Arsenal fans dodged an early pre-season bullet earlier this evening as the Gunners kicked off their preparations for the 2022-23 Premier League campaign in Germany against 2.Bundesliga outfit 1.FC Nürnberg at Max-Morlock-Stadion.
Scottish international and first-choice Arsenal left-back Kieran Tierney made his return to starting duties after failing to appear for Mikel Arteta’s outfit since a 1-0 win against Aston Villa on 19 March, missing the rest of the campaign through injury.
Expected to remain as the key man on the left side of the defense this season for Arsenal, Tierney does not come without worry and risk as the former Celtic star has been plagued with fitness issues since his arrival from the Scottish giants in 2019, and those concerns rapidly rose to the fore when he was removed after just 30-minutes against Der Altmeister.
Tierney doing a short warm down at half-time, suggests his early sub was definitely planned as he steps up his fitness levels after such a long time out.
— Charles Watts (@charles_watts) July 8, 2022
But Goal’s Arsenal correspondent Charles Watts quickly quelled those worries after he reported during the interval that Tierney was spotted warming down during the half-time break and that his removal after such a short period was no doubt planned as Arteta slowly builds him back up to fighting strength in the run-up to hostilities in the Premier League.
Despite the sigh of relief that countless no doubt will have let out, the notion that Arsenal remain short of quality at left-back remains a concern for many.
At the time of writing, the Gunners can bank on just Portuguese youngster Nuno Tavares as the only reliable depth option behind Tierney, and though Tavares has shown moments of quality, his inconsistency when called upon was telling in many moments last term.
It remains unknown whether Tierney can get past his fitness issues of prior seasons, but for the time being, the concern shown by many Arsenal supporters is justifiable.
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This article was edited by
Conor Laird.
