Lucy Ward praised Oleksandr Zinchenko for his display for Arsenal in their win over Brentford, noting that he can be criticised for the quality of his defending at times.
Ward was speaking on TNT Sports (broadcast on 25/11; 19:16) after the Ukrainian did well to stop Bryan Mbeumo at one stage as the Bees looked for a potential winner.
Oleksandr Zinchenko was arguably one of Arsenal’s best players in the narrow win over Thomas Frank’s side. Of course, it was Kai Havertz who bagged the late winner, getting on the end of an amazing Bukayo Saka cross.
Lucy Ward praises Oleksandr Zinchenko as Arsenal win
But the left-back proved a real point. Zinchenko has not had his best form so far this season. Certainly, he had struggled to meet the standards he set in the months following his £32 million move.
But Zinchenko made an outstanding block on the goalline to deny Brentford during the second-half. And he looked much more assured up against a hardworking forward line.
Certainly, Ward suggested that she had been really impressed by the 26-year-old’s performance in the victory.
“I think Zinchenko’s played well tonight, defended well which sometimes he’s criticised for,” she told TNT Sports.
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“He’s basically a central midfielder playing at left-back but he does invert into that central area. But he certainly adds that calm and composed technical aspect to the way Arsenal play.”
Gunners yet to hit top gear
In a lot of ways, Zinchenko’s form sums up how Arsenal have been this season. He has not really had any howlers at the beginning of this term. But he has not taken the league by storm in the same way he perhaps did last year.
And yet, Arsenal are top of the league. They have not hit top gear yet. There seems to be plenty more to come from the Gunners in the months ahead.
Zinchenko has done reasonably well without playing brilliantly. And he reminded everyone how good he can be at left-back with his performance against Brentford.
It will be interesting to see whether Zinchenko and Arsenal kick on from here.