Interview with Kieran Tierney: Arsenal players see a bright future under the “bright” Mikel Arteta | Football news

football/news/11670/12013288/kieran-tierney-interview-arsenal-players-see-bright-future-under-brilliant-mikel-arteta">

There has been little to smile for Arsenal since the restart of the Premier League. The 3-0 defeat against Manchester City could easily have gotten worse and Saturday’s terrible defeat in Brighton was another major blow.

But there is a good story between the darkness and that is the return of Kieran Tierney. The 23-year-old, who has been out of action for much of his Arsenal debut season, made his first appearance in six months at the Etihad Stadium, earning praise from Mikel Arteta for his “incredible attitude” and completing a return that was been a long time in preparation.

The circumstances in which he returned are far from ideal. Arsenal are in 10th place ahead of Thursday’s clash with Southampton. Their hopes of qualifying for the Champions League have been seriously damaged, injuries are piling up and, after Saturday’s implosion against Brighton, familiar questions have been asked about their character.

“Obviously it’s not the result we wanted or the result we worked hard for, but it’s something we have to face,” says Tierney. Sky Sports.

“The bus trip was quiet on the way home, but I think we reacted well in training. We have a point to try and we have to go out there and get the results the manager wants and the fans deserve.”

Brighton’s Neal Maupay accused Arsenal of lacking humility on Saturday, but there is little evidence of that in Tierney. Ronny Deila, the manager who gave him his Celtic debut, considered him the best professional he had ever worked with. His successor, Brendan Rodgers, was equally impressed.

It is a similar story with Arteta and admiration is mutual.

“It was brilliant,” says Tierney. “Obviously I was hurt when he first came in and was so unlucky because you want to impress the new manager and get off to a good start. But even then, he was good at me. He looked at me from afar and asked me for updates on how I was doing. doing “.

Likewise, Arteta was alert during the blockade, which came into effect just as Tierney was approaching his return to form following the dislocated shoulder he suffered against West Ham in December.

“We made Zoom calls and it gave me things to work on and suggestions to look for in some games,” says Tierney. “It was an absolute joy to train with him. I feel like I’m learning every single day and I was grateful for the opportunity he gave me against Manchester City. It was my first game in so long and a great game for the club, so trusting him in me was brilliant. “

Tierney describes the intensity of Arsenal’s training sessions as “incredible” in recent weeks and while recent results have been difficult for fans in the stomach, there is optimism within the team that Arteta’s methods will eventually bring back the club at its old levels.

The Spaniard is attempting to review Arsenal’s style of play, to restore their identity as a powerful attack force and at the same time modernize their ballless approach to align them with high pressure rivals such as Manchester City and Liverpool. It is an ambitious undertaking that requires full commitment from the players.

“You know you’re going to work every day in training,” says Tierney. “There are times when laughing and joking – Mikel loves it too – but when we work, we are working. There are also many tactical things, and this will help us all understand how he wants us to play.

“I said before, something like this will not only work immediately, it will be a process, but there is light at the end of the tunnel and we must remain focused on this. There will be bad results and bad games, but as a team we must maintain trust, stay unite and start again “.

Thursday’s trip to Southampton will be proof of that solidarity – Arsenal can’t afford to lose more points in the run for the Champions League seats – but Tierney insists that players are desperate to put the recent setbacks behind them and help Arteta realize her vision of the side.

“All the players hurt, it’s a difficult time for everyone in the club, but there will be better days ahead,” he says. “The last two results have not been ideal, but the work rate is still 100% every day in training. We are working so hard and we are working on the gameplan that the manager wants. We all believe in and we are all buying ourselves.”

From a personal point of view, Tierney is eager to make up for lost time.

Arsenal paid £ 25 million to sign Celtic’s left back in August, but injuries have so far limited him to just 13 appearances in all competitions. He arrived in north London with a hip problem after a double hernia surgery in Scotland. He had just recovered how much he was required to go under the knife again to fix his sprained shoulder.

“I had doubts that the injury I had before would never go away, it was so ongoing and I had been playing on it for so long,” he says. “In the end, doing it was a burden lifted from my shoulders, but then dislocating my shoulder was just another strange accident. There was nothing I could have done about it.”

It was a test period for Tierney, but he is grateful to his family, friends and Arsenal medical staff for helping him.

“It’s not ideal when you’re hurt and you’re away from your family and everything is new, but I have good people around me and good people at the club. Anyone who helps you in the dark moments, it’s the people you have to love. They know who I am and I know who I am “.

The shoulder injury allowed Tierney to return home to Glasgow for Christmas – “it was huge for me,” he says – but a few days later he returned to London to focus on his rehabilitation. When the coronavirus epidemic further delayed his return, he decided to work even harder.

“I used it to my advantage,” he says. “I went away and worked as hard as possible. I was in contact with the sports science guys who asked for the best I could do to help me get fit to return, because six months was the longest I would have not played. football in my life.

“It was difficult and it was obviously frustrating, but I think everything was sent to test you and everything happens for a reason. I have had obstacles before and hard work is how I found my way in difficult days.

“Just work hard and the best days will come.”

It is an attitude that has served him well throughout his career.

At Celtic, he led the team at the age of 21 and teammates were often surprised by his ferocity in training. During the 2017 Scottish Cup final against Aberdeen, he was rushed to the hospital with a broken jaw – only to reappear in Hampden Park in full kit to join the celebrations after the final whistle. “I would have spit my teeth to keep playing,” he said at the time.

Such dedication and determination are considered by some to be qualities that are missing from this side of Arsenal, but for Tierney they come naturally. “I will bring what I can bring,” he shrugs. “I don’t try to be a leader or something. I am just what I am. It is like sound and how I work. I also learned from good people.”

He cites Celtic captain Scott Brown as the biggest influence.

“It embodies what is a leader,” says Tierney. “He is the perfect leader. I have worked under him for so long and he has taught me a lot about football and life. I am not like him in many ways, but he taught people how to be themselves and how to be the best they can to be, and that’s what I’m trying to do. If people say I show leadership, then it’s brilliant. “

Tierney is already a popular figure among teammates and supporters of Arsenal, who, in addition to being excited by his ability, had a lot of fun from his weakness to escape the tools for thermal training in favor of shorts and shirt also deep in winter.

“The rest of them are all crumbled, wearing hats and everything else,” he chuckles. “But winter down here is nothing compared to winter in Scotland. It’s not even cold down here. You should see the climate in Scotland, then we’ll talk.

“People always say, ‘why don’t you train in a sweater?’ but I never play in a sweater on a Saturday, so it makes sense to wear the same clothes during training. I don’t mean anything, it’s just what I feel comfortable in. “

Rodgers, his manager for three years at Celtic, described it as “old school determination”, but it is Tierney’s attributes as a player that set him apart. He spent most of his time at Celtic playing “more like a wing than a left back”, in his own words, but he is also able to fill the central defender, as he did after sending David Luiz against Manchester City and even playing on the right side.

“I think everyone likes to attack and try to get assists, but I also love the defensive aspect, the one-v ones and going back and helping because you need to start defending, it’s very important for the team,” he says. “But it doesn’t matter where you play as long as you play. I will always try to do my best no matter what happens.”

Arteta now needs to see the same mentality across the Arsenal team. So far he has handled Tierney’s return to action with caution, backing him against Brighton after his departure against City, but the expectation is that he will return to the team against Southampton on Thursday. The expectation is that he will soon become an Arsenal leader just like he did at Celtic.

Watch Southampton vs Arsenal live on Sky Sports Football or Sky Sports Main Event from 5.30pm on Thursday; The kick-off is at 18:00