Jurriën Timber | Arsenal player

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It's a shite account. Used to aggregate Utd news decently but now they just charge other people to promote their accounts on their timeline and then you've got 'exclusives' like this.
Wasn't aware of that, didnt think they did speculative stuff but let's see. Could just be hedging their bets.
 
Wasn't aware of that, didnt think they did speculative stuff but let's see. Could just be hedging their bets.

It's a pretty safe bet too. Hyped it up as a really big exclusive and then it's some surface level shit about a player everyone already knows is most likely to sign for us.
 
It's a shite account. Used to aggregate Utd news decently but now they just charge other people to promote their accounts on their timeline and then you've got 'exclusives' like this.
Don't remember how it used to be, but he's gone full on indykaila recently. Should be added to the ban list if this doesn't go through.
 
I get the concern about the height issue, but I think people are underestimating how much someone like Timber who can shield the ball, pull a feint and turn to lose his marker, carry the ball forwards and generally add a sense of calmness and composure to the team will improve our general play.

That on top of what seems like excellent reading of the game, so it's not like he's a liability defensively. Quite the opposite, I'd say.
I understand the worry about height but I also think if you have a certain playstyle a flawed player can work as an important squad option. In games where we (hopefully!) dominate the ball players like Blind or Timber can be very useful. He's a kid he doesn't have to play every single game either.
 
Don't remember how it used to be, but he's gone full on indykaila recently. Should be added to the ban list if this doesn't go through.

Feels like they all eventually go down that route.
 
Has Timber played other positions than cd or dr?
Looking at his highlights he's giving me Kante vibes almost.
 
Our best player. WE CANT LOSE HIM FFS. Man...I'll be gutted if he leaves.
 
Our best player. WE CANT LOSE HIM FFS. Man...I'll be gutted if he leaves.
MAKES ME WANT HIM EVEN MORE.

Well, that didn't sound right.

But yeah, he does look so classy on the ball.
 
I doubt he will be cheap. He's our biggest talent by far. Player of the year. Loads of clubs are interested in him. 40/45M Pound minimum.

@KirkDuyt what do you think?
 
Why is it assumed he'd primarily be coming here as a CB? What's his split between positions at Ajax? And why would he not be out new RB?
 
Why is it assumed he'd primarily be coming here as a CB? What's his split between positions at Ajax? And why would he not be out new RB?
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I don't think he was talking about players. He meant Liverpool has one team they habitually raid for talent and Bayern has two.
:lol: :lol: I misunderestood it and misread it. I could have sworn I read it as Bayern has two ajax.
 
Worth pointing out that his recorded height varies, largely i suspect because of his being only 20. Transfermarkt actually has him listed as 6 ft tall. We've all been in threads where everyone was bickering about a players height because of outdated information. Michael Keane is only 5'8, Angel Gomes is legally a dwarf, that kind of thing.
 
1,79m... wow, that's short. How has he done in the dutch league when it comes to air duels?
 
1,79m... wow, that's short

While height is an issue in the main game, it's usually for aerial defensiveness from crosses. With playing a high line you really limit the amount of conceded open play crosses and usually get hit on the break by transitions/ counter attacking football. Therefore the main time you tend to defend aerially is from set pieces in which case if his partner has some height and one or 2 others in the team it doesn't concern me.
 
1,79m... wow, that's short. How has he done in the dutch league when it comes to air duels?

Taller than Cannavaro, Ayala, Baresi. Not sure but I think also Puyol... aggression and positioning counts for a lot on that front and it's something you can certainly work on massively as a player matures.
 
1,79m... wow, that's short. How has he done in the dutch league when it comes to air duels?

It's at the end of the defence section of the list of stats in the spoiler in the OP. Those stats are only taken from his CL games, but his aerial success rate is extremely low.
 
While height is an issue in the main game, it's usually for aerial defensiveness from crosses. With playing a high line you really limit the amount of conceded open play crosses and usually get hit on the break by transitions/ counter attacking football. Therefore the main time you tend to defend aerially is from set pieces in which case if his partner has some height and one or 2 others in the team it doesn't concern me.
Taller than Cannavaro, Ayala, Baresi. Not sure but I think also Puyol... aggression and positioning counts for a lot on that front and it's something you can certainly work on massively as a player matures.

I Ten Hag wants him I trust that decision... he seems like a good defender so lets hope he can make up for lack of height in other areas
 
The only qualities I've seen from Maguire honestly in his 3 years is aerial dominance in duels and physical strength.

If we're asking to play a high line, and press aggressively as a team and ask our centre backs to deal with 1v1 situations, you really can't get a worse profile of centre back than Maguire. He just turns and runs too slow. It's not that he isn't fast, it's that he's one of the slowest defenders you'll ever see at this level.

He came here as having a reputation as a ball playing CB but I've not seen it. Looks no more comfortable on the ball than lindelof, varane or bailly.

I agree we're in need of starting 11 quality players, not utility men.

I mean I don’t want to defend him too vociferously because he’s had a bad season but people that just don’t like the big unsexy muttonhead centre back aren’t recognising that he’s having his worst season since he joined Leicester and are just saying this is the player he is. Despite it being a statistical outlier among all the seasons we have good data for, he’s comfortably above the average centre back in pass completions, progressive passes and carries despite having fallen off a cliff this year compared to others.It could be the beginning of a trend or it could be exhaustion following a World Cup year and a season he played virtually every minute of every game even when injured while also having a few personal issues off the pitch.
 
While height is an issue in the main game, it's usually for aerial defensiveness from crosses. With playing a high line you really limit the amount of conceded open play crosses and usually get hit on the break by transitions/ counter attacking football. Therefore the main time you tend to defend aerially is from set pieces in which case if his partner has some height and one or 2 others in the team it doesn't concern me.
Thank god we’re really strong at set pieces then!
 
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I understand the worry about height but I also think if you have a certain playstyle a flawed player can work as an important squad option. In games where we (hopefully!) dominate the ball players like Blind or Timber can be very useful. He's a kid he doesn't have to play every single game either.
Definitely. He'll be much better for us under ten Hag because of the way he wants to play than a bigger CB who's more limited on the ball.

Defending is still a team game, too. As long as we are cohesive in defending as a unit, individual flaws matter less, and, aside from the aerial side, he looks fine defensively to me.

You mention Blind and I still think him and Smalling were our best CB partnership since Rio and Vidic, and, as highly as I rated Blind, Timber looks a lot better. Potentially, anyway!
 
CB is definitely a priority. Theres a good chance Jones and Bailly go and that leaves us with Maguire, Lindelof and Varane as options, hardly fills you with confidence especially when Varane can’t stay fit for more than 5 minutes and the less said about Maguire the better.
You can do this for every position... Maguire, Lindelof and Varane are all good level CBs who have all shown good levels historically. If we are worried about numbers then better to keep Bailly on the books because midfield, fullback and attack are so much more pressing.
 
There isn`t a single youth player in the CB position anywhere near ready to be trusted in the first team. You`re massively overestimating how reliable our CB options are we definitely need a new face and whether he`s cheap or not Timber is a massive talent we have to sign.
Also Bailly will definitely leave.He doesn`t want to stay and ETH likely won`t fancy him too no reason for him to stay or for the club to keep him.
Our CB options are miles better than our attack, midfield and fullback options. Even a keeper would have a bigger impact on our defensive record over a new CB.
 
I mean I don’t want to defend him too vociferously because he’s had a bad season but people that just don’t like the big unsexy muttonhead centre back aren’t recognising that he’s having his worst season since he joined Leicester and are just saying this is the player he is. Despite it being a statistical outlier among all the seasons we have good data for, he’s comfortably above the average centre back in pass completions, progressive passes and carries despite having fallen off a cliff this year compared to others.It could be the beginning of a trend or it could be exhaustion following a World Cup year and a season he played virtually every minute of every game even when injured while also having a few personal issues off the pitch.

Maguire just isn't the player we need if we want to play a high line. If we want to play on the counter as we did before this season under Ole, he's fine. If we want to play like Burnley and he can plant himself like a tree on the penalty spot and stand there nodding crosses away, he's great. But we don't.

We've seen dozens and dozens of times what happens in a high line. He dives in for a challenge on the halfway line, a quicker opposition player nips in front of him and they're now bearing down on our shorthanded defence while Maguire is stranded attempting the fecking three-point turn he needs to complete before he can think about moving back to somewhere near our box before Christmas.
 
While height is an issue in the main game, it's usually for aerial defensiveness from crosses. With playing a high line you really limit the amount of conceded open play crosses and usually get hit on the break by transitions/ counter attacking football. Therefore the main time you tend to defend aerially is from set pieces in which case if his partner has some height and one or 2 others in the team it doesn't concern me.
It will take us a long time to be City/Liverpool level of dominance and even their centre backs have to deal with crosses and long balls.

Liverpool have it right with VVD, Konate and Matip. All good on the ball, all quick, all good 1v1. And they maintain the fundamentals of being a centre back - tall and dominant in the air. Liverpool didn't have to compromise on the fundamentals, they found centre backs who don't have significant physical weaknesses. I don't see the point in bringing in players who we're having to compensate for. We've spent years being told we can compensate for Maguire's lack of pace if everything is perfect around him and it's a waste of time, just make sure you bring in players with the right qualities and you don't have to compensate.
 
Good thing about Timber is that he can come in and be a huge improvement at RB instantly, and then transition into being our CB once we get another RB and he replaces Maguire or whoever at CB.
Is this actually true though? He's a CB primarily so there's no guarantee that he would be a better option as RB and even if he is, wouldn't we be better buying an actual specialist RB when that position is much weaker than CB?
 
Is this actually true though? He's a CB primarily so there's no guarantee that he would be a better option as RB and even if he is, wouldn't we be better buying an actual specialist RB when that position is much weaker than CB?
He's played at right back before plenty for club and country, and has all the attributes to succeed there. He would simultaneously improve our depth at CB along with eventually transitioning there with his massive potential. There are no right backs available, our right backs are dreadful, so it really does make sense. At CB we are likely to just have Varane, Maguire and Lindelof, so we definitely need more bodies, and Timber is clearly somebody Ten Hag loves. So we sign him to be a current starter at RB, fill in at CB, eventual starter at CB when we sign whatever RB ten hag wants in time (which again, also depends on availability).

And besides, Timber is young and will need some adapting to do, no matter how promising he is. Right back makes sense as a transition in our team to get used to the league too.
 
It will take us a long time to be City/Liverpool level of dominance and even their centre backs have to deal with crosses and long balls.

Liverpool have it right with VVD, Konate and Matip. All good on the ball, all quick, all good 1v1. And they maintain the fundamentals of being a centre back - tall and dominant in the air. Liverpool didn't have to compromise on the fundamentals, they found centre backs who don't have significant physical weaknesses. I don't see the point in bringing in players who we're having to compensate for. We've spent years being told we can compensate for Maguire's lack of pace if everything is perfect around him and it's a waste of time, just make sure you bring in players with the right qualities and you don't have to compensate.
They did have a CF who didn't score goals
 
I agree that Timber is another level on the ball vs De Ligt.

De Ligt is definitely the better defender though, no matter how calm Timber is.

De Ligt would shine in the premier league.

If he wasn't similar in profile to Maguire I'd 100% recommend him over Timber for United
What makes de Ligt the better defender? His physique?
 
No player comes in and is a permanent CB at at top club at 20. He will be back up at best and cover RB if he comes in. Dont really see the point unless he is cheap because we will have to wait quite a while until he matures. Like an Amad signing
 
Our CB options are miles better than our attack, midfield and fullback options. Even a keeper would have a bigger impact on our defensive record over a new CB.
Midfield and attack(ST) will be dealt with anyway so Timber's signing doesn't affect much if at all
Also:
Maguire- Terrible investment at £80m. Slow CB that's incredibly error prone, incapable of playing in a high line and short on confidence. Won't improve magically at 29
Varane- Class but unreliable fitness record
Lindelof- Solid squad player material at best
You can't think an unproven U18 player is good enough to cover for such options
 
We should only get him if Eric plans to use him as CDM or RB
 
Midfield and attack(ST) will be dealt with anyway so Timber's signing doesn't affect much if at all
Also:
Maguire- Terrible investment at £80m. Slow CB that's incredibly error prone, incapable of playing in a high line and shot of confidence. Won't improve magically at 29
Varane- Class but unreliable fitness record
Lindelof- Solid squad player material at best
You can't think an unproven U18 player is good enough to cover for such options
Basically it stems down to the fact I rate Maguire a hell of a lot higher than you / most posters.
 
Cheers. He plays rb so well for someone so infrequent in the position.

Don't know why we'd use him through the middle unless in midfield.
That's because he was a RB before joining the first team(and occasional midfielder).
 
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They did have a CF who didn't score goals
Not sure what that has to do with a centre back who's weak in the air?

Pep's Barca got away with Mascherano so I'm not saying it's impossible. But good luck to us trying to recreate that level of dominance, and in a completely different league.
 
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