When the Dutchman Jurrien Timber was confirmed to be on his way to the Gunners, a lot of research was done by inquisitive gooners at the time. This was to find out more about a player who was a fairly unknown figure in European football.
Upon trying to figure out what sort of profile he is, gooners at the time would’ve found out he was a technically gifted center back who makes up for his lack of height with pace and tenacity. Those weren’t, and still aren’t, his only attributes however, he is very versatile and as this article is about, he’s very good at ball carrying. These qualities meant that gooners were eagerly anticipating how he’d fare with us in a more competitive league.
The anticipation was put to rest in the first game of his debut campaign with us, he suffered a season ending knee injury in that game after showing a glimpse of his quality in the 2023’s community shield win over Man City. He didn’t make an appearance for us till the last game of that campaign against Everton, and boy were we relieved to finally see him on the pitch.
This current campaign has been a stark contrast to the last for the Dutch international, he has made 12 appearances in the League alone already, missing only two games in the process. In those games we have finally got to see some of his attributes in full force and one in particular has stood out. His ball carrying has been so good this campaign. In the game against Man United and so many other games this season, we got to witness how comfortable he is with pushing us forward.
Timber scoring from a corner against Man Utd
(Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images)
It’s so important to have players with this ability, we have seen him relieve pressure countless times by taking on players up the pitch, furthermore beating players further forward can also be great avenues for chance creation on the transition. Timber has been doing this consistently for us this season but it’s only in recent games that he has been finding success in taking us further.
His successful take ons of 1.29 per 90 has him in the 90th percentile among defenders in Europe, clearly showing his ability with the ball at his feet. The next step will be in his end product, not his finishing but his final ball as we have often seen him releasing the ball far too early or late when he makes those forays up the pitch.
If he can improve on that, then, my word, will we have a player on our hands. Playing this sort of way requires bravery and confidence along with the right skills as well.
Luckily, Jurrien Timber has this in abundance. What a player!
BENJAMIN KENNETH
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