Reflections on Kieran Tierney

Morning.

We spoke a bit about Kieran Tierney on the Arsecast Extra this week, after he made what will be his final home appearance in the 1-0 win over Newcastle on Sunday. Mikel Arteta is not usually a man who makes decisions based on sentiment, but both Tierney and Jorginho – who will also leave this summer – were given a few final minutes on home turf before their summer departures.

There was a moment after he came on when Gabriel Martinelli was sent scampering into their half, and Tierney charged through to support him. I could see it in my mind’s eye, the ball across, and on his right foot, the Scottish international saying goodbye to the Arsenal fans with one last goal. Sadly, the movement was good, he was in the right position, but Martinelli couldn’t quite deliver the cross.

He may well still be involved on Sunday when we face Southampton, but that was the last chance to do it at home. His return to Celtic is all arranged, he’ll be going home to a club he loves, and I think he’ll do so with genuine affection and no small tinge of regret among Arsenal fans about how his time at this club played out.

When he arrived on deadline day in August 2019 (which was in early August because they’d changed it so everything had to be done before the season started), I wrote of his arrival:

He’s a 22 year old left back who, all going well, will be our mainstay in that position for years to come. He’s quick, strong, defends well, attacks well, and makes us better in a key area of the pitch. There’s a lot to like about this kind of signing, another one which is part of lowering the average age and our rebuilding for the future.

It had been a deal that was on the cards all summer long, so perhaps we should have seen some warning signs about the decision makers at the time that it didn’t happen until the last minute, but ultimately it was a solid signing on paper. Nacho Monreal wasn’t getting any younger, and Sead Kolasinac wasn’t at all suited to left-back. With hindsight the decision to let Monreal leave for Real Sociedad a couple of weeks later wasn’t a great one, but Tierney was a nod to the future.

There was an immediate rapport between him and the fans. The lack of frills was endearing, a player carrying his boots in a Tesco shopping bag was something the ‘common man’ could connect to, rather than the grotesque £6,000 backpack favoured by darts loving, carvery-dominating gadflies like James Maddison. But beyond that you could see immediately Tierney was a real professional. His attitude and commitment were just as easy to connect to, particularly at a time when we had too many players at the club whose primary focus was themselves rather than the team.

Although he was signed as a left-back, it’s easy to forget he played quite a lot as the left-sided centre-half in a back three, including the 2020 FA Cup final in which we beat Chelsea. He had David Luiz one side of him, a midfielder in Ainsley Maitland-Niles the other as his wing-back. That FA Cup win was a collective effort, with a smattering of individual brilliance (Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Nicolas Pepe in particular that day), but the penalty we won to draw level came from a Tierney ball over the top which led to Cesar Azpilicueta making a foul and, I think, getting injured in the process.

Speaking of injured, the unfortunate through-line for Tierney’s time at Arsenal has been the injuries. He arrived that August but didn’t make his debut until September, and then after bedding in picked up a serious shoulder injury, dislocating it three times in one game, and that meant surgery in December. Ordinarily that would have been a three month absence, but the events in early 2020 when we were faced with a global pandemic meant he didn’t play again until June when football started again.

6 months out of the game. And afterwards, his time was blighted by problems that came with a frequency that meant it became difficult to rely on his availability. You could always rely on him to give you 100% when he was fit, but that uncertainty played a part in how his Arsenal career played out.

Kieran Tierney injury history

Personally, I can’t connect with the anger people feel towards players who get injured. It cannot be a personal affront to you that a person is subject to the human condition and the inherent frailties of the body. I can take issue if, for example, a player is unavailable because their lifestyle, a lack of professionalism, or just plain stupidity is the root cause, but when you know there’s someone who just wants to get on the pitch and do their best for Arsenal but they can’t, well … I have sympathy for that.

The other thing to consider is that we talk a lot about match fitness, rhythm, form, and how you need those things to perform at your best. If you’re always playing catch-up with the former it becomes very hard to deliver what you’re capable of as a player. In some ways it prevents further development as you get older and more experienced, and imagine how frustrating it must be to go through that time and time again. You think you’re there, and then bang, another injury. Don’t come at me with the footballers wages nonsense here either. Yes, they are well paid, but when all you want to do is play and you can’t – despite your best efforts – it’s tough going for them.

There is also the tactical aspect of how the team has developed under Mikel Arteta and while every player has their strengths and weaknesses, it became apparent that Tierney wasn’t really suited to that ‘inverted’ role the manager implemented. There’s no shame in that, by the way. It’s a difficult job to marshal your defensive area, and then operate in midfield where you need to be a bit more ‘two-way’. Defenders play, for the most part, with the game in front of them, midfield is much more challenging.

The big injury he suffered playing for Scotland at the Euros last summer probably extended his spell at Arsenal by a year. Whenever he’s been called upon this season, he’s delivered the kind of honest performances we know he’s capable of, and the fact he was used more than once as part of a front-three (even late in games) was an illustration of how this squad was impacted by injury and lack of forward options this season.

I’d love to see a final appearance from him on Sunday, whether he scores a goal or not, and when the time comes for his official departure and a return ‘home’, he’ll go with affection and appreciation. Not necessarily for what we got, but for what we unquestionably knew he wanted to give.

Thanks KT.

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