Kieran Tierney is Massively Overrated and a Liability for Arsenal
Over and over, I see people heralding Kieran Tierney as a stud left-back for Arsenal and I’ve finally had enough. As an Arsenal fan, Tierney is sickeningly overrated and for once, it’s not just by our own fanbase. The man is a complete liability for the squad especially now that Arsenal’s goal next season should be to at least give some resistance in the title race.
Everyone knows Tierney can’t stay healthy so I’m not even going to stress on that part very much. The part that drives me crazy is that Tierney is viewed as a game-changer when healthy. He’s not. The only reason he looks like he is one, is because Arsenal’s defensive depth has been so terrible that we’ve never had a competent enough left-back in the squad when Tierney is out. We all saw Nuno Tavares this season. Tavares makes Tierney look like Roberto Carlos.
This is exactly why Arsenal need one more defensive signing this summer. Giving Tierney legitimate competition has to be a priority and it looks like it has been with Arsenal being linked to versatile defensive players such as Lisandro Martinez of Ajax, Oleksandr Zinchenko from Manchester City and Alex Grimaldo from Benefica.
Now, Kieran Tierney is by no means a bad player. He’s simply just average or a little above average but gets treated like a world class left-back and that’s my problem. Defensively he’s quick and tough often winning 1v1 duels but his positioning is abysmal. I can name a handful of times just off the top of my head that his horrendous defensive awareness has cost Arsenal goals and that’s unacceptable for a team vying for Champions League qualification.
On top of that, contrary to popular opinion, I think he’s pretty average with the ball at his feet. He’s not fluid at all and makes extremely predictable decisions. The modern outside back needs to be able to provide something offensively and, besides robotic movements or uninspiring crosses, I don’t think Tierney adds much frankly. At times he can make dumb decisions in his own half too, putting the defense in a spot of bother. Now when he’s nothing special on the pitch and can’t ever actually stay healthy, I’m not sure why he’s rated so highly.
Arsenal is finally turning the corner. Now is the time to be relentless and for me that means going out and buying a versatile defender who’s a playmaker with the ball at their feet. The other elite English teams like Manchester City, Liverpool, and Chelsea all have that in their respective backlines with João Cancelo, Trent Alexander-Arnold, and Reece James. It’s time for Arsenal to join that group and I can promise you; Kieran Tierney isn’t the guy to help them do it.
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