Former Chelsea defender warns Arsenal star that role under Arteta is ‘not good for his career’
Former Chelsea defender Khalid Boulahrouz has questioned whether Jurrien Timber’s current “versatile” role at Arsenal good for his career.
The Gunners have started the season in good form considering Mikel Arteta’s side faced a tricky start to the season with matches against Aston Villa, Tottenham and Manchester City in their first six matches.
Arsenal are currently third in the Premier League table after their 4-2 victory over Leicester City over the weekend, while they beat Paris Saint-Germain 2-0 on Tuesday night in their second Champions League clash of the new campaign.
Timber has returned from almost a full season out through injury and has made eight appearances in all competitions for Arsenal this term.
The Netherlands international has played at right-back and left-back so far this season, while he was used to playing as a centre-back for Ajax.
And Boulahrouz, who played 20 times in all competitions for Chelsea, reckons Timber could harm his career by continuing to show his versatility at Arsenal.
“Of course he is coming back from a serious injury,” Boulahrouz told Ziggo Sport.
“Then you are very humble and happy that you are in the starting line-up at such a great club. You enjoy that. But is it good for the rest of your career? No.
“Is it good to be versatile? It can be an option every now and then. If he were to play right back, that’s closer to his nature, but left back… No, that’s not what you were brought in for. You played centrally and you deserved it.”
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Arsenal boss Arteta is very excited to have Timber and Riccardo Calafiori as options this season with both players capable of playing multiple positions.
Arteta said earlier this week: “We missed Jurrien 11 months and Riccy wasn’t here. They are two players that have the football brain, the intelligence, the courage, the quality and adaptability to occupy different spaces attacking and defending. That gives the team a different dynamic and makes us unpredictable for the opponent to defend. And they’re both huge personalities which I love.
“[The full-backs] have to have one in common – they have to love defending first. The quality that we have is great. Playing full-backs that are inverting with their natural foot for the flow and the units it’s really important.”
When asked specifically on what Timber is like as a character, Arteta replied: “A leader. A guy that is constantly thinking how can I help others and bringing great quality to everything that he does. Even in the little time that he’s been with us and the amount of time he’s spent on the pitch, for everyone to speak so highly of him in the way that they do, that tells you everything about the personality that we have in the team.
“He comes from Ajax, it was a big move, different country. He comes here with expectations, starts really well and then gets injured in the first game. Then what? You have to look ahead, eight, nine, 10, 12 months and you can feel very lonely and isolated from the team. That can be very disappointing and very difficult to handle personally and emotionally.
“He did the exact opposite. He started to build unbelievable relationships with the physios and his teammates, he started to gather all the information he could about how we were playing and that really helped to understand him as a person and how we were playing in a much better way and to be prepared when he was back.”
