TIERNEY FACES WAITING GAME AT GUNNERS
KIERAN TIERNEY has been told he’ll have to wait for his chance to get back into Arsenal’s first team.
The left wing-back initially missed two games from October 18 with an ankle issue but has been an unused sub for the last three league outings.
Summer recruit Nuno Tavares has the jersey and boss Mikel Arteta, whose team face Manchester United this evening, has made it clear the 21-yearold Portuguese deserves his run in the team.
Arteta said: “That’s the level we want to achieve, that in every position we have players who can perform at the highest level and can complement each other by giving you different qualities as well.
“Last year when we had an issue with Kieran, when he was out for a while, we had to invent and play players in that position.
“That’s something that obviously we want to eradicate.
“And that’s why we made the decision that we made in the summer, to try to fill the gaps we have and make the team stronger.
“It’s only about that. Kieran hasn’t played in a lot of games because he was still injured and because once Nuno played and played well, he deserved the chance to continue playing.”
At the other end of the pitch, Arteta has backed Gunners skipper PierreEmerick Aubameyang to end his goal drought.
The 32-year-old has gone four games without a goal and missed a sitter against Newcastle on Saturday, albeit his side still won 2-0.
But Arteta insists that Aubameyang must carry on working hard for the team – even if he fears it could be impacting upon his scoring ability.
Aubameyang netted the winner at Old Trafford last season and Arteta says the Gabon striker has not lost his scoring touch.
The Spaniard said: “The form of Auba will always be related to the goals he scores.
“That has to be his aim – to continue to do the things he’s doing and then at the right moment put the ball in the net.
“To put the ball in the net or not can be a difference of millimetres or by a second. Auba has that capacity and hasn’t lost that capacity.
“What he can’t lose is the rest of his game.
“He can’t think, ‘I’m going to do a little bit less of that now to score more goals’. It doesn’t work like that.”