Arsenal might be bracing themselves for bad news about Kieran Tierney.
The Scotland international was a notable omission on Monday night as the Gunners lost 3-0 away to Crystal Palace.
Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta said afterwards that the knee injury ‘does not look too good’ and it’s entirely possible that Tierney won’t play for the North Londoners again this season.
And if that’s the case, Arteta has a lot to answer for.
That’s because Nuno Tavares, Tierney’s understudy, had another shocker for Arsenal in the defeat at Selhurst Park, with Arteta hauling him off at the break.
This isn’t the first time that the Portuguese left-back has struggled this season, or the first time his Spanish manager has removed him at half time.
And with Tierney on the treatment table and Tavares’s confidence shot to pieces, it makes you wonder why the Arsenal boss let Sead Kolasinac leave.
Kolasinac joined Marseille in January after his contract was terminated at the Emirates Stadium.
Gamble
The Bosnia and Herzegovina international was hardly a prime Ashley Cole, but he was a far better defensive left-back than Tavares and if Arteta was gambling on Tierney staying fit for the rest of the season, well it looks to have backfired.
Kolasinac is a first-team regular with the Ligue 1 outfit, another player – like Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Calum Chambers – to thrive after having their Arsenal contracts terminated in January.
Everyone can see that dumping Aubameyang – who has scored nine goals for Barcelona since leaving – was a mistake.
But the same is seemingly true of Kolasinac, particularly if a lack of depth at left-back in the wake of Tierney’s absence costs the Gunners a Champions League place come June.
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