What you should know about J. Timber

The Gunners have reloaded their cannons with Timber and Rice. In a literal sense this would be ballistically unsound, but in a figurative sense it is a cause of excitement in North London.

By Lars Sivertsen, Football Expert for Betsson

The 22 year old Jurrien Timber has been a regular starter with Ajax since early 2021, which means he has racked up a considerable amount of experience in spite of his young age. He has played over 100 times in the Ajax defence, and is a veteran of two Champions League campaigns. He was part of the team that won all six of their Champions League group stage games in the autumn of 2021. Many thought he would end up leaving last summer, as part of the massive Ajax exodus that saw players like Ryan Gravenberch, Sebastian Haller, Antony, Lisandro Lopez and Noussair Mazraoui leave the club. But Timber stayed on or another season, before now moving on to Arsenal. Tor-Kristian Karlsen, a scout and executive who worked with several major European clubs, described Timber in simple but glowing terms earlier this year: “Pretty much all that you want from a modern centre-back. The pace, the composure, the mentality, and the ability to play forward passes from the back without too much of a risk factor”, Karlsen told The Lars Resort podcast.  

Given that Ajax are usually so dominant in their domestic league and that they have such a particular way of playing, there is always some uncertainty about how their players will fare when the move on to bigger leagues. The modern history of European football has plenty of examples of Ajax graduates who have gone one to forge brilliant careers for themselves at the very top of the game, but there have also been some who have struggled to make the step up. Karlsen doesn’t believe that Timber will be one of these. “What makes me quite optimistic about Timber’s prospects is his one against one defending, which is excellent. So it’s not just about organization or having a particularly good centre-back next to him”, he said. Playing in central defence for Ajax in the Eredivisie may not be the toughest gig in showbiz, but Timber has also been tested in the Champions League, and he has played 15 games for the Dutch national team. He hasn’t just excelled against the likes of Fortuna Sittard and Go Ahead Eagles. “The only caveat here is his height”, says Karlsen. Timber is 5 foot 10′, not tall for a central defender. “So perhaps ideally you would have him playing as a right-sided defender in a back three, or even a right back. His aerial game is not particularly great. But I still think if you look at the characteristics of the player, I believe he belongs at a high level”.

In the case of Timber, his statistical profile is maybe not the most useful information. Looking at data from the Fbref website, we find that Timber’s passing numbers are, as you’d expect, out of this world. But this is kinda what happens when you play in central defence for Ajax. His percentage of aerial duels won, 47.4%, is not good for a central defender. But of course, there is an aspect that’s worth mentioning here: We don’t know for sure that he will play in a traditional centre-back role. He has on occasion played right back for Ajax, and his skill set opens up some interesting tactical possibilities for Mikel Arteta.

For instance, if the Arsenal manager wants to use Oleksandr Zinchenko as a left back who moves into midfield when the team is in possession, Jurrien Timber would seem like a player who is perfectly suited to alternate between playing as a right back when the team is defending and then sliding into a kind of back four when Arsenal have posesssion and  Zinchenko move into midfield. Timber is unusually quick for a central defender, and is both composed on the ball and an unusually good passer. This means he should in theory have the skill set to play as a defensive midfielder. Or even in the “John Stones” role, alternating between a place in the back four when defending and a midfield role when the team has the ball. Timber himself has told Arsenal’s in-house media that “for me it doesn’t really matter, I think that I’m lucky to say that I can play as a central defender, as a right full-back, sometimes even on the midfield”.

So there it’s clear that Timber, aside from just being a very good player, gives Mikel Arteta some interesting tactical options going into the next season. Arsenals two other big summer signings Kai Havertz and Declan Rice, are also players who are well suited to fulfil more than one role in Arsenal’s system. Mikel Arteta has spoken in the past about the importance of having versatile players in the squad, and that seems to be a guiding principle this summer as well. Jurrien Timber seems a good fit for that policy, and provided he can adjust to life outside of Ajax he should be an interesting option for Arteta in several positions.

Listen to The Lars Resort podcast here: https://soundcloud.com/user-721285592