Summer signing Riccardo Calafiori made his Premier League debut for Arsenal in Saturday’s 2-0 win over Aston Villa (Picture: Getty)
Gary Neville praised Arsenal’s summer signing Riccardo Calafiori after he made an impressive Premier League debut in Saturday’s 2-0 win over Aston Villa.
Second half goals from Leandro Trossard and Thomas Partey helped Mikel Arteta’s side record an early season statement victory that ensured the Gunners maintained their 100% start to the new season.
The Italy international was an unused substitute in the opening weekend win over Wolves but made his eagerly anticipated first appearance as a late substitute at Villa Park.
Calafiori replaced Jurrien Timber who is effectively restarting his Arsenal career having missed almost the entirety of last season with a knee injury.
Neville was impressed by the contributions of both players who now look set to compete for the left-back spot.
The presence of two top class options for that role will raise further doubts about the future of Oleksandr Zinchenko who cut a frustrated figure on the bench yesterday.
Zinchenko had a transformative effect on the Arsenal team upon his arrival from Manchester City two years ago, but his defensive shortcomings were regularly exposed last season to the extent whereby he was eventually replaced by Jakub Kiwior and Takehiro Tomiyasu.
Oleksandr Zinchenko was an unused substitute in Arsenal’s 2-0 win over Aston Villa(Photo by Alex Burstow/Arsenal FC via Getty Images)
Despite facing increased competition for his place, however, Neville believes Zinchenko will still have an important role to play at Arsenal over the course of the coming months.
He told Sky Sports: ‘Some of the most successful transfer windows is where you keep stability in your squad and you add one or two that make it the final two pieces of the jigsaw. In the two games against Villa last season, left-back was a problem,” Neville said.
‘We saw what City did, in the last 10 games of the season, Josko Gvardiol’s impact from left-back was immense. Not just from a defensive point of view, but an attacking one – his power, strength, height. Arteta has reacted to that.
‘He knows he has Timber coming back but he has Calafiori as well. He’s a big boy, powerful, strong, can play in a number of different positions. So that’s a definite response from what he needed last season.
Jurrien Timber made his first Premier League start since the opening day of last season as Arsenal enjoyed an important win over Aston Villa (Photo by Shaun Botterill/Getty Images)
‘You talk about these fine margins of one goal or two goals that can tip the title race your way. That could be today. I like what Timber did, he kept a close eye on Leon Bailey.
‘He’s a difficult person to play against but Timber was confident on the ball, he looked good when he went into midfield and still does the job of what Zinchenko does. And Calafiori when he came on looked really strong, up for the fight. He has that spirit about him.
‘Zinchenko will still play his role against the bottom six or 10 teams, when you have a mountain of possession at home and you’re going to have to probe the ball through tight spaces. Zinchenko will be fantastic in those matches.
‘But when you’re playing against a really top team and you need to keep a clean sheet, and you need someone at the back post who can defend and you need six big’uns, that’s when you’ll need Timber and Calafiori.
‘He has got that now, Arteta – it’s a good way in which he has adapted.’
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