Mikel Arteta has lamented the losses of Jurrien Timber and Thomas Partey to injury, with the pair’s absences making it harder for Arsenal to be “unpredictable” in the way they play.
Timber was signed in the summer for £38.5million from Ajax and impressed in pre-season before injuring his knee in the opening Premier League game of the campaign.
The 22-year-old was signed as a versatile option in defence, but in particular because he could tuck into midfield from right-back - in the same way Oleksandr Zinchenko does from the left.
Thomas Partey was doing the same for Arsenal in early matches this season, but he injured his thigh in October and is still weeks away from returning.
“It was a huge blow,” said Arteta, when asked about Timber’s injury. “Everyone could see from day one what he was going to bring to the team. “The versatility, the quality, the leadership. And an ability that we did not have in the backline. It was a huge blow.
“It was a huge blow as well losing Thomas. We had other plans as well with him, to become very versatile and unpredictable in our way of playing.
“We have not had them and that is difficult. We have them in the building, which is a joy. But we have not had them on the field as much as we wanted.”
Arsenal were top of the Premier League on Christmas Day, but they have slipped recently and suffered back-to-back defeats.
They are now fourth in the table and five points off leaders Liverpool, who they host in the FA Cup third round on Sunday.
And asked if Timber was going to change the way the team would play this season, Arteta said: “Yep.
“[We saw] a little part of it. He was only available for pre-season and the first game of the season.”
