‘You Need’—Arsenal Squad Set Challenge by Cool-Headed Teammate
Arsenal defender Jurriën Timber is keen to avoid catastrophising Saturday’s narrow 2–1 defeat at the hands of Aston Villa, insisting his teammates “need” to channel that frustration into something positive.
The Gunners looked to be settling for a hard fought point on the road after Leandro Trossard had cancelled out Matty Cash’s earlier Villa opener. But Emiliano Buendía, famously an Arsenal target in 2021, scored a killer winning goal in the fifth minute of stoppage time.
Combined with Manchester City’s win over Sunderland, Arsenal’s lead at the top of the Premier League table has been reduced to just two points. Villa themselves are only one further back.
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Timber insisted in the wake of the Villa Park setback that Arsenal have to make the most of it by allowing the defeat to shape the response. If any complacency was starting to creep in, it should have been shaken out by losing in that manner.
“I think in the end you need to use it as a motivation and in the end as a strength, because it happened and we need to accept it and we need to get better,” the Dutchman explained.
“Within the season, these moments happen, setbacks, and you just have to step up after that.”
Arsenal host a woeful Wolverhampton Wanderers in their next Premier League game, before a trip to in-form Everton on Dec. 20. Before that, however, there is a Champions League commitment that will be an opportunity to consolidate their position atop the league phase standings. Making the relatively short hop to Belgium, Club Brugge are the opponent.
Arsenal’s Defensive Injury Crisis Stretches Depth
It feels like only a few weeks ago that some were willing to hand Arsenal the Premier League trophy already. But since a 2–0 win over Burnley at the start of November, the Gunners have won two of five Premier League games. Over the same period, City have won four and dropped points only once.
But a critical development has been the injuries that have hit Arsenal in their biggest strength—the centre of defence. Starting pairing Gabriel and William Saliba are both sidelined, with backup option Cristhian Mosquera also falling victim to injury during the midweek win over Brentford.
Timber, who had made the right back spot his own, started at centre back on Saturday as cover, next to Piero Hincapié. The Dutchman is no stranger to the role, while neither are fellow full backs Ben White and Riccardo Calafiori, but the depth and cover is being particularly tested.
“I think we have a great squad,” Timber said. “I think players that come in always do really good, but obviously it’s not always easy. We can’t play every week with the same players and if players go out again, it’s tough. But I think it’s also part of [what] happens within the season. I think it happens at every club. With us it’s the same and we just have to manage that with and win our games.”
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