Oleksander Zinchenko (35)

[Highbury Hillbilly]

He will play LB and that's fine. We needed somebody with his mix of PL experience and relative youth. He was the superior option to Martinez, who Utd overpaid for because ETH needs Ajax players.

[Power n Glory]

Will be happy if he's the new starting CM.

[Salibatelli]

Pretty sure he’ll be LB primarily as Xhaka is Arteta’s number 1.

[ag6789]

Either way he should be fine. If Torreira stays we'll have many options in the midfield.

[Highbury Hillbilly]

Pretty sure he’ll be LB primarily as Xhaka is Arteta’s number 1.

I think so too, the Tierney injury situation forced our hand here. No way could we have started the season with only Tavares/Cedric as LB options. I'm glad we moved quickly.

We are stacked with CMs, 4 to pick from even if the club suspends somebody. No need to add another chef to the kitchen. He'll be more dangerous as an overlapping FB behind ESR/Martinelli

[Zenith]

[swipe right]

Why do we need this Frimpon guy? Get rid.

[Ach]

https://www.goal.com/en-gb/news/zinchen ... bb0bf9ada1

[Fran Solo]

Pretty sure he’ll be LB primarily as Xhaka is Arteta’s number 1.

I think so too, the Tierney injury situation forced our hand here. No way could we have started the season with only Tavares/Cedric as LB options. I'm glad we moved quickly.

We are stacked with CMs, 4 to pick from even if the club suspends somebody. No need to add another chef to the kitchen. He'll be more dangerous as an overlapping FB behind ESR/Martinelli

Zinchenko is not an exceptional defender, but yeah, he is the type of players Arteta like. Just look at our defenders. Most of them are good on the ball, can sneak in some killer passes forward, but not especially great at defending. This is not necessarily a bad thing because I am fine with sacrificing a bit of defending quality with more focus on attacking. I think we should be ready to see our players giving the ball to the opposition or getting skinned by opposition's forwards. But I'm fine with that as long as we are productive enough on the other side of the pitch.

[swipe right]

https://www.goal.com/en-gb/news/zinchenko-right-leave-man-city-arsenal-arteta-guardiola/bltc75e39bb0bf9ada1

I wouldn’t trust a word Guardiola says. If he thought Zinchenko’s natural position was attacking midfielder why didn’t he play him there? In the time Zinchenko has been at City, Guardiola has bought Berbardo, Gundogan and elevated Foden. Seems like a case of not good enough for us, but he’ll do fine for you lot.

[Fran Solo]

https://www.goal.com/en-gb/news/zinchenko-right-leave-man-city-arsenal-arteta-guardiola/bltc75e39bb0bf9ada1

I wouldn’t trust a word Guardiola says. If he thought Zinchenko’s natural position was attacking midfielder why didn’t he play him there? In the time Zinchenko has been at City, Guardiola has bought Berbardo, Gundogan and elevated Foden. Seems like a case of not good enough for us, but he’ll do fine for you lot.

To be fair, I don't mine the not-good-enough-for-us-but-will-be-fine-for-you scenario because I think he will improve our squad. Same as Jesus.

[theHotHead]

Pretty sure he’ll be LB primarily as Xhaka is Arteta’s number 1.

I think so too, the Tierney injury situation forced our hand here. No way could we have started the season with only Tavares/Cedric as LB options. I'm glad we moved quickly.

We are stacked with CMs, 4 to pick from even if the club suspends somebody. No need to add another chef to the kitchen. He'll be more dangerous as an overlapping FB behind ESR/Martinelli

This is probably the first time I have disagreed with one of your posts.

Stacked with numbers, not stacked with quality. For where Arsenal need to be only Partey and Torreira have the quality to be nailed on starters, Xhaka shouldn't be at the club and Elneny is an able backup CM.

[Highbury Hillbilly]

Pretty sure he’ll be LB primarily as Xhaka is Arteta’s number 1.

I think so too, the Tierney injury situation forced our hand here. No way could we have started the season with only Tavares/Cedric as LB options. I'm glad we moved quickly.

We are stacked with CMs, 4 to pick from even if the club suspends somebody. No need to add another chef to the kitchen. He'll be more dangerous as an overlapping FB behind ESR/Martinelli

This is probably the first time I have disagreed with one of your posts.

Stacked with numbers, not stacked with quality. For where Arsenal need to be only Partey and Torreira have the quality to be nailed on starters, Xhaka shouldn't be at the club and Elneny is an able backup CM.

I'm looking at it from Arteta's perspective. He rates Xhaka and Partey, so they will always play; Xhaka has been shadow captain ever since the contract extension anyway so he is undroppable.

Elneny and Sambi are rated as well so they are second in line if the above are unavailable. Torreira is not rated, and won't ever take the field in Arsenal colours again while Arteta is manager.

That's why I'm certain that Zinchenko will play LB. Tets knows the Tavares buy was a mistake and he needs a recognized player in that position.

[elkanofan]

He will play LB until Tienery is fit then hopefully we see him at CM instead of Xhaka

Zinchenko - Partey - Odegaard

Thats a acceptable midfield 3.

We should go for a proper 433 this season.

[Ach]

He's got 35?