If there was ever an opportunity for Oleksandr Zinchenko to prove his worth, now is it. If there was ever a time when Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta demonstrated that the Ukrainian international has a future at Arsenal, it is now.
The Gunners are experiencing a minor midfield dilemma. The dream Arsenal midfield combo of Declan Rice, Martin Odegaard, and Mikel Merino is poised to miss the Spurs-Arsenal match this weekend. Yes, Rice returns after the NLD, but Merino and Odegaard may be out longer owing to injury.
There are numerous ways Arteta can handle the midfield crisis, and giving Zinchenko a chance could be one of them. The Ukrainian international was originally a midfielder, and given his defensive troubles at left back, some Arsenal fans believe he has a future in midfield.
He could be an excellent midfield option against Spurs, playing easily as the LCM. All eyes will be on Arteta to take advantage of Zinchenko’s technical abilities, such as his ability to advance the ball and make those line-breaking passes at LCM, which helps the Gunners maintain possession.
If Arsenal can’t play Zinchenko in an advanced midfield role under any circumstances, they should sell him as soon as the transfer window opens. I refuse to think he can’t manage a game as an advanced midfielder versus Spurs.
If he solely serves as LB cover and does not play midfield, Arsenal should consider him redundant due to his defensive struggles at LB, a situation they should have addressed by selling him this summer.
Darren N
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imo, he should have been sold last winter or summer if any decent offers were received.
I think he’ll still at Arsenal next season, because Partey and Jorginho might get shipped out next summer
Zinny is liability to Arsenal, He is here because of Arteta bought this below average player with huge transfer fee. If he was not purchased by him till now he would have been released
He made us almost win EPL in the last two seasons with his playmaking ability in the inverted LB position and his attacking skills will still be important to break tough defenses this season
@Gai his defensive weakness has also cost Arsenal some good points last season ie Baley got through him at Spuds, MSalah got through him at the Emirate, TAnold got through him at Anfield to mention a few. The question is Does he offer much in midfield? YESS! can Arsenal do without him? The answer from most fan would be YES.
In Ukraine last Nations game he did poorly in the midfield. I like Zinny but he doesn’t offer too much and can’t bet on him for all games.
#Aston Villa.
We’d better try him out in Xhaka’s position before shipping him out
it is clear Arteta does not rate Zinc in midfield, remembering he worked closely with Zinc at Man C before Arsenal
having not played Zinc in midfield at all it’s seems unlikely he is going to start now, especially Spurs away
Arteta sees him as a LB, end of
I think he may start left back on Sunday to time when to step in midfield and protect Partey and Jorheinho
i hope not, Spurs away is exactly the type of game for safety first at leftback, especially with defensive rocks Rice and Odegaard missing, no time to risk flaky Zinc when you have Timber and Calafiori
Imo i believe zinc is better suited to play further up field where mistakes will happen but less costly where he is totally exposed at LB
MA done this with xhaka and the final couple of seasons he was great for us.
Will be interesting to see how and who we set up with in the NLD this Sunday
the spuds will play the high line so hopefully we take full advantage and stuff them
Defensively we are as strong as we have ever been and they have built up an unbelievable mentality of thou shall not pass at any cost.
Seems like gone are the days where we opened up like the red
sea so hats off to the team and manager for this.
0-2
Come sunday evening North London will be red and white
again
Onwards and upwards
Seems to have fallen off a cliff as far as performances are concerned.
I doubt Arsenal will sell him in January. If he leaves, it’s likely to be next summer. Will Arsenal get their original investment of £30m back? Probably not given his current performance level, but as long as any loss isn’t great that’s not likely to be a barrier to his departure I would have thought.
His wages might?
‘Needs Must’ If Zinchencko is our best option for left sided midfield so be it. IMO he is less of a risk in midfield than at LB. We need to keep our defense in tact and then we have a chance to come away with the points. Who really cares how we do it?
Zinchenko needs a lot of space to play play passes, he won’t thrive in the compact midfield of PL teams unless he is playing as an inverted LB. Give Nwaneri a chance period with Harvets an 8 while Trossard false 9. Partey and Joghino may see the game off as a double pivot if we score early .
Arteta cannot afford to play zinchencho at LB against kuluveski. Kuluveski will skin him to death. Timber should be used there at LB and use zinc in midfield. My only worry with zinc in midfield is his lack of physicality. I think arteta will use jorginho – partey which will stifle the attack unless we can play trossard/ martinelli as a 10 with Sterling on the left and saka on the right and harvetz or jesus as the 9
Well, we’re just gonna have to deal with hand we were played. Sterling might get a look in from the start the way things are developing. I predict a midfield of Jorginho and Partey as double pivot while Jesus and Havertz dovetail further up front, assuming Jesus is available. Timber starts at leftback if available. But Sterling might get the nod on the left or come in as a sub for Trossard