Journalist Charles Watts has now given his verdict on one Arsenal star who he feels has benefitted from a recent Mikel Arteta change.
Jakub Kiwior has looked better than ever in an Arsenal shirt in recent weeks.
The Polish defender has started the Gunners’ last four matches, across all competitions, catching the eye with his assured showings at left-back. Kiwior is a centre-back by trade, but given the prowess of Gabriel Magalhaes and William Saliba, opportunities will always be limited for him in the heart of the defence. As such, many of his appearances for the north London club have come as a makeshift left-back.
In the past, this has proven difficult for Kiwior. Earlier this season, against Fulham, he was hooked at half-time by Mikel Arteta following a poor showing in the opening period.
The 24-year-old, at that point, was being asked to replicated Oleksandr Zinchenko’s tactical function in the team. As Arsenal’s first-choice left-back, the Ukrainian is tasked with playing an inverted role, meaning he is expected to drift into the middle of the park and become an auxiliary playmaker of sorts when the Gunners are looking to build attacking moves.
Kiwior is a more solid defender than the former Manchester City man, but never looked comfortable with moving into the midfield zone. As such, in recent weeks, Arteta has instead asked Ben White to perform this function. This change has worked to great effect. Not only has White adapted impressively to these new instructions, but Kiwior has shone to such an extent in a more conventional full-back role that it has been questioned if Zinchenko should even come straight back into the regular starting XI.
Jakub Kiwior praised for finding his feet at Arsenal
Arteta has admitted that he has made things “difficult” for Kiwior in his time at Arsenal. The 19-cap Poland international looks to have been strengthened by these trials though, Meanwhile, Zinchenko deserves credit for the work has done in helping Kiwior to adapt to his left-back duties.
Charles Watts has now given his verdict on the situations. Speaking on his Inside Arsenal YouTube platform, the reporter said, “I think Kiwior has been a bit of an unsung hero in this run. You, sort of, go back to the Fulham game where he really struggled at Craven Cottage, and was taken off at half-time. Then Arteta made the sort of tweak that he has, with Ben White now playing the inverted role, and Kiwior just looks so much more comfortable.”
“He just looks a lot more confident now. You can see it, just little things that I’ve noticed, like in the Burnley game…he made a couple of blocks, and he was up there celebrating. Arsenal defenders are doing that a lot now, celebrating blocks, celebrating tackles, and I just looked at it and I think before Kiwior wouldn’t have done that. I’m not sure he would have felt confident enough to go up there and, sort of, chest-bump with Gabriel…Now, he looks like he’s got a bit of an aura of a player who feels like, for the first time since he’s been here, that he actually kind of belongs in this squad.”
Kiwior has been linked with a move away from Arsenal before now. However, if he has now truly settled and found his feet at the club, then his future may be more secure than it has previously looked.
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