Michael Owen highlights one Zinchenko concern that will trouble Arsenal

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Former England striker Michael Owen has criticised Arsenal left-back Oleksandr Zinchenko for his performance against Lens.

Arsenal were generally below par as they fell to their first defeat of the season so far on Tuesday evening. The Gunners were beaten 2-1 by French club Lens in a Champions League match.

Given he is usually such an influential figure on the pitch for the north London club, Oleksandr Zinchenko could not impose himself in this game as he would have hoped to.

The Ukrainian left-back performs a very specific tactical function in Mikel Arteta’s setup. He is given the freedom to invert from his full-back berth when Arsenal are in possession and tuck into a midfield role. The 26-year-old is then able to dictate the pace of the game and fire progressive passes between the lines.

Lens did a good job of harrying him in possession and cutting off his potential passing lanes with some intelligent pressing. They also looked to exploit any space he left behind at left-back when he strayed into the middle of the park.

The pros and cons of Zinchenko

Michael Owen was certainly underwhelmed by the £150,000-a-week defender’s display. Speaking on TNT Sports (03/10/2023, 22:30), the retired forward said, “Zinchenko is halfway house there. He can’t give himself away so easily. Sluggish, as soon as he was played around, sluggish. We were saying he often gets brought off in games. Can he last in games fitness wise? He looked tired there when he was 1-2’d past.”

If the 55-cap Ukraine international has a weakness then it is as a one-on-one defender. He can be vulnerable in such situations, and lacks the pace to effectively recover when beaten. Gabriel Magalhaes is trusted to cover the ground and support Zinchenko when required.

His fitness issues, and inability to reliably play a full 90 minutes, as Owen highlighted, is another concern.

What Zinchenko offers going forward when he is at his best, offsets his defensive weaknesses. However, Manchester City will surely look to target him at the Emirates Stadium on Sunday. Zinchenko needs to be at his best against his former club or he will cost Arsenal.