Expert: Arsenal have reached ‘final decision’ over Kieran Tierney as new details emerge
Arsenal have made the “final decision” to slowly reintegrate Kieran Tierney rather than throw him in at the deep end off the back of a serious injury.
That is the view of medical expert Ben Dinnery, who runs the Premier Injuries site and has a background in injury and data analysis.
Tierney, 25, has not played competitively since he was forced to undergo knee surgery following an injury in March.
He started in the Gunners’ eventual 5-3 win over Nurnberg last Friday (8 July) but was brought off after just 30 minutes.
As quoted by club media after the match in Germany, Mikel Arteta revealed that the left-back is in “great condition” and that his early withdrawal was pre-planned.
Dinnery insists that this is the right way to manage the Scot’s reintroduction after so long out of action.
“We are talking about three and a half months on from surgery,” he told Football Insider’s Adam Williams.
“This is absolutely not the time to be taking any unnecessary risks. We need to understand the capabilities of the player in terms of what he can do physically and weigh that up with the demands of his position and the team.
“These decisions are never taken in isolation. There will have been a collective approach before they reached the final decision to do things this way.
“That 30-minute reintegration with the team is always a good starting point. That can gradually be upped as we approach game week one.”
Arsenal take on Everton, Orlando City and Seville in their remaining pre-season games.
Arteta’s side then begin their 2022-23 campaign against Crystal Palace on 5 August.
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