Thierry Henry lauded Arsenal defender Oleksandr Zinchenko by claiming that players like him ‘forgot how to be stupid’, as he told Amazon Prime Sport.
The Highbury legend hailed Zinchenko’s intelligence and how he is someone who just ‘doesn’t panic’ given the role that is deployed to him by Mikel Arteta, including fighting with Kieran Tierney for a starting spot at left-back.
The former Manchester City player, who is returning from injury, came off the bench during Arsenal’s 3-1 win over West Ham United on Boxing Day, with Tierney starting.
Given that Zinchenko didn’t feature during Arsenal’s mid-season friendly games because of injury, it’s understandable that Arteta opted to push for Tierney instead, although he has had his own issues this season.
Either way, it will be interesting to see what road Arteta goes down during the coming weeks because the left-back spot is now one of his strongest areas.
Whatever Arteta does, Henry is certain that someone like Zinchenko will be supportive of the other guy, as he spoke highly about the former Manchester City man.
“When you talk about Zinchenko, it’s not an easy one when you are a fullback and your coach is asking you to come and play as a holding midfielder,” said Henry.
“A lot of people panic. But he doesn’t panic. He knows how to recycle the ball. Stop the counter and play. He knows how to play that system, which is very important to Mikel (Arteta).
“He’s clever. He knows exactly what he needs to do. He knows when to do it – although he’s not starting tonight, he can share it, and he can talk to Tierney about it. ‘I am fine’, before the game and after the game, which is very important. But he knows how to play in this system.
“These are the players that forget to be stupid. They are clever. They understand the game. His intelligence is second to none. But also he understands that he might be on the bench to share.”
FROM A WEAKNESS TO A STRENGTH
This time last season, Arsenal were fighting their north London rivals for fourth spot and there was that worry about Tierney’s injury problems.
Well, that issue reared its ugly head when the Scotsman was out of action for the rest of the season and they had to start Nuno Tavares instead.
As the Gunners learnt against Crystal Palace, the on-loan Marseille player starting proved to be costly in their quest to secure Champions League football.
But whilst one area was a big weakness last season, it’s now one of their biggest strengths.
