Mikel Arteta urged to drop Arsenal star with ‘best in the league’ replacement claim made
Lee Dixon has urged Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta to drop Ben White in favour of Jurrien Timber as he believes the latter is “probably the best in the league on his day.”
Timber played 30 times in the league for Arsenal last season but started the new campaign from the bench as he works his way back from ankle surgery.
In his place, Ben White featured and played well as the Gunners kept a clean sheet away at Old Trafford but despite that showing, former left back Dixon said Arteta should drop White in favour of the “more adaptable” Timber.
“It’s always a dangerous thing to not have a number one in a certain position,” Dixon said. “For the players’ wellbeing, for his mindset, you need to be in a position where you feel that you’ve got a chance to prove yourself. You don’t want to think one bad game will cost you your place.
MORE ON ARSENAL ON F365
👉 Micah Richards tells Arsenal to go and sign Real Madrid winger who ‘could solve a lot of problems’
👉 ‘Vanilla’ Viktor Gyokeres gets his first pundit hammering after anonymous Arsenal debut
👉 Gary Neville makes Premier League title prediction amid three contenders as Chelsea miss one thing
“But, as I said, there’s a lot of games to come, and injuries are a huge part of how a season goes, and both of these guys have had their injury troubles over the last couple of seasons. Squad rotation is important, and both will play a lot of football.
“Timber is probably a little bit more adaptable. I know Ben can obviously play centre half, but Timber can play left-back, he can play right-back, centre back.”
Dixon did praise White though, highlighting his link up play with Bukayo Saka, but suggested Timber could develop that and was “probably the best in the league on his day.”
“I am a big Timber fan, I have to say,” Dixon continued. “And that’s not to say I’m not a Ben White fan. I think his relationship with Saka has developed into something really tangible. You can see the synergy between them. Timber’s similar, but if I was going for one right now, I’d probably go for a fit Timber. I think he’s probably the best in the league on his day.
“He’s got that strength. I like his tenacity. He looks like a strong kind of hard-hitting, but ball-playing fullback as well. He reminds me a bit of how I used to play.”
Dixon may well get his wish for Arsenal’s next game at home to Leeds United after White left the field injured.
He was substituted in the 71st minute and was seen to by the club physio but was walking round normally at the end of the game suggested any issue was not too serious.
