Robert Lewandowski managed to get the better of Arsenal star Jurrien Timber on international duty.
Poland faced the Netherlands in Warsaw on Friday night, and Ronald Koeman’s side were the favourites to win the World Cup qualifier.
However, the Dutch were held to a 1-1 draw in a game in which Timber started as a central defender alongside Virgil van Dijk.
The Arsenal man had a solid outing for the most part, but he did make one mistake.
Dutch media say Arsenal star Jurrien Timber got ‘fooled’ by Robert Lewandowski
Robert Lewandowski has been one of the best strikers in the world for many years.
The Pole is 37 now, but he is still going strong. He has been excellent for Barcelona as well as his national team.
On Friday, in the game against the Netherlands, Lewandowski made a clever run towards his own half to drag Jurrien Timber out of position.
The Dutch defender fell for it, and the former Bayern Munich man fed Jakub Kaminski through the space he left. He ended up scoring.
Voetbal Primeur gave Timber a 6/10 rating for his display and highlighted his mistake: “Received the opportunity next to Van Dijk in the centre, but this time he was less convincing.
“At 1-0, Timber was fooled by Lewandowski.
“At other times, he covered very aggressively, which made it open at the back of the Dutch team at those times. On the other hand, Timber also intervened well a number of times.”
Jurrien Timber proves he is the best defender in the world despite his error
Yes, a mistake was made in that sequence, but Timber once again outshone Van Dijk despite playing as a central defender.
Almost every Dutch outlet rated the Arsenal star higher than the Liverpool captain, who is regarded by many as the best centre-back in the world.
Football Oranje even wrote: “The pick of the Oranje defenders, Timber was good at the back and strong when he was moved to right back in the second half.”
Timber was rated higher than Van Dijk in October’s international break as well, which is very impressive considering that he has barely ever played as a centre-half at Arsenal before.
The fact that he can be this good across the backline for both club and country makes him the best and most complete defender in the world right now.
Jurrien Timber’s stats vs Poland
Timber had a good game against Poland, and his stats back that.
In his 90 minutes on the pitch, the Arsenal defender had 93 touches of the ball and completed 70 of his 75 attempted passes, thus maintaining an excellent 93 per cent passing accuracy.
He also made six clearances, two recoveries and blocked a shot, and he wasn’t dribbled past a single time in the entire game. (Sofascore)
Timber is still only 24 years old. The fact that he is already this good is exciting news for Arsenal, as he is certain to become even better in the coming years.
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