's damaged goods. I do think, not that the system is leaving him, folks, but as we advance and we get creativity in other areas and you see Mikel Arteta play Benjamin White as an inverted full-back, and I'm sure we're all awaiting on Timba's return. I do think the cons, the better yet, the pros of Zinchenko's game are not outweighed by the cons, if I'm completely honest with you. I would keep him. I think when the sun's shining and we're playing teams that are going to dominate possession, I think that's Zinchenko's bread and butter. In games where, obviously, he's going to be tested defensively, he is probably the weak area that teams look to exploit, whether that's the fact that he goes to sleep defensively, not the best in the air, not the strongest 1v1. A pro to, obviously, an inverted full-back role as we've got an extra man in midfield, but there's a balance of things. There's a lot of space in behind. That is the areas, I think, where Zinchenko could improve, if I'm completely honest with you. But as I said, he's the poster boy of the full-back role. He's the most versatile in that. Well, versatile is not the right word, but he's the most experienced in that because he's done it under Mikel Arteta. And you could argue, as we move into this new realm at Arsenal Football Club, where we're a lot more of a possession-based dominating side, which possession and attack is a form of defence, you're going to see less frailties with Zinchenko and a bit like take nothing away from Kirill. But yet, because we've been dominating games, you haven't really seen him called into action defensively. Shout out to him for Porto. Or you haven't really seen that Ramsdell Anfield away performance last season from David Rayo. And in a nice way, I'd like for that to continue. I think it's different horses for different courses and I think there is a role for Zinchenko to play here. But I understand he is a liability and his stocks somewhat have fallen. Now, fresh off of signing a new contract, a new long-term deal at Arsenal Football Club, I describe him personally as a Japanese Swiss army knife. He's intelligent, he's versatile, he's humble. I don't think he gets enough credit, but he's actually very both-footed. Of course, he's not the most glamorous of players in this current Arsenal team, nor is he the most glamorous Arsenal player I've ever seen. But I love him. He looks a lot older than his actual age, but at 25 years of age, there's a lot more he can bring to the table. The only knock I could put on Tomiyasu's name is when I say Arsenal players injured. If you're not saying Thomas Partey, you probably are saying Tomiyasu. And for as much as I love the player and his abilities, the best trait you can have is being available. Or you find yourself indirectly becoming obsolete, which could be the case to a slight degree with Tomiyasu's teammate, Thomas Partey. I love him. He's clearly intelligent, able to retain information. I was gutted with his latest injury because he really was improving in the final third. I think his greatest strength is also his greatest weakness in that sometimes I think he's too humble to the point where he doesn't always believe in himself. And when you read between the lines at Mikel Arteta's press conferences when speaking about Tomiyasu, he kind of alludes to such. And I think it's very interesting when you listen to what Mikel Arteta says about Zinchenko, for example, he doesn't really talk about anything to do with the defensive aspects of the game. When discussing Tomiyasu, he specifically says the first job of a defender is to be able to defend people. I love the guy. I think he's dominant in the air. I know Gabriel and Saliba could probably lay claim to the point I'm about to make. But I think in terms of 1v1 defending, I don't think there's a tougher player at Arsenal Football Club to get past than Tomiyasu. He's dominant in the air. He's versatile and can play all across the back four. He's comfortable at left back and right back. I love Tomiyasu. I don't know if he's currently in Arteta's plans to be first choice because form does dictate a lot of things. But we've got some fantastic potential partnerships in terms of our left back and right back. And I'm happy with Tomiyasu, whether he's a first team regular, whether he's on the bench to help us see out games, whether he's an option at centre half. I'm happy to have Tomiyasu. I do think it's interesting that he's only essentially signed a two year deal with the option of a third. Could that be because, you know, because as I said, surely you want to put him down on a deal that Benjamin White had. But could that be a thing where we've given him two years? There is an option of a third, but he's got two years to kind of prove himself, you know, prove that you can get over these injuries and be a main player. Or is there another option that we're going to look at in the future? There's rumours of Miles Lewis-Skelly potentially becoming a left back. Obviously we're all seeing the interest in young Hato at Ajax. Could that be a thing where in years to come Tomiyasu's role might become diminished? I'm not sure. But as I said, the only knock against Tomiyasu's name for me is fitness. If you're not able to stay fit, then to a degree your development is going to stagnate and you're going to find your role at the football team diminished. As we become better as a football club, as you all can see, there's serious competition for places and there's no room for sentiment. But I love Tomiyasu. I'm happy with him and I'm delighted that him and Benjamin White have signed new deals. And it's almost a great reward because, you know, Tomiyasu and they've been through the trenches since Mikel Arteta has joined the club. When it comes to Benjamin White, personally, I think he needs some new haters. His haters are becoming fans. You know, Jamie Carragher, Gary Neville, all of them had something to say when we signed Benjamin White for £50m off the back of one Premier League season. And they ripped him and a number of players and just damn right our whole project off because we got butchered, rightly so, against Brentford. It's fair to say once again Mikel Arteta, Edu and everyone connected with Arsenal stuck to their guns and we're seeing the fruits of now the labour and the plans and things they put into place. It's hard not to love Benjamin White. For me, I describe him as the leader of the new school. And what I specifically mean by that is when you look at his age, of course, you've got Partey, El Nene, Jorginho, exceptions to the rule, but he's 26. When you look at him, the Sackers, the Gabriels, the Martinellis, the Odegaards, Benjamin White is the leader of the new school, in my opinion. He's 26 years of age. He's gone through an educational period on loan at Peterborough. Obviously, he's played for Brighton. He's been at Newport and he's actually played more times for Arsenal than Brighton. So he's been learning on the job. Since he's been reverted to full-back, he has been a revelation. I wouldn't rule out him playing centre-half again one day, but right now, right-back is his. It doesn't matter if he's playing as an organic, traditional full-back, as an inventive and inverted full-back, and whatever Mikel Arteta demands of him, he takes it all in his stride. No clue why Southgate doesn't see eye-to-eye with him at England level, but from a selfish Arsenal point of view, for a man that plays week-in, week-out, if his legs are able to be rested for our football club, then that is fantastic. He's a man that should be joining Aaron Ramsdale, Declan Rice, Bakayo, Saka, etc., etc., in potentially going off to the Euros. But England's loss is our gain. I've got a lot of time for Benjamin White. I think now, similar to Gabriel, he's now getting the plaudits he deserves. But for a long while of time at Arsenal, he was very underappreciated, in my opinion, and one of our most underrated players. He's durable. He's versatile. He's, pardon my language, a shithouser. He's got that will to win. He's continuously misunderstood for obvious reasons. He says he doesn't like football, which is misunderstood. There's a work-life balance. The man gives his all. He wants to improve. He does everything he can. But when the game's done or training's done, he doesn't give a monkey's about football. And as long as he keeps performing like this and does what he needs to do, it's great. And also, we all know he's an absolute weapon at set-pieces on a regular basis. You can obviously see him surrounding the goalies and things. The only thing I would say with Benjamin White, I do think he can improve ever so slightly in one-v-one situations. But he's a competitor. He's a gladiator. He's a warrior. It's well known he puts his body on the line for Arsenal and rightly or wrongly masks or hides injuries so that he can play. It's that sort of commitment to the badge that I think shouldn't be misunderstood and shouldn't be underappreciated. He's got a fantastic passing range. He's a good crosser. He pops up in vital moments. I think he's got the right temperament. He takes everything good and bad in his stride. And he is a linchpin at Arsenal. And obviously, the better we get, the more competition for places there is going to be. He's reacted well from Timber's arrival. Yes, he was previously playing at left-back prior to his injury. But Timber can play left-back and right-back. Tomiasu's obviously about. Zinchenko plays left-back. But obviously, only two players can play at one time, give or take. And I think he's reacted very well. And I do think, once again, you see Mikel Arteta's blueprint, what he's doing with Ramsdale, what he's done with Benjamin White, the development path of Gabriel and Saliba and every other player that's been involved. I think Benjamin White's a champion in how he behaves. And I love the man, really. Again, if we didn't have Declan Rice and Martin Odegaard, he's probably someone that could be Arsenal's captain. In a nice way, though, when you look at the invincible sides or any teams that's won anything, you can't really pick out the captain, regardless who's wearing the armband. So long may it continue, Benjamin. I know, Arsenal fans, I shouldn't draw conclusions on Jürgen Timber. But for me, I honestly believe he's one of the missing puzzles to what Mikel Arteta is trying to create. Does he quite have the creative ability of Zinchenko? No. But I think he's not far off. I think he's adequate in terms of his range of passing, his final ball. And he's stronger 1v1, which I think in 1v1 situations, if you don't understand what I'm saying, which I think is going to be crucial if Arsenal want to take the step from being a good team to a great team, a team that goes from aspiring slash challenging for Premier League titles to actually winning it. I do want to stress, whether it's Kiriol, Tomiasu, Benjamin White, Timber, whoever have you, we've got one of the Finnish squads in the league, Mikel Arteta is saying. And this season, you've seen us have to cope with injury since August. We need a squad. It is firmly different courses for different horses. There's going to be games more suited to Timber and White, White and Tomiasu and any other duo of fullbacks you can imagine. I don't want to draw too many conclusions on Timber. I mean, he had a great pre-season in which big up Declan Rice, but I was saying, I think he could be our player of the season in which Declan Rice is doing his thing. I know he's only played 50 minutes of official Premier League football before that sad injury, but I genuinely believe Timber at left back is going to be cash money. It's going to take us to another level. He doesn't look like the tallest, but I mean, he stands at around six foot and you know, when you know he's a Dutch player, he's come through Ajax and them kind of things, people. He's extremely intelligent. I think in years to come, this guy will be a linchpin of Arsenal. But I have to stress, we need a squad and I don't know how Timber is going to look after his massive ACL injury. He's going to need time to adapt. He's going to need time to get up to full speed and he's going to need time to shake that ring rust off. Evidently, every player is going to have good games and bad games and stuff of that ilk. So yeah, that's what I believe. But I think Timber is going to be a hit and it will be nice to see a fully fit squad because there's been times where historically, through Tommy Astley's time at the club, he could have dealt with a rest. Benjamin White could have dealt with a rest. And as I said, a lot of things will dictate who plays and when, whether that's injuries, form, you know, having to rotate during games, the game state as Mikel Arteta previously says. You know, as I said earlier, different horses for different courses. Now, I'm not Mikel Arteta, but for me, the possibilities could be endless, especially with the inverted fullbacks. And if we sign another central midfielder, take nothing away from Jorginho because he could do this too. I'm merely speaking about the long term vision of our football club. Now, as you can see on screen, you know, in terms of build up play, there's several phases that we typically line up in. There's several shapes. You know, I don't think there's such thing as one fixated shape or formation within football. It's quite fluid. There's many different passing lanes and passing patterns. And you do see Gabriel pull out to the left-hand side, our inverted left backs stay further up the field and everybody else move accordingly in terms of where they can receive the ball. And I just feel with stronger 1v1 defenders, especially, the possibilities are endless. And more athletes take nothing away from Zinchenko because he is an athlete. But with Timber, with White, with another athletic central midfielder, with the monsters of Gabriel and Declan Rice, with Odegaard who's a press machine, Saka who's a demon, Martinelli the same. And whether it's Havertz, Jesus, another striker, the possibilities are endless, especially as people become a more possession dominating side. You know, possession is a form of defence and we can suffocate teams, especially if we've got the pace, the dynamism, the strength, the intelligence and the tactical know-how to, you know, be able to gamble and ultimately the street smartness. And it starts to whet my appetite. It starts to arouse my imagination as to where Arsenal Football Club could be. And the possibilities, once again, are potentially endless, people. You know, you typically see us at times, you know, in terms of our pressing shape. Again, it's typically two banks of four. It kind of mimics a 4-4-2 kind of formation at times when we're pressing as well, folks, as you can see on screen. And for me, it would be Timber and White. I think there's games for Tomi Asio. I think there's games for Zinchenko. I think there's games for Kirill. And Kirill's development in particular is good. Now, if I just bring in some of the opposition team for this makeshift example, people, you begin to see what I mean about suffocating teams and what Mikel Arteta might want to do. As you can see on screen, I'm putting the defenders and the goalies. Sorry about actually having the goalies the same colour as the outfield players, people. That's a bit of a problem there. But one thing I like is the ability to suffocate teams in their own half to give them no escape route. And I would also say, go man for man, especially if we're playing the Liverpools, the Cities. I'm jumping the gun a bit. They're buying Munich. It's not just this season, but beyond. And obviously, you know, when you've got athletic players behind, you know, behind you, where the midfield and the strikers are concerned, you can gamble a bit more. You know, obviously he has to mop up a lot and that will be the case. And I just think we can go, we're allowed to go man for man throughout the football pitch and again, suffocate teams and give them no opportunity but to concede possession for us, really. When you've got pace, strength, tactical, technical level of ability, players that can pick a knife from a pass, you know, I want us to be a team like Manchester City where they can, and obviously Mikel Arteta was there, they can kill you all over the football field, no matter what they're doing. They can kill you in two, three passes. We've seen it with Edison, etc, etc. So you can begin to see what I mean about suffocating teams and going man for man. If I just remove these players for a second and bring you another example, as I said, sorry for having to set the keeper as the same colour. There we go. I've kind of fixed it up now to make it a bit more pleasing. Let me work my magic. As you know, Benjamin White is a demon, Declan Rice, Saliba and Gabriel are men monsters. Timber is probably going to more likely line up in that inverted role. You'd have Declan Rice or the new centre mid offering for the ball, one of them being the deeper of the midfielders and Odegaard just operating however he wants really and truly. Odegaard's shown he can drop deeper this season. Obviously, he's the number 10 in the team. He indirectly becomes a striker out of possession. And tell me I'm lying people. Tell me this doesn't excite you, what potentially Mikel Arteta could do. And again, the thing that excites me the most is the ability to go man for man all over the field. As you can see, you know, between Gabriel and Saliba, they'd have to pick up the strike and the other one would have to cover. Timber would have to pick up a man as well. And as I said, he's more likely to be inverted and you'll have to look over his shoulder for the wing off. Benjamin White the same. Obviously, Bakayo Saka would be next to the left back. Gabriel Jesus would have to just occupy the two centre halves. It could be Gabriel Jesus. It could be Havertz. It could be Trossart. It could be a new striker. Have whatever you want people. Not that we're trying to copy Manchester City in any way, shape or form. But naturally, they have crossed uncharted waters for Arsenal Football Club. They have walked the walk our football club wished to go on. So naturally, you're going to look at what they're doing. Again, Mikel Arteta was at City. They were doing the inverted thing and what have you. But I think personally, this is a very interesting talking point from Pep Guardiola. When asked on why they won the treble and the latest title, he said at the time, he said the biggest step this year was that everyone in the back four was real, real proper defenders. Win your jewel in our box. Win your jewel. In the past, we did not have it. Now, that could be bad news for someone like Zinchenko, who has improved defensively. But where Tomiyasu, Benjamin White, Timber, Kiryu, etc. are concerned, you would say they're stronger in 1v1 drills. And when you look at City, when you've had the Akanjis, the Akes, the Diazes, the Kyle Walkers, and they've indirectly had John Stones in midfield, which you could draw parallels to Benjamin White, that is going to be the key. You know, I love Mikel Arteta's football. I love the swagger. I love the more street smartness. And we're a bit more of an all-rounded side. We love to defend. We love to score from set pieces. We love to show resilience. We obviously are a very good football team. And our home pitch is becoming a nasty ground for visiting teams. Equally away from home, we're becoming amazing. So we're ticking along. We're on the right trajectory. But I do believe this. When I heard Pep Guardiola say this at the time, it stuck with me. And naturally, I think this is something Mikel Arteta is looking at. I know he's flirted with Partey at right-back, which was a bit different. I know Timber's injury threw a spanner in the works. But I do think we're going to have to be stronger or strong 1v1. That doesn't mean someone like Zinchenko does not have a role to Now, for me personally, whether it's Kyrgios, whether it's Timber, whether it's Tomiasu, Zinchenko, there's even rumours of a young Miles Lewis-Skelly. The club see him as a potential inverted left-back in the Zinchenko role. I don't know. But it's great conversations to have and good problems to have. Lord knows, Arsenal Football Club, we've come a long way, As you know, there are several many different calculations Mikel Arteta is going to have to race through in his head to make Arsenal more unpredictable. And according to the game state, give us the best possible chance of winning. I'm personally happy I'm not Mikel Arteta, but definitely since the moment he walked into this football club, it's been a lot more rosier in that regard. Let me know your thoughts. That's all I've got to say, people. Let me know your thoughts. Who would be the first-choice full-back pairing? Which one do you think is the best outright? Who do you think is the strongest 1v1? And who do you think is the most all-rounded? On that note, thank you very much, people. DG, I'm out. Arsenal fans, do you remember the days when we never had good centre-halves or good full-backs and our defence was, quite frankly, appalling and shocking really and truly? It's fair to say the sun is shining now at the Emirates. Now, we've all seen the famous quote by Sir Alex Ferguson, attacks wins you games. You look at the goals we're scoring and that's reflected in such. Defence wins you titles. The jury is still out as to whether Arsenal can actually win a league title, but when you look at the players we have at our disposal, variety is the spice of life and we've got defenders that can help close out games, defenders with a bit more quality in the final third. We've got some all-rounders and, in short, Mikel Arteta is assembling the perfect blend of defensive players in our defensive unit which all complement each other and all have different strengths and weaknesses and can all give us something different according to what every individual game across every competition demands of such. There's no way around it. Mikel Arteta is a man with a plan and he knows exactly what he's doing, in my humble opinion. He's operating at a different frequency level to the rest of us and he's calculating every move for this football club, but to me as an honest football fan, I do have to ask the question, who is our first-choice full-backs? What is the first-choice pairing? Now, to play for a Mikel Arteta team, you need to be an intelligent footballer. You're going to be involved in several different phases of play all across the football pitch, individually and collectively. You're going to be creating triangles, you're going to be pulling into certain spaces where you might not necessarily receive the ball but it's for a teammate to exploit. It's not an easy job at all, if I'm completely honest with you. Now again, every position in professional football is very difficult but I would argue the hardest role to play at Arsenal Football Club is an inverted full-back or just as a full-back in general under Mikel Arteta. It's very intricate, there is no margins for error and you need to stand up to be counted and you need to be consistent. Clearly, Mikel Arteta makes it simple for you to understand but it's also complicated. You're involved in several phases of play defensively and offensively and it is extremely difficult once again. Mikel Arteta is a chess master and you need to be able to play chess to do such. Now, to be honest with you, first up, Mr Zinchenko. It's fair to say, at least where Arsenal fans are concerned, his stock has been steadily falling. The only criticisms I can really have of Zinchenko, while I believe personally, folks, he has improved his heading, his positioning, his defensive awareness. I don't think it's good enough at the level required and respectfully, he is a bit of a liability defensively. But there has to be a correlation for when he first arrived at this football club with him playing week in, week out in his own individual way. He collectively participated in a title challenge. Obviously, when you think of inverted full-backs, you probably think of Pep Guardiola's Philipp Lahm. You definitely think of Trent Alexander-Arnold at Liverpool. But where Arsenal Football Club are concerned, Zinchenko was the poster boy. Obviously, between Tomi Asu and Benjamin White, Arteta has flirted with such before. But when Zinchenko came in, he was a revelation. I didn't want to get rid of Kerentini, but I must admit, when I saw Zinchenko playing in that inverted role, it was a breath of fresh air and he does give us a lot of creativity and simply put, it's an extra man in the middle of the park. He's obviously got a fantastic bit of vision on him and passing range. It allows the sackers, the Odegaards, whoever to be higher up the field in areas where they can hurt the opposition. He clearly is the poster boy of the inverted role. I mean, you go back to Mikel Arteta's days at Manchester City, he converted Zinchenko into this role. And I do think his level of experience being a Premier League winner, being in high-pressurised environments, there's a lot of transferable skills he can give to our team and his teammates. He fully understands what Mikel Arteta demands of him. He fully understands what Mikel Arteta is specifically asking, and I can see why he's in the team. I must admit, I am a bit shocked with some Arsenal fans' comments about Zinchenko. They act like he's damaged goods. I do think, not that the system is leaving him, folks, but as we advance and we get creativity in other areas and you see Mikel Arteta play Benjamin White as an inverted full-back, and I'm sure we're all awaiting on Timba's return, I do think the cons, the pros of Zinchenko's game are not outweighed by the cons, if I'm completely honest with you. I would keep him. I think when the sun's shining and we're playing teams that we're going to dominate possession, I think that's Zinchenko's bread and butter. In games where, obviously, he's going to be tested defensively, he is probably the weak area that teams look to exploit, whether that's the fact that he goes to sleep defensively, not the best in the air, not the strongest 1v1, you know, a pro to obviously an inverted full-back role as we've got an extra man in midfield. But, you know, there's a balance of things. There's a lot of space in behind. That is the areas I think where Zinchenko could improve, if I'm completely honest with you. But, as I said, he's the poster boy of the full-back role. He's the most versatile in that. Well, versatile is not the right word, but he's the most experienced in that because he's done it under Mikel Arteta. And you could argue, as we move into this new realm at Arsenal Football Club, where we're a lot more of a possession-based dominating side, which possession and attack is a form of defence, you're going to see less frailties with Zinchenko and a bit like take nothing away from Kirill. But yet, because we've been dominating games, you haven't really seen him called into action defensively. Shout out to him for Porto. Or you haven't really seen that Ramsdell Anfield away performance last season from David Rayo. And in a nice way, I'd like for that to continue. I think it's different horses for different courses. And I think there is a role for Zinchenko to play here. But I understand he is a liability and his stocks somewhat have fallen. Now, fresh off of signing a new contract, a new long-term deal with Arsenal Football Club, Takahiro Tomiyasu, I describe him personally as a Japanese Swiss army knife. He's intelligent, he's versatile, he's humble. I don't think he gets enough credit, but he's actually very bold-footed. Of course, he's not the most glamorous of players in this current Arsenal team, nor is he the most glamorous Arsenal player I've ever seen. But I love him. He looks a lot older than his actual age, but at 25 years of age, there's a lot more he can bring to the table. The only knock I could put on Tomiyasu's name is when I say Arsenal players injured. If you're not saying Thomas Partey, you probably are saying Tomiyasu. And for as much as I love the player and his abilities, the best trait you can have is being available. Or you find yourself indirectly becoming obsolete, which could be the case to a slight degree with Tomiyasu's teammate, Thomas Partey. I love him. He's clearly intelligent, able to retain information. I was gutted with his latest injury because he really was improving in the final third. I think his greatest strength is also his greatest weakness in that sometimes I think he's too humble to the point where he doesn't always believe in himself. And when you read between the lines at Mikel Arteta's press conferences when speaking about Tomiyasu, he kind of alludes to such. And I think it's very interesting when you listen to what Mikel Arteta says about Zinchenko, for example, he doesn't really talk about anything to do with the defensive aspects of the game. When discussing Tomiyasu, he specifically says the first job of a defender is to be able to defend people. I love the guy. I think he's dominant in the air. I know Gabriel and Saliba could probably lay claim to the point I'm about to make. But I think in terms of one v one defending, I don't think there's a tougher player at Arsenal Football Club to get past than Tomiyasu. He's dominant in the air. He's versatile and can play all across the back four. He's comfortable at left back and right back. I love Tomiyasu. I don't know if he's currently in Arteta's plans to be first choice because form does dictate a lot of things. But we've got some fantastic potential partnerships in terms of our left back and right back. And I'm happy with Tomiyasu whether he's a first team regular, whether he's on the bench to help us see out games, whether he's an option at centre half. I'm happy to have Tomiyasu. I do think it's interesting that he's only essentially signed a two-year deal with the option of a third. Could that be because, as I said, the man's 25. Surely you want to put him down on a deal that Benjamin White had. But could that be a thing where we've given him two years? There is an option of a third, but he's got two years to kind of prove himself, prove that you can get over these injuries and be a main player. Or is there another option that we're going to look at in the future? There's rumours of Miles Lewis-Skelly potentially becoming a left back. Obviously we're all seeing the interest in the Hato at Ajax. Could that be a thing where in years to come Tomiyasu's role might become diminished? I'm not sure. But as I said, the only knock against Tomiyasu's name for me is fitness. If you're not able to stay fit, then to a degree your development is going to stagnate and you're going to find your role at the football team diminished. As we become better as a football club, as you all can see, there's serious competition for places and there's no room for sentiment. But I love Tomiyasu. I'm happy with him and I'm delighted that him and Benjamin White have signed new deals. And it's almost a great reward because Tomiyasu and Benjamin White, they've been through the trenches since Mikel Arteta has joined the club. When it comes to Benjamin White, personally, I think he needs some new haters. His haters are becoming fans. Jamie Carragher, Gary Neville, all of them had something to say when we signed Benjamin White for £50 million off the back of one Premier League season. And they ripped him and a number of players and just damn right our whole project off because we got butchered, rightly so against Brentford. It's fair to say, once again, Mikel Arteta, Edu and everyone connected with Arsenal stuck to their guns and we're seeing the fruits of now the labour and the plans and things they put into place. It's hard not to love Benjamin White. For me, I describe him as the leader of the new school. And what I specifically mean by that is when you look at his age, of course, you've got Partey, El Nene, Jorginho, exceptions to the rule, but he's 26. When you look at him, the Sackers, the Gabriels, the Martinellis, the Odegaards, etc. etc. Benjamin White is the leader of the new school, in my opinion. He's 26 years of age. He's gone through, you know, an educational period on loan at Peterborough. Obviously, he's played for Brighton. He's been at Newport and he's actually played more times for Arsenal than Brighton. So he's been learning on the job. Since he's been reverted to fullback, he has been a revelation. I wouldn't rule out him playing centre-half again one day, but right now, right back is his. It doesn't matter if he's playing as an organic traditional fullback, as an inventive and inverted fullback, and whatever Mikel Arteta demands of him, he takes it all in his stride. No clue why Southgate doesn't see eye to eye with him at England level, but from a selfish Arsenal point of view, for a man that plays week in, week out, if his legs are able to be rested for our football club, then that is fantastic. He's a man that should be joining Aaron Ramsdale, Declan Rice, Bakayo Saka, etc, etc, in potentially going off to the Euros. But England's loss is our gain. I've got a lot of time for Benjamin White. I think now, similar to Gabriel, he's now getting the plaudits he deserves, but for a long while of time at Arsenal, he was very underappreciated, in my opinion, and one of our most underrated players. He's durable. He's versatile. He's, pardon my language, a shithouser. He's got that will to win. He's continuously misunderstood for obvious reasons. He says he doesn't like football, which is misunderstood. There's a work-life balance. The man gives his all. He wants to improve. He does everything he can. But when the game's done or training's done, he doesn't give a monkey's about football. And as long as he keeps performing like this and does what he needs to do, it's great. And also, we all know he's an absolute weapon at set pieces on a regular basis. You can obviously see him surrounding the goalies and things. The only thing I would say with Benjamin White, I do think he can improve ever so slightly in one-v-one situations, but he's a competitor. He's a gladiator. He's a warrior. It's well known he puts his body on the line for Arsenal and rightly or wrongly masks or hides injuries so that he can play. It's that sort of commitment to the badge that I think shouldn't be misunderstood and shouldn't be underappreciated. He's got a fantastic passing range. He's a good crosser. He pops up in vital moments. I think he's got the right temperament. He takes everything good and bad in his stride. And he is a lynchpin at Arsenal. And obviously, the better we get, the more competition for places there is going to be. He's reacted well from Timber's arrival. Yes, he was previously playing at left-back prior to his injury, but Timber can play left-back and right-back. Tomi Asu's obviously about. Zinchenko plays left-back, but obviously only two players can play at one time, give or take. And I think he's reacted very well. And I do think, once again, you see Mikel Arteta's blueprint, what he's doing with Ramsdale, what he's done with Benjamin White, the development path of Gabriel and Saliba, and every other player that's been involved. I think Benjamin White's a champion in how he behaves. And I love the man, really. Again, if we didn't have Declan Rice and Martin Odegaard, he's probably someone that could be Arsenal's captain. In a nice way, though, when you look at the invincible sides or any teams that's won anything, you can't really pick out the captain, regardless who's wearing the armband. So long may it continue, Benjamin. I know, Arsenal fans, I shouldn't draw conclusions on Jürgen Timber, but for me, I honestly believe he's one of the missing puzzles to what Mikel Arteta is trying to create. Does he quite have the creative ability of Zinchenko? No, but I think he's not far off. I think he's adequate in terms of his range of passing, his final ball, and he's stronger 1v1, which I think in 1v1 situations, if you don't understand what I'm saying, which I think is going to be crucial if Arsenal want to take the step from being a good team to a great team, a team that goes from aspiring slash challenging for Premier League titles to actually winning it. I do want to stress, whether it's Kiriol, Tom Iassu, Benjamin White, Timber, whoever have you, we've got one of the finished squads in the league, Mikel Arteta is saying. And this season, you've seen us have to cope with injuries since August. We need a squad. It is firmly different courses for different horses. There's going to be games more suited to Timber and White and Tom Iassu and any other duo of fullbacks you can imagine. I don't want to draw too many conclusions on Timber. I mean, he had a great pre-season in which big up Declan Rice, but I was saying, I think he could be our player of the season in which Declan Rice is doing his thing. I know he's only played 50 minutes of official Premier League football before that sad injury, but I genuinely believe Timber at left back is going to be cash money. It's going to take us to another level. He doesn't look like the tallest, but I mean, he stands at around six foot. And you know, when you know he's a Dutch player, he's come through Ajax and them kind of things, people. He's extremely intelligent. I think in years to come, this guy will be a linchpin of Arsenal, but I have to stress, we need a squad. And I don't know how Timber is going to look after a massive ACL injury. He's going to need time to adapt. He's going to need time to get up to full speed and he's going to need time to shake that ring grass off. Evidently, every player is going to have good games and bad games and stuff of that ilk. So yeah, that's what I believe. But I think Timber is going to be a hit and it will be nice to see a fully fit squad because there's been times where historically through Tommy Astley's time at the club, he could have dealt with a rest. Benjamin White could have dealt with a rest. And as I said, a lot of things will dictate who plays and when, whether that's injuries, form, you know, having to rotate during games, the game state as Mikel Arteta previously says, you know, as I said earlier, different horses for different courses. Now I'm not Mikel Arteta, but for me, the possibilities could be endless, especially with the inverted fullbacks. And if we sign another central midfielder, take nothing away from Jorginho because he could do this too. I'm merely speaking about the long-term vision of our football club. Now, as you can see on screen, you know, in terms of build up play, there's several phases that we typically line up in. There's several shapes, you know, I don't think there's such thing as one fixated shape or formation within football. It's quite fluid. There's many different passing lanes and passing patterns. And you do see Gabriel pull out to the left-hand side, our inverted left-back stay further up the field and everybody else move accordingly in terms of where they can receive the ball. And I just feel with stronger 1v1 defenders, especially the possibilities are endless and more athletes take nothing away from Zinchenko because he is an athlete, but with Timber, with White, with another athletic central midfielder, with the monsters of Gabriel and Declan Rice, with Odegaard who's a press machine, Saka who's a demon, Martinelli the same, and whether it's Havertz, Jesus, another striker, the possibilities are endless, especially as we become a more possession-dominating side. You know, possession is a form of defence and we could suffocate teams, especially if we've got the pace, the dynamism, the strength, the intelligence and the tactical know-how to be able to gamble and ultimately the street smartness. And it starts to whet my appetite. It starts to arouse my imagination as to where Arsenal Football Club could be. And the possibilities, once again, are potentially endless, people. You know, you typically see us at times, you know, in terms of our pressing shape. Again, it's typically two banks of four. It kind of mimics a 4-4-2 kind of formation at times when we're pressing as well, folks, as you can see on screen. And for me, it would be Timber and White. I think there's games for Tomi Asio. I think there's games for Zinchenko. I think there's games for Kirill. And Kirill's development in particular is good. Now, if I just bring in some of the opposition team for this makeshift example, people, you begin to see what I mean about suffocating teams and what Mikel Arteta might want to do. As you can see on screen, I'm putting the defenders and the goalie. Sorry about actually having the goalie is the same colour as the outfield players, people. That's a bit of a problem there. But one thing I like is the ability to suffocate teams in their own half, to give them no escape route. And I would also say go man for man, especially if we're playing the Liverpools, the City's. I'm jumping the gun a bit, the Bayern Munich's, not just this season, but beyond. And obviously, you know, when you've got athletic players behind, you know, behind you where the midfield and the strikers are concerned, you can gamble a bit more. You know, Gabriel Zinchenko is there. Obviously, he has to mop up a lot and that will be the case. And I just think we can go, we're allowed to go man for man throughout the football pitch and again, suffocate teams and give them no opportunity but to concede possession for us really. When you've got pace, strength, tactical, technical level of ability, players that can pick a knife from a pass. You know, I want us to be a team like Manchester City where they can, and obviously Mikel Arteta was there, they can kill you all over the football field no matter what they're doing. They can kill you in two, three passes. We've seen it with Edison, et cetera, et cetera. So you can begin to see what I mean about suffocating teams and going man for man. If I just remove these players for a second and bring you another example, as I said, sorry for having to set the keeper as the same colour. There we go. I've kind of fixed it up now to make it a bit more pleasing. Let me work my magic. As you know, Benjamin White is a Timber is probably going to more likely line up in that inverted role. You'd have Declan Rice or the new centre mid offering for the ball. One of them being the deeper of the midfielders and Odegaard just operating however he wants really and truly. Odegaard's shown he can drop deeper this season. Obviously he's the number 10 in the team. He indirectly becomes a striker out of possession and tell me I'm lying people. Tell me this doesn't excite you, what potentially Mikel could do. And again, the thing that excites me the most is the ability to go man for man all over the field. As you can see, you know, between Gabriel and Saliba, they'd have to pick up the strike and the other one would have to cover. Timber would have to pick up a man as well. And as I said, he's more likely to be inverted and you'll have to look over his shoulder for the wing of Benjamin White. The same, obviously, Bakayo Saka would be next to the left back. Gabriel Jesus would have to just occupy the two centre halves. It could be Gabriel Jesus, it could be Havertz, it could be Trossart, it could be a new striker, have whatever you want people. Not that we're trying to copy Manchester City in any way, shape or form, but naturally they have crossed uncharted waters for Arsenal Football Club. They have walked the walk our football club wish to go on. So naturally you're going to look at what they're doing. Again, Mikel Arteta was at City, they were doing the inverted thing and what have you. But I think personally this is a very interesting talking point from Pep Guardiola. When asked on why they won the treble and the latest title, he said at the time, he said the biggest step this year was that everyone in the back four was real, real proper defenders. Win your jewel in our box, win your jewel. In the past we did not have it. Now that could be bad news for someone like Zinchenko, who has improved defensively, but where Tomiyasu, Benjamin White, Timber, Kiryu, etc. are concerned, you would say they're stronger in 1v1 drills. And when you look at City, when you've had the Akanjis, the Akes, the Diazes, the Kyle Walkers, and they've indirectly had John Stones in midfield, which you could draw parallels to Benjamin White, that is going to be the key. I love Mikel Arteta's football. I love the swagger. I love the more street smartness and we're a bit more of an all-rounded side. We love to defend. We love to score from set pieces. We love to show resilience. We obviously are a very good football team and our home pitch is becoming a nasty ground for visiting teams. Equally away from home, we're becoming amazing. So we're ticking along. We're on the right trajectory, but I do believe this. When I heard Pep Guardiola say this at the time, it stuck with me. And naturally, I think this is something Mikel Arteta is looking at. I know he's flirted with Partey at right-back, which was a bit different. I know Timber's injury through a spanner in the works, but I do think we're going to have to be stronger or strong 1v1. That doesn't mean someone like Zinchenko does not have a role to play at the football club. Now, for me personally, whether it's Kyrgios, whether it's Timber, whether it's Tomiasu, Zinchenko, there's even rumours of a young Miles Lewis-Skelly. The club see him as a potential inverted left-back in the Zinchenko role. I don't know, but it's great conversations to have and good problems to have. Lord knows, Arsenal Football Club, we've come a long way, people. As you know, there are several many different calculations Mikel Arteta is going to have to race through in his head to make Arsenal more unpredictable and according to the game state, give us the best possible chance of winning. I'm personally happy I'm not Mikel Arteta, but definitely since the moment he walked into this football club, it's been a lot more rosier in that regard. Let me know your thoughts. That's all I've got to say, people. Let me know your thoughts. Who would be the first choice full-back pairing? Which one do you think is the best outright? Who do you think is the strongest 1v1? And who do you think is the most all-rounded? On that note, thank you very much, people. DG, I'm out.