Ex-Gunner on how Arsenal could have helped Kieran Tierney after Wolves ace Adama Traore beat left-back in the buildup to both goals

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Speaking exclusively to CaughtOffside, Michael Thomas has admitted that Kieran Tierney’s performance against Wolves was ‘okay’, despite the fact that Adama Traore got the better of the ace.

Adama Traore used his clever dribbling to beat Tierney before floating the dangerous cross into the box that led to Pedro Neto’s opener.

Tierney certainly wasn’t the Arsenal defender who should be blamed for Wolves’ first. Traore is one of the Premier League’s top wingers and is near unstoppable when it comes to one-on-one battles.

Tierney was punished for being in no man’s land when it came to the Wanderers’ second as Traore picked up the ball with his back to the ace, before spinning away and sparking the counter for Daniel Podence’s strike for Nuno Espirito Santo’s side.

Thomas admits that Traore’s qualities in these kinds of situation should have been ‘addressed’ beforehand, with the ex-England international adding that the Gunners could’ve limited the winger by possibly ‘doubling up’ on him.

See More: Thomas also hailed Traore’s great wing-play that lead to Wolves’ first against Arsenal.

Here’s Thomas’ response when quizzed on the Scotsman being ‘constantly troubled’ by Traore:

“I think Tierney had an okay game. Traore is a very tough opponent to deal with and we all would have known his qualities, this should have been addressed to deal with before by perhaps doubling up.”

Both of Wolves’ goals can be seen below, on both occasions some mastery from Traore against Tierney sparked the goalscoring opportunities:

Pictures from Sky Sports and NBC Sports Soccer.

Both of Wolves’ goals against Arsenal came from transitions that Traore played a key part in, the wide-man’s drive collapsed all the work that Mikel Arteta has done to steady the Gunners’ defence recently.

More Stories Adama Traore Kieran Tierney Michael Thomas Mikel Arteta