Tierney to set the standard for Arsenal’s future – Keown

Martin Keown has praised Kieran Tierney, saying the full-back will set Arsenal’s standards going forward.

Tierney came to Arsenal from Celtic in 2019, but his start at the club was interrupted by injury.

Since he got rid of his shoulder problem, Tierney has produced consistent excellence for the Gunners.

He scored one goal and assisted another in a buccaneer display in Arsenal’s 4-0 win over West Brom on Saturday.

Tierney’s goal, a curly shot off his weaker right foot after a good run, was worthy of the enthusiastic celebration that followed, and Keown felt it summed up the player’s character.

“Look at the anger,” Keown said BT sport of the goal celebration. “He wants something to happen, that’s what I like.

“Your football career is a short period of your life and you want to make a mark.

“That young man has come from Scotland and he doesn’t want to waste time.

“He is going to set the standard for the future of Arsenal.

“The final product is now entering your game; it’s getting better all the time.

“It doesn’t matter who’s playing on that left side, [Pierre-Emerick] Aubameyang or [Gabriel] Martinelli, while Tierney is playing, you get that ERA down the left. “

Arsenal’s rebound in form has coincided with the injection of youth in the form of Emile Smith Rowe and Bukayo Saka on the side.

The pair combined for a brilliant second goal and Keown felt it was a throwback to the Thiery Henry and Robert Pires years.

“It was like a throwback to the Pires years, the Henry movement,” Keown said. “They would have managed to overcome this in the academy, that’s what is special about it.

“Smith Rowe with a give and take and keeps his career. Saka knows she will find it, she just rolls it up.

“I have been immensely impressed by Smith Rowe since he joined the team.

“It’s the kind of role that everyone thought [Mesut] Ozil was going to fill up. So the coach wants that type of player and he wants youth and exuberance and he’s getting it with these two. “