Last week, Arsenal were handed the worst news regarding Kieran Tierney as they made preparations to go out and take on Crystal Palace in the Premier League. Eventually, they were handed a 3-0 drubbing by the fellow London club. However, more than the match result, the Gunners were hurt to know that defender Kieran Tierney will miss the rest of the season.
Kieran Tierney did not play on Monday against the Eagles as he complained of knee pain during training on Thursday. Even before the international break, the Scottish defender was playing with discomfort and played every minute with his national team against Poland and Austria. Now, Arsenal have been handed a major setback as Kieran Tierney will undergo knee surgery and miss the rest of the season.
Manager Mikel Arteta, talking about Tierney’s fitness, said it was “not positive” and the club confirmed he will go under the knife. Arsenal posted a statement reading:
“A specialist consultation took place on Tuesday, and as a result of further discussions with Kieran and our medical team, it has been decided that Kieran requires surgery on his knee. This procedure will take place in London in the forthcoming days.
“Kieran’s rehabilitation programme will start immediately after his surgery, at which stage a clearer understanding will be established on his recovery timescale. However, it is likely that Kieran will now miss the remainder of this season.
“Everyone at the club will now be supporting and working hard with Kieran to get him back on the pitch as soon as possible.”
Tierney is also doubtful for Scotland’s World Cup play-off semi-final against Ukraine, to be played in June. However, Arsenal is set to lose him immediately and this could hamper their chances for a top-four finish. Against Palace, Nuno Tavares played in his place but Arteta substituted him at half-time as he was partly at fault for the first two goals conceded. Last season, Cedric Soares and Granit Xhaka played as makeshift left-back cover when Tierney was injured.
Arsenal are also short on right-backs as first-choice Takehiro Tomiyasu has still not recovered from a calf injury. Earlier Arteta spoke about being hopeful that the Japanese international could start against Palace.
However, the north Londoners later confirmed that he would not appear until after their match at Southampton on April 16. Adding to their injury list is Thomas Partey, who got injured in the build-up to the Eagle’s third goal. The Ghanian was in brilliant form for the last several game weeks. The club revealed he was being assessed after his injury.
Sky Sports pundit Paul Merson spoke about Tierney’s injury:
“Kieran Tierney is going to be a big miss for Arsenal. He’s one of the players you can’t afford to take out of this Arsenal team. He’s solid, he’s an 8/10 every week, he sets an example.
“He’s a winner – you know what you’re going to get with him, and he was a big miss on Monday night.
“Nuno Tavares had one of them games at left-back, but it’s hard when you’re out of the team for so long. You’re not really playing football – you’re just training. Even playing in the U23s, it’s not the Premier League.
“To come in and say: ‘Right, play in this game’ – you feel for these players. No matter how much you train, it’s not the same as playing.”
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This Tierney setback has come at the wrong time for Arsenal as this loss against Palace left the club at fifth in the table, level on points with Tottenham in fourth. However, the Gunners have played one less game and both sides have to play against each other.
Arsenal will also face Chelsea, Manchester United and West Ham without the services of the Scotsman. How Arteta manages these games without his primary left-back will define their position at the end of the season.
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The primary question should not be what will the impact of a missing Kieran Tierney have on Arsenal’s top four push. Arsenal will need to win their games against Tottenham, Chelsea, Manchester United, and West Ham to finish fourth. Can it be done? Yes. Will it be done? By the team we saw against Crystal Palace (with Tierney) and Brighton? No.
The real question is, how does the Arsenal owner board, and fans define “progress.” Since taking over,Mikel Arteta has asked fans to ‘trust the process’ and look at the progress. Pundits keep saying t things like ‘there is real progress at Arsenal?’
Empirically and objectively, I would ask, show me. After being appointed mid-season, Arteta’s Arsenal finished 8th, three places lower than Unai Emery. He did win the FA Cup, then promptly let the hero of that game, Aaron Ramsey, leave on a free. The next season of ‘progress’ Arsenal finished 8th again. Close to $200 milli0on spent, and they finished worse, twice, than Arsene Wenger’s worst-ever seasons. And called it progress. Now, $300 million spent and Arteta apologists are still blaming Arsene Wenger for the Spaniard’s failure to improve the team.
The real question is, what result will be proof that the ‘progress’ we keep hearing about is nothing more than P.R, spin? 4th place, and Arteta will match once in three years what his former manager accomplished 20 years in a row. Still, it would be where Arsenal want to be, and if Arsenal are 4th, Arteta has proven himself worthy of renewed faith. If Arsenal finish fifth, that would be better than 8th, no doubt, and the team would be back in the Europa League. If fifth enough to keep the faith? I would say yes, What about 6th. Sixth place gets a team into Europe these days, through a new, third, European cup competition (think of it as the Carabao Cup of European competitions). Is sixth enough? For me, maybe, depending on how the team plays. Lower than 6th? If Arsenal collapse on their run in, and end up 7th or 8th; Arteta has to go because these crises Arsenal are suffering are Arteta inflicted.
He picked a fight with Aubameyang. Regardless of who you think is right, Arteta bungled the situation and Arsenal lost their best forward in the middle of a top four race. Tierney has been fragile since arriv9ing, and Arteta has not done enough to get Tavares into games, to get him minutes, to develop him as a player. Now the club needs the young Portuguese forward and he is not ready. Tomiyasu is down and Cedric is covering, but Cedric is not good enough. Chambers was sent away, so was Kolasinac, so was Bellerin. All players who could be filling these holes in Arsenal’s line up. They were sent away to make room in the squad for the next round of signings; which suggests that the Arsenal owner is going to give Arteta another year no matter how badly the team does but with top four within reach,it seems foolish to strip the squad that achieved those results of depth.
If Arteta does come back, you9 would hope he would grow as a manager, but if anything, he is doubling down on the ‘I’ve never been wrong in my life’ attitude. With William Saliba getting his first two caps for France and assuming a leadership role at Marseille, who are also challenging for a Champions League spot next year, extending an olive branch seems like a no brainer. Instead, Arteta had nothing to say other than to suggest the player would need to provve himself to be worthy of a spot on the team. Saliba, not surprisingly, responded that in his opinion, his performances at Nice and Marseilles and for France should be enough to earn him a chance. Sam old Arteta. Once you piss him off, there is no path to reconciliation. Saliba will probably leave Arsenal never having played a minute for the first team and have a massive career elsewhere because Arteta cannot manage his players.