The making of Kieran Tierney from "surprise" first session to Arsenal leader

With Arsenal in need of a hero to save their season, it was Kieran Tierney who stepped up.

Making his 50th appearance for the club, the left-back rifled in a powerful effort dug his side out of a hole before Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang's late winner against Benfica.

Their campaign looked to be all but over before the 23-year-old delivered a moment of magic and showed the character which has often been lacking from Arsenal sides in recent years.

Tierney's role was further proof he has become a leader for Mikel Arteta's side and has a huge part to play in the future of the club.

His journey started with his boyhood club, Celtic, and was heavily influenced by coach John Kennedy, now in interim charge at Celtic Park after Neil Lennon’s departure.

“For me, in my career I wouldn’t be here without him,” Tierney said of Kennedy shortly before his move to Arsenal in 2019.

This is the story of the making of Kieran Tierney as told by Kennedy.

“It’s very clear in my mind,” says John Kennedy when asked about Kieran Tierney’s first training session with the Celtic first-team.

It was the summer of 2014 when the youth prospect was thrown in with the senior squad for the first time, just a few weeks after his 17th birthday.

Kennedy, himself a former Celtic academy graduate who went on to play for Scotland before injury forced him into premature retirement, was also making the step up as a coach under new manager Ronny Deila.

They decided to give Tierney, a boyhood Celtic fan, a chance to prove his worth – but nobody expected what happened next.

“With Kieran, the way he trains is very much the way he plays,” Kennedy explains.

“The first session, normally with young players what happens is they come in, find their feet and don’t want to upset anyone, especially the more experienced lads. They tend to go a bit easy and feel their way in.

“With Kieran that wasn’t the case. From his first tackle, from the first moment in training he was out to do his own thing and he kind of blew everyone away his first session with us.

“In terms of his intensity, his aggression to defend and attack. I think it caught everyone by surprise.”

Stories of Tierney’s aggression in training have filtered out of the Arsenal dressing room since he moved to north London.

There have been some suggestions he has been asked to calm things down to limit the risks of injury to himself and others.

That eye-catching first session, however, set the wheels in motion for a youngster who had previously developed at a steady pace.

“I remember Ronny Deila, the manager at the time, saying, ‘wow, I’ve never seen such intensity from a young player so quickly’,” Kennedy recalls.

“It happened very quickly from then. He stayed with the first-team thereafter.

“He’d go down and play some reserve team games, but we had him training with us as much as we possibly could because his physicality, the way he wanted to work, was exactly what we were looking for. He made a very quick impression.”

Tierney was taken on Celtic’s pre-season tour of America that summer, making his debut in a friendly against Tottenham.

“We put out a few young players that day and, again, he was earmarked as someone young and with good potential,” Kennedy says.

“Although Kieran didn’t look a big guy, physically his legs were well-developed and he was very fast, very aggressive so he was able to handle that.

“When he was younger, he’d probably admit himself he was a little bit scruffy at times technically, but that was a part we focused on a lot when he was coming through.

“Physically, he was second to none. We knew he could handle the physical side of the game which is a big part for a young player.

“It was a case of just refining things as he moved on, but any opportunities Kieran got he always took it.

“You just knew it was a matter of time before he established himself in and around the first-team.”

It was all going to plan for Tierney after impressing the coaching staff and being earmarked for big things.

But he was dealt a setback – in part due to his tough-tackling approach.

Kennedy reveals: “We were actually going to give him his competitive debut a bit sooner than he made it in the end, but he broke his ankle.

“We were training indoors one day because the weather was really bad and, typical Kieran, he just wanted to tackle everybody with full aggression.

“He got caught in the grass a little bit and that injury set him back, but the minute he came back into training after recovering from that he pretty much picked up where he left off.

“It was pretty difficult at that point to hold him back any longer. He quickly got his debut and it all just built from there.”

Once introduced to the first-team on a regular basis, Tierney flourished.

A couple of appearances late in the 2014/15 campaign were followed by 33 games in all competitions the following season as Celtic stormed to the Scottish Premiership title.

He was named PFA, SFWA and Celtic Young Player of the Year, an award he would go on to win three years in succession.

“I think he was always one who probably surprised us in terms of how quickly he got up to the levels he did,” Kennedy reflects.

“In his first season, he only made a couple of appearances towards the end of the season then in his second season he made maybe 30 appearances or something when he was just 18.

“Even at a European level, again, the adaption was really quick for him. With young players you sometimes see the level maybe comes too soon for them when you step up from domestic to European level, but he just took everything in his stride.”

The moment which stands out for Kennedy and many Celtic fans was the 2017 Scottish Cup Final – a game in which Tierney played less than half an hour.

“One of the biggest moments in terms of mentality was the cup final where he got a broken jaw and had to come off very early,” Kennedy notes.

“Most players would be away to hospital and that’d be the end of it, you’d see them later in the week, but he quickly got there, kept his strip on, got what he needed done then asked to get back to the stadium in time for the trophy being lifted.

“It meant so much to him and that’s the kind of mentality and the character he is. He wants to be there, he wants to be at the forefront of it, and he’ll put his body on the line to bring success to whoever he’s playing for.

“That’s one of those moments where you thought, there are strong characters and stuff, but he’s a very strong character for such a young player.”

Given the ringing endorsements of Tierney’s character, it is no surprise he soon found himself wearing the captain’s armband as a youngster at Celtic.

Mikel Arteta recently branded him a “natural leader” and admitted: “I think he can be Arsenal captain”.

Those comments came as no surprise to Kennedy, who believes Celtic legend Scott Brown had a positive influence.

“In terms of different types of leaders, we still have one in Scott Brown at Celtic who was probably a good example for Kieran,” he states.

“As someone who had obviously supported the club, watched the club from a young age, and in all Kieran’s time as a youngster he’d watched Scott Brown as a captain and seen how he conducted himself.

“Then he got the opportunity to work closely with him on the pitch, seeing how he trained, and they’ve very similar traits in terms of their mentality and their make-up. I think he used him as an example and was able to take a lot from him.

“As a young player, he wasn’t one of those who was just around the squad for a couple of seasons, he quickly established himself as someone that all the first-team lads respected.

“It wasn’t how he spoke, being loud on the pitch or anything, it was purely how he worked, what he put into the sessions, the way he behaved and how professional he was. His actions made him a leader very, very quickly.

“Just as time grew, he became more comfortable in the environment, you could hear his voice a bit more.

“But I think Kieran’s biggest positive in terms of being a leader is the way he approaches everything, with the mentality he does.

“He’s the type of guy you’d want to be in the trenches with and have at your football club.”

It was those attributes which contributed to Tierney being in-demand and opting to depart his boyhood club in search of a greater challenge.

Whilst many at the club were left hurt and betrayed by his decision to leave as they chased a 10th straight title, Kennedy had no qualms with his desire to move on to the next level south of the border.

“Certainly from my end there was no issue there,” he confirms. “It was a case of him wanting to move onto a higher level to play at a massive club in England.

“Again, the competitive edge in him wants that. As much as he loves Celtic and probably didn’t want to leave, his competitive edge and drive to play at the highest level possible meant he knew that was the next challenge for him.

“It’s one where he took the step and it’s great to see him doing so well again.”

Tierney’s achievements are no surprise given Kennedy’s experiences with him at Celtic Park – but it wasn’t always plain sailing after his move.

The left-back took some time to adjust, disrupted by injuries and the sacking of Unai Emery in his first season in charge.

This season, however, Arteta has handed him a key role as an attacking outlet, prompting him to become one of the Premier League ’s stand-out performers.

The foundations for that success were laid years ago, in collaboration with Kennedy, both on the training pitch and in the video analysis department.

“We’ve spent a lot of time together, myself and Kieran,” Kennedy says.

“I was someone who came through the academy myself with the coaching path. I was Under-18s manager, second team coach and then obviously moved into the first-team, so I knew the pathway.

“I know how it operates, I know the challenges for young players and I know that for the right ones, if they get the opportunities, they can blossom.

“Kieran was someone I spent a lot of one-on-one time with, spent a lot of time on the development side along with a lot of other guys at the club.

“And we come from the same area, so it was one of those where we had a connection.

“We spent a lot of time together going over his games and his clips, the video stuff, and working on the pitch as well.

“He was an absolute dream to work with and he’s obviously seen the challenge of going down to Arsenal and wanted to take that.”

Speaking just a few weeks before his Celtic departure, a grateful Tierney singled out Kennedy’s role in his career.

“For me, in my career I wouldn’t be here without him,” the left-back declared.

It is a sentiment which makes it all worthwhile for Kennedy, but one which he downplays by pointing back to Tierney’s own dedication.

“It’s very satisfying,” he says. “That’s what our jobs are.

“As much as we’re here to win, and when you’re at first-team level you have to win games and trophies, it all comes back to how you develop the boys and the players in the team.

“Without the development side of it you never improve, so the objective every season is to improve as many players as we can and then that enhances the team as well.

“With a guy like Kieran, it makes your job so much easier because the processes you set out, the areas you want to try and improve is driven not only by the coach but massively by the player.

“There was never a day you’d have to go and chase him up or ask him to come back for anything.

“He wanted to do extra. There were times when I’d have to say to him, ‘enough is enough, you actually have to go and rest and recover for the next game as well!’

“He would always spend time in the analysis hub as well, looking over clips, watching other players, looking at previous games and players he would come up against.

“His mentality and drive was there and also that mindset of not wanting to miss out on anything that could help him reach the very top.

“It’s no surprise that he’s doing so well this season.”

The pair have stayed in touch since Tierney left Celtic.

When injury ruled him out of Scotland duty during his first season, he returned to Glasgow and posted a picture with his former coach on social media, simply captioned: “Legend”.

During a tough patch for the Gunners earlier this season, he turned to Kennedy for a chat.

“I still speak to him,” Kennedy concludes. “Every now and again I’ll give him a call or he’ll call me and we’ll have a chat about things.

“When Arsenal had a period where results weren’t great for them, and it was the same for ourselves.

“We were consoling each other over a phone call and just discussing each other’s situations where we were both having bad runs of results.

“Again, the only thing he thinks about is trying to get around a corner and making sure they turn things around.

“His approach has never changed, he’s a very humble guy. Even when he goes onto have a hugely successful career, which he will, he’ll never forget his roots.

“He’ll always be very humble in how he conducts himself and that’s credit to him and his family, the way he’s been brought up.

“He’s someone I’ll always keep in touch with, had a great time working with him, and take great satisfaction in seeing him doing really well.”

Still only 23, Tierney has the world at his feet and is a fine example for youngsters looking to make the grade in professional football.

“What separated Kieran from the rest was his mentality,” Kennedy concludes. “His mentality to work, how he approached every training session, how he approached every minute he was at the training ground.

“He just wanted to maximise every opportunity he had and you don’t see that everyday, especially with young players nowadays who get given a lot very quickly.

“Kieran was out there to maximise every opportunity he had and get the most out of every single session, so he was an absolute joy to work with.

“Every single training session, all my time working with him, I couldn’t say he had a bad session. Every game, every training session, we had the exact same mentality and approach off him and that’s what developed him so quickly at our place, his approach to working.

“He really blossomed when he came into the full-time environment. His development accelerated at that point and he obviously became someone who caught the eye very quickly.”

Now catching the eye in the Premier League, Tierney looks destined to go from strength to strength with Kennedy watching on proudly from afar.

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