Arsenal under-21s manager Mehmet Ali has now provided an insight into the impact Jurrien Timber has had whilst working with the club’s young talents.
Jurrien Timber made his long-awaited return to action last night as he played 45 minutes for the Arsenal under-21s side.
The Hale End academy outfit took on Blackburn Rovers under-21s in a Premier League 2 match with Timber deployed at full-back for the first half.
Jurrien Timber makes spectacular Arsenal return
This outing marked the Dutch defender’s first time taking to a pitch since he sustained a serious knee injury on the opening weekend of the Premier League season. The 22-year-old announced his returned to action in style. Early on in this youth team match, Timber picked out the top corner of the net with a sensational strike from the edge of the box.
Arsenal fans were delighted to see Timber back in action and that he was able to come back with a bang as he did. The Emirates Stadium faithful will now be eager to finally see more of the full-back at first-team level. Mikel Arteta paid £38 million to sign Timber from Ajax in the recent summer transfer window, and he impressed in pre-season. It was a particularly cruel blow for his first season in North London to be devastated in such a manner.
However, Arteta remains optimistic that Timber can still feature for the Arsenal first-team before the end of the current campaign. Though, the Spanish coach will be prioritising the player’s long-term fitness, and will not rush Timber back if it means running the risk of aggravating his injury.
In the meantime, plenty of the club’s talented youth prospects have benefitted from working in close quarters with Timber during this latest phase of his recovery journey.
Jurrien Timber praised for impact on Arsenal youth team starlets
As quoted by the club’s official website, Mehmet Ali has now lifted the lid on the impact that Timber has had upon the Hale End academy starlets in recent weeks. The coach said, “it’s been great having him and the lads gave him a round of applause in our pre-match meeting. It’s never easy to be a professional footballer and suffer the injury that he had and miss a lot of football.”
“He’s come into a new country and it’s been difficult for him but since his return, he’s been excellent. Whether that’s been training with the first team or training with us, he’s been a real good role model for the younger players and his performance showed that this evening.”
“He scored a very good goal showing tremendous ability to execute that finish. His decision-making and his whole performance for 45 minutes was very strong and the players will learn a lot through watching him.”
It will have been a great experience for the club’s youngsters to train and play with Timber, and the experience will also have given the 15-cap Netherlands international an opportunity to get to know the club better.
Timber has used his time on the treatment table to familiarise himself with Arsenal’s tactics. Arsenal icon David Seaman recently revealed that the club’s academy teams play using the systems and setup that Arteta uses at first-team level, so Timber will have been able to slot in seamlessly into the under-21s team.