Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has explained his decision to substitute Kieran Tierney during Wednesday night’s Carabao Cup quarter-final win over Crystal Palace.
With Oleksandr Zinchenko, Riccardo Calafiori and Takehiro Tomiyasu all sidelined, it meant the Scotland international featured for the Gunners for the first time since the 2023 Community Shield clash against Manchester City.
Of course, this was partly down to Tierney spending last season out on loan in Spain with Real Sociedad.
With that said, it was the defender’s first appearance of any kind since sustaining a hamstring injury in Scotland’s 1-1 draw against Switzerland at Euro 2024 all the way back in June.
Therefore it was no surprise that the 27-year-old didn’t complete the full game and he signalled to come off with around 20 minutes to go.
Despite falling to the turf and then replaced by youngster Myles Lewis-Skelly, Arteta has eased concerns that Tierney suffered a fresh injury setback by confirming the left-back was suffering with minor muscle pain.
“It was cramp,” the Arsenal boss revealed in the post-match press conference.
On another day, Tierney could - perhaps should - have marked his Gunners return with an assist as he picked out Raheem Sterling in the second half, only for the on-loan Chelsea winger to fluff his lines from close range.
Furthermore, it was noticeable that the defender was given license to push forward rather than operate as an inverted full-back which is usually the task of an Arsenal left-back in Arteta’s system.
Though, the Spaniard admitted to a tactical tweak in order to get the best out of Tierney.
“He’s playing to his strengths, that’s something that we have to continue to learn because they give you a lot of information, they tell you not sometimes with their words but with a lot of information, where they feel more comfortable and certainly there is a much better fit for him,” Arteta added.
Arsenal go into the hat for the Carabao Cup semi-final draw which will be made tonight (Thursday 19 December) at around 10.30pm GMT upon the conclusion of Tottenham’s clash with Manchester United.
