Oleksandr Zinchenko struggled in a nervy cameo performance against Porto (Picture: Getty)
Arsenal legend Ian Wright admits he’s ‘worried’ about Oleksandr Zinchenko after the left-back’s nervy cameo performance in the side’s Champions League last-16 win over Porto.
Zinchenko largely impressed in his debut season at Arsenal last term but has struggled for consistency across the 2023/24 campaign, with a niggling calf injury keeping the 27-year-old sidelined for a large part of January and February.
Jakub Kiwior has deputised in Zinchenko’s place on the left side of Mikel Arteta’s defence and the Pole started his seventh game in succession on Tuesday night as Arsenal resumed their battle with Porto, trailing 1-0 from the first leg.
After Leandro Trossard had levelled the tie, Zinchenko came on as a substitute for Kiwior with 15 minutes remaining of extra-time and the Ukraine international never looked comfortable, giving away possession and drawing audible groans from the home crowd.
However, an inspired David Raya went on to deny Wendell and Galeno from 12 yards to book the Arsenal’s spot in the quarter-finals of the competition for the first time since 2010, sparking jubilant scenes in north London.
The Gunners’ will discover their opponents for the last eight in Friday’s Champions League quarter-final draw, where they could meet Atletico Madrid, Barcelona, Bayern Munich, Borussia Dortmund, Manchester City, Paris Saint-Germain or Real Madrid.
Discussing Zinchenko’s shaky display, ex-Arsenal striker Wright told the Wrighty’s House podcast: ‘Do you know what’s happened, I think, with Zinchenko? Because he’s now kind of eased out of the picture at the moment with what we’re doing.
Raya was Arsenal’s hero at the Emirates (Picture: Getty)
‘The times he has played… and the reason why the crowd are a bit impatient with what we want from him… because we want him to come on, we want him to keep the ball and progress it and not give it away.
‘There was a couple of times, and I don’t know if it’s rust or if it’s because he hasn’t played, I don’t know if it’s because he’s come on in the game and the game is quite hectic for him, but he gave the ball away a few times… and it’s f***ing scary now.
‘I’m feeling it, I think the fans might be feeling it as well because one of the telltale signs with a player when they’re feeling a little bit frustrated is the groans instantly.
Arsenal legend Wright is ‘worried’ about Zinchenko (Picture: Getty)
‘It’s not like, “OK, let him warm up into it”. As soon as he gave the first one away they were like, “Oh!”, because there is so much on the line.
‘He’s got to come on and he’s got to be that one that keeps it f***ing composed for us and keeps the ball – even if you have to do that silly thing that I hate seeing players pass it to each other – bam, bam, bam, bam, bam.
‘But I’m worried about that.’
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Wright is confident Arsenal are ‘getting stronger’ and ‘learning so much’ from tough European nights like the two legs they experienced against a dogged Porto.
‘I’m happy that we won this game because for this team, for this squad, what they’re trying to do and achieve, getting these firsts, the first time in 14 years we’ve got to the quarter-finals, it’s another thing that they have achieved,’ Wright added.
‘They’ve gone to another level of something, so mentally, they are getting stronger… and playing in games like that, we’ve learned so much.
‘We’ve learned so much from a game like that.’
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