I’m yelling Timber

Ben White has been one of Arsenal’s most consistent and popular players since signing for Arsenal from Brighton in the summer of 2021. His first season as a centre-half next to Gabriel was pretty good but his move to right-back a season later to accommodate William Saliba was a genuine masterstroke.

White was a beneficiary of Takehiro Tomiyasu’s injury issues, so we never really saw a proper tussle between the two for the right-back spot. Even when Tomiyasu was fit, he tended to play at left-back since that became position more of an issue for Arsenal as Oleksandr Zinchenko was considered increasingly dispensable.

White changed his physical outputs to become a top class full-back, he became more slender and more athletic and built his stamina, applying himself ruthlessly to his new role. For several months, maybe longer, he also played through the pain barrier with a knee injury, especially as Jurrien Timber immediately suffered a season-ending injury in August 2023.

There are a series of cruel ironies in White’s injury issues meaning that he has dropped slightly in the pecking order since Timber’s return. It is especially cruel for him since he has done precisely nothing wrong. In the broader picture, the competition between White and Timber is exactly what you want in an elite squad.

Timber hasn’t taken over because of anything White has done wrong but because of what Timber has done right. There has been no indifferent form, just a straight up competition between two elite options. Managers will often tell you that they identify attributes first and work out positions later on.

I am not convinced Arteta envisaged Timber or White primarily as right-backs when they were signed. I think Arsenal saw qualities they liked in both players and just let events take over. That’s one of the advantages of recruiting in this manner; it allows the team to take on a natural shape. I am not convinced that Arteta saw Kai Havertz as primarily a striker or Declan Rice as primarily a ‘left eight’ when he bought them.

I am certain he intended to use them in those roles on plenty of occasions but circumstances dictated that they suited these positions best within the overall unit. Currently Arsenal have four elite options for the two full-backs positions. Lewis-Skelly and White haven’t done anything to warrant sitting next to one another in the dugout for the biggest games, it’s just that Timber and Calafiori have done a lot right.

Which brings me on to Jurrien Timber. Last season, he would have very much ‘podiumed’ for the player of the season award for my money. So far this season, he has retained those standards as one of Arsenal’s best performers. A stocky right-back wearing the number 12 shirt with the build of a middleweight boxer kindles positive memories for Arsenal fans of a certain age and I think he shares other similarities with Lauren (namely that I would run away very, very quickly if he ever squared up to me).

When I look back at that Invincibles defence of Lauren, Toure, Campbell and Cole, one of their defining features was their ability in duels and their ability to defend large spaces. Elite teams leave their defenders on an island quite a lot and defenders in these teams have to be able to handle that. Liverpool have built many a trophy winning season on Virgil van Dijk’s ability to handle a tightwire knife fight.

Timber has a favourable physique for a one v one duel. Muscular but not so much that it reduces his speed, low centre of gravity and the sort of firm buttocks (I will circle back to the point soon, I promise!) which, when parked between an opposing winger and the ball, form a wall of resistance.

Because it is one thing to have physical gifts and another to know how to use them. And the way Timber uses his physique is the key to his prowess in one-v-one situations. He rarely ‘tackles’ in the traditional sense. He engages early, manoeuvres his shoulder or, erm, arse into an opponent and simply moves the attacker out of the way.

He averaged fewer fouls per 90 last season (1.15) than Zinchenko or Calafiori (in fairness, those players were asked to vacate their post more often), he also wins just more than a foul a game from an opponent- only Myles Lewis-Skelly, with over three fouls per 90 won- averaged more last season.

One of Timber’s greatest attributes is that a lot of his actions are micro actions, like a boxer dancing, moving his shoulders, looking for the chance to land the jab. He also engages opponents high up, before they can dribble towards the penalty area where you really can’t touch them.

Only Thomas Partey and Mikel Merino won the ball in the middle third more often than Timber from the Arsenal squad last season. He engages high up and doesn’t allow danger to unfold near the penalty area. When he wins the ball, he tends to keep it too. No smashing players into the advertising hoarding and conceding a throw, he is more tick than attack dog.

He gets his body between the ball and the opponent and wriggles away with it, often knifing his run in-field towards the middle of the pitch so that Arsenal don’t end up with a series of low opportunity throw-ins near the touchline. Everything in his defending style is built around not just winning the ball back but arriving with it in higher value areas.

There are improvements for Timber, of course. In 2023-24, Ben White averaged 2.59 shot creating actions per 90 compared to 1.94 per 90 for Timber last season. Context is required, of course, Saka was absent for nearly four months and Havertz for three months in Timber’s case. He also compares favourably to White as a dribbler across those two seasons (Timber was successful with 45% of his take-ons compared to 40% from White the season before).

However, for the time being, Timber is the first choice right-back which is a remarkable feat given how well White has played over an extended period. There are enough games for White to re-state his claim, perhaps an injury to Timber will open the door for him. But if Arsenal were playing in the Champions League Final tomorrow, there is no doubt about who would start at right-back.

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