Jurrien Timber scored his first two goals for the Netherlands on Friday night, and the Arsenal defender walked off with a perfect 10 out of 10 from one Dutch website after a 7-0 Nations League thrashing of Greece.
It was some way to end a wait. Jurrien Timber had gone 25 caps without a goal for his country, then scored twice in one night at the Johan Cruijff ArenA, the fifth and the sixth in a rout that was already 5-0 at half-time.
He only started because Virgil van Dijk had pulled out. Micky van de Ven moved into the middle, Denzel Dumfries played on the right, and Timber was handed the left-back shirt by Xavi Hernández.
How did Timber play against Greece?
On paper he was a left-back. In practice he was something closer to an extra midfielder. Every time the Netherlands had the ball, Timber drifted inside from the left and gave the midfield another body to pass to, and Greece never worked out who was meant to pick him up.
His first goal was a close-range tap-in. The second came at the far post from a Dumfries cross. Before that he had played a part in two of the earlier goals with the pass before the assist, and he was taken off after 74 minutes, with Ian Maatsen coming on in his place.
Tijjani Reijnders took the match ball after a first-half hat-trick, but Timber’s display drew just as much praise in the Dutch player ratings.
A perfect 10 and the ‘perfect joker’
According to Soccernews, Timber deserved full marks. Their verdict was that he can play anywhere in a back four, but the flanks, left or right, clearly suit him far better than a place in the middle.
Other Dutch ratings stopped at nine, which is hardly an insult. One called him perhaps the most striking player on the pitch and an exceptional performer that Greece simply couldn’t get hold of. Another described his night as a masterclass, with Timber playing more like a half number 10 than a full-back.
That last point fits what his coach had said. A day before the game, Xavi called Timber “the perfect joker”, and the defender went out and played exactly that role.
The win put the Netherlands three points clear at the top of League A Group 2. They are away to Germany on Monday, and a point there is enough to make sure of a quarter-final place.
What does it mean for Arsenal?
It hasn’t been the easiest start to the season for Timber at Arsenal. A long-term groin injury and the form of Ben White have limited him to three Premier League starts so far. He did play the full 90 minutes in the last two league wins before the break, against Liverpool and in the 1-0 win over Hull City.
Left-back isn’t new to him either. He has played there 14 times for Arsenal, but right now Riccardo Calafiori and Piero Hincapie are the two fighting for that spot. Calafiori has gone into this break wanting to be a leader for Italy, as he explained before Italy’s game against France at San Siro, while Hincapie has only just said he is feeling 100 per cent again after his groin and ankle problems.
Calafiori has made that position his own free role, popping up in central attacking areas. Timber has usually been praised for something different: his one-against-one defending. What Friday showed is that he can do the Calafiori job as well.
A rotation option Arteta didn’t have before
That matters for Mikel Arteta. With Timber able to play on the left, Arsenal can rest Gabriel Magalhaes by moving Calafiori or Hincapie into the middle, as long as White stays fit and keeps playing as well as he has on the right.
Should Timber start at left-back for Arsenal?
Not every week, and not off the back of one night against a Greece side that fell apart. But it would be daft to ignore it.
The Gunners face a busy winter, and a defender who can defend one against one, drift inside like a midfielder and now score as well is exactly the kind of player who keeps a title defence moving when bodies start to tire. Timber was never a backup in the usual sense. After Friday, he looks like the most flexible option Arteta has at the back.
