Nigel Winterburn nervous about Arsenal duo leaving, says Tierney has ‘got to worry’, thinks White for England is ‘a no-brainer’ and makes bold title claim

Nigel Winterburn was an integral part of an Arsenal defence that helped win three top-flight titles, two FA Cups and one League Cup during his 13 years at the club.

In a wide-ranging interview with Ladbrokes: Fanzone, the former left-back discussed all things Arsenal, starting with the contract situation of two essential players.

I’m nervous about two key Arsenal players leaving

I’m always worried when contract talks are taking place – they seem to go on forever nowadays. I’d love to believe – as does every supporter of every club – that all of those players are fully committed and want to be at Arsenal, but let’s be honest, some of those players are looking for the most amount of money they can get.

From Arsenal’s point of view, I suppose you’d be looking at Gabriel Martinelli and Bukayo Saka. It’s quite simple; they are young players that need to be tied down on long-term deals. I don’t have an issue with them jumping from £30-50k up to £150-200k a week. I’m not the man paying it, for one! But I’ve always thought there was a scale at Arsenal, and those guys are now regular first-teamers – particularly Saka. You’re going to have to pay them what you feel they’re worth within the squad, and at the minute they are very important players.

That’s where the issue then comes – how high do you go? I’m nervous because they are two young, sensational players and I would hate it if they left the club – in particular to go to another team in the Premier League.

The club have been able to get a huge amount of money off the wage bill in the last few years. They needed to do that, because some of the players who were on the books just weren’t good enough. The squad needed changing dramatically and I don’t think people realised how much needed to be done before Mikel Arteta came into the club.

He’s done a great job on that front, and a lot of money has been freed up. But now they’re going to have to pay the likes of Saka and Martinelli what they’re worth. I think the fans will demand as much as well, because everyone is so excited about the start we’ve had to this season. The last thing you want to start reading about as an Arsenal fan as we close down for the World Cup is players’ contracts.

I can’t answer why Tomiyasu is playing ahead of Tierney

Unfortunately for Kieran Tierney, Oleksandr Zinchenko has come in and technically he’s just incredible and he brings a whole new dimension to the side. You can see what Mikel Arteta is trying to do. He’s bringing the full-back into a central role when the ball is on the opposite side, and that then creates so much space for Martinelli to play in. Tierney is a fantastic player, but his career at Arsenal has been so disrupted by the amount of injuries he’s had. Zinchenko has come in and the performances that he’s put in, and his link-up play, have been outstanding.

As a player, you’ve got to wait for your opportunity, and the one thing that Kieran Tierney has got to worry about is that [Takehiro] Tomiyasu has played the last two league games ahead of him on that left-hand side. I could understand it against Liverpool. That decision made sense to me because the right-footed left-back really helped in keeping Mo Salah quiet and stopped him from coming inside as he so often does.

But I can’t answer that question as to why Tomiyasu started ahead of Tierney against Leeds on the weekend. You might say it was a reward or recognition for the job he did against Liverpool, but there’s been a Europa League game since then, and Tierney played in that. What’s the message that’s going to Kieran Tierney at the moment? As a player you want to feel as though you’re battling for your position. Now is the time for Tierney to stand up and fight for his spot, and prove he’s the right man. I’d say watch this space, because it’s a really intriguing battle to watch.

Ben White for Qatar should be a no-brainer

I think it would be a huge shock if Ben White isn’t in that England squad heading to Qatar. I expected Tomiyasu to be straight back in the first team on that right-hand side when he was fit, but he hasn’t been able to get his spot back. That shows you how good a job Ben White has done up to this point.

It seems like a no-brainer for me to take him to the World Cup. In White, you’ve got a centre-half who can play right-back, he can play centre-back in a back four, he can play in a back five where he’s good enough on the ball to bring it out and play. I just don’t see how he doesn’t fit into at least the squad, particularly if Gareth Southgate wants to change to a back five. I don’t see how he doesn’t fit into it – and then if one of your right-backs gets injured, he can fit into that position too.

Are there three English centre-halves better than Ben White right now? I think sometimes it’s not necessarily a case of being a better player, sometimes you get what I call a working relationship between players and managers. Sometimes the very best player might not be the best for the position, or sometimes that player might not work particularly well with the players around him.

I don’t know if there’s been an issue there with White or not, but there are players who are injured, or who can’t get into their club sides at the moment, like your Harry Maguires, who you’d expect to start for Southgate. I’d be surprised if he’s not in the squad; but he wasn’t in the last one, so we’ll have to wait and see.

Two areas where Gunners can still strengthen

I still think Arsenal should be looking at strengthening in the centre of midfield. I think that’s an area they’ll be looking at. With Ben White and Rob Holding around, I’d say they’re covered at centre-half. It looks like they’re covered in the full-back positions now as well. Out wide you’ve got Martinelli and Saka, but Fabio Vieira can also play in those positions, and you’ve still got Emile Smith Rowe to come back.

Up front, people might still ask questions of Eddie Nketiah, but I think his game has developed from the end of last season where he was thrown in to play. On the whole I think we’re pretty strong.

If you were being ultra-critical and looking at two positions to strengthen, it would be another centre-forward and then another central midfielder. Aside from Thomas Partey and Granit Xhaka, you’ve got Albert Sambi Lokonga and Mohamed Elneny, who is clearly very highly rated at the club, I’d say when everyone’s fit, this is certainly a much stronger and deeper squad than they’ve had for a long, long time.

Eradicating Gabriel’s mistakes will take time, but Arteta clearly trusts him

You’ll always look to strengthen positions, no matter how good or how successful a side you are. I think Arsenal did a fantastic job in the summer, bringing back William Saliba who was like a new signing. He seems to have established a good relationship with Gabriel. Yes, they’re still going to make mistakes, but overall I think they’re doing a great job.

You’ve got Rob Holding there, Ben White, too. The fact that Mikel Arteta has stuck with Saliba and Gabriel tells me he really trusts them. I think with Gabriel, he’s an aggressive player, he likes to go in tight and he likes to win the ball, but I think there is a mistake there. What you have to do is try to eradicate those mistakes, season after season. That sort of thing doesn’t just disappear overnight.

But what I’d say is that as long as you’re not making too many (mistakes), then the manager is going to trust you – and Gabriel can score a goal or two as well. At the moment, you can’t really criticise the pair too much. Yes, they’ve given away  penalties and goals, but that’s going to happen. You’ve got to look at the whole picture and their whole performances throughout the season up to this point – and I’d say they’ve done very well.

It comes with time, like I said, those little mistakes can’t be eradicated overnight. It’s about learning from them, gradually trying to get them out of your game and managing situations better. I won’t say they’re necessarily erratic, but I’m confident that the two of them – but in particular, Gabriel – will be able to get rid of those mistakes over time.

I don’t want Martinelli and Jesus at the World Cup!

Gabriel Martinelli and Gabriel Jesus weren’t in Brazil’s last squad, and I get that they’ve got a lot of attacking options, but for me, to think they wouldn’t be in their World Cup squad would be incredible. Would it be a good thing for Arsenal? If I’m being selfish, I’d say let’s wrap them up in cotton wool and keep them away from Qatar.

But it’s every player’s dream to experience what it’s like playing in a World Cup, so it would be wrong of me to deny them that opportunity just for Arsenal’s sake. If they’re in the squad – which I expect them to be – I’ll be keeping my fingers crossed they don’t come back fatigued or injured.

Missing out on top four would be a disaster for Arteta

I was talking about the top four being the aim at the start of the season. Obviously there are a wealth of teams in and around Arsenal who will have all been targeting that same goal. But my opinion has already changed. Now, from this point, Arsenal have to finish inside the top four. Given the start we’d have, it would be a disaster if we didn’t finish in the Champions League places.

Can Arsenal challenge Manchester City? I still think they’re too powerful a side, and we’ll do well to keep in contact with them. If we’re anywhere near them come the end of the season, that would be fantastic.

That being said, I think the World Cup break comes at a really interesting time. If Arsenal are still top of the league when that break comes, then it starts to get even more exciting and interesting, doesn’t it? At the moment, no one can deny we are title contenders. That may change in a few weeks from now, but as long as we continue to be there or thereabouts, then who knows? My prediction has already changed once this season!

We’re only 10 games in and we know how things can change, but they’ve set themselves up beautifully for a great season ahead. If they’re still up there at the top of the table by the time the international break comes around, then Mikel has done a fantastic job.

Are Arsenal going to lose games? Of course they are, but this is the most excited I’ve been for quite a while when it comes to Arsenal. And you can see it, you can feel it when you step into that stadium. The atmosphere is incredible. I’ve been to every home game this season, including the Europa League, and the atmosphere has completely changed. The fans really are playing a huge part in this success.

We saw it a little bit last season. I know they lost against Manchester City at home, but I’d never seen an atmosphere like that for a team that had just lost. But this season it’s gone to another level and it’s been absolutely insane at times inside the stadium. If that doesn’t inspire you as a player, then I don’t know what will. You walk out of that tunnel to the noise you’re getting inside the Emirates at the moment, and straightaway you know where you are, you know what you need to do. The fans are ready, so you should be too.

The players need to take great credit for the job they’ve done so far. The fans wouldn’t be as loud as they are these days were it not for the performances the team have been putting in.

We rode our luck against Leeds but it emphasises how far we’ve come

First of all it’s worth mentioning I thought that Leeds played exceptionally well this weekend. They didn’t show the kind of form they’ve been in of late. They were very good, they were aggressive, they moved the ball well and put Arsenal under extreme pressure. The sharpness wasn’t there for Arsenal and they were hanging in there in that second half. Leeds bossed the game from half-time onwards.

I don’t think I’d agree that Arsenal have ridden their luck this season. I’d actually say the team have been absolutely sensational. Sunday’s performance was probably their poorest of the season so far, but I would give Leeds more credit for forcing Arsenal into that, rather than saying Arsenal didn’t play very well.

I don’t know where other supporters are getting these ‘rode their luck’ claims from, because if you role reverse it, you’d say ‘well hang on, Arsenal were unlucky not to have beaten Manchester United and that was down to a decision which went against them’.

We rode our luck against Leeds, for sure. But I’d also say that there were back-to-back games last season against Manchester United and Everton where we led, and then we faltered, and we lost both of those games. So if you want to look for a positive, we hung in for a victory at Elland Road when the most we probably deserved was a point.

You’re always analysing your performances in fine detail, regardless of whether you lose or win, and so in games like Sunday’s, Arsenal’s defenders and goalkeeper will be looking at it in great depth. And while it could have been so much different had Patrick Bamford’s penalty gone in or the second penalty was awarded, as a defender you take a lot of mental strength away from a result like that, coming out with a clean sheet and three points. It’s a great buzz when you come off knowing you haven’t been at your best, but everybody has dug in and you’ve kept a clean sheet.

Every player has been in the position where you’re walking off thinking ‘boy, oh boy, that was a good three points because we weren’t really in that game; we just managed to ride our luck’. Leeds will be coming off wondering how they lost that game – they should have won it.