Morning all, welcome to a model new week.
It is extremely, very quiet from an Arsenal perspective. I see Germany supervisor Hansi Flick received, nicely, the flick, after dropping 4-1 to Japan. Clearly I don’t actually care about that in any respect, however I did see some Takehiro Tomiyasu compilations doing the rounds – there’s one right here on Reddit, for instance.
He’s a participant I’ve appreciated since his arrival from Bologna, and it’s attention-grabbing (kinda) to notice, that as we bemoaned the unhappy harm to Jurrien Timber, we had already purchased a model of him beforehand. An completed defender who can play throughout the back-line, who provides high quality and flexibility. The type of participant who offers you depth, however who’s definitely ok to be a starter.
After all, with the intention to do this you need to be accessible, and in his two seasons with Arsenal, Tomi has had some harm points. In his first season he got here into the workforce and did very well till round Christmas time, then missed an enormous chunk with a calf harm. Maybe we introduced him again a bit too quickly, he limped his method by the top of the marketing campaign, however received match and performed 33 occasions earlier than the knee harm that ended his marketing campaign final season.
In that sense, whereas he has positively had accidents, I feel it’s a little bit of a stretch to say he’s harm inclined, per se. The knee drawback he sustained in opposition to Sporting was a little bit of a freak, he slipped, his knee went. It occurs. I feel he’s totally different from the type of participant who sustains repetitive accidents in a single particular space. Hamstring, groin, ‘again’ and so forth.
He spoke earlier this 12 months about how the absences from the workforce had made him lose confidence a bit, not least as a result of Ben White got here in was so efficient at right-back. He mentioned:
Sure, it was a troublesome interval for me. Ben White was doing very nicely and to be trustworthy I misplaced confidence. However the harm interval was 4 months and I take into consideration quite a lot of issues on this time.
It’s essential be taught from the accidents, additionally the errors. You’ve gotten good and unhealthy moments, however you want to be taught quite a lot of issues from the unhealthy moments. Now I’m feeling good, not just for my physique, my head additionally. It’s all constructive.
His begin to the season clearly hasn’t been perfect, however the crimson card in opposition to Crystal Palace was ridiculously mushy in my opinion. That meant he missed the sport in opposition to Fulham which required Mikel Arteta to choose a unique left-back for the third successive sport. I believe he would have began if he hadn’t been suspended, and hopefully a efficiency just like the one in opposition to Germany, and the aggressive minutes in the course of the Interlull, will stand him in good stead when he returns.
The query is, how laborious can he push for normal begins now? All of us love Ben White; the Saliba/Gabriel partnership appears to be like a troublesome one to disrupt, though for the primary time Arteta has demonstrated the Brazilian isn’t untouchable; whereas the return of Oleksandr Zinchenko means he’s more likely to begin on the left so long as he’s match (however he’s a participant who suits the harm inclined tag higher than Tomiyasu, to be honest).
The calls for of the Premier League and the Champions League imply the supervisor must change issues round. I may very well be incorrect, however Zinchenko doesn’t strike me as somebody who can play each three/4 days on a constant foundation, so I feel we would see a little bit of Tomiyasu there. Whether or not that’s in Europe or domestically may rely on the opposition, and prefer it not there might be absences for harm/suspension that he’s first in line to cowl for.
When requested about the place he’d choose to play, he mentioned:
I simply need to be on the pitch. I need to play as a lot as I can and assist the workforce. Which place, I don’t care. I haven’t spoken to the supervisor about it, I don’t know. I simply need to assist the workforce.
His means to play in each defensive place definitely will increase his probabilities of taking part in, and whereas the harm to Timber is an enormous blow, I feel Tomiyasu’s high quality is a little bit of a security web. Let’s hope he can keep match, not simply to supply depth or cowl, however to essentially push these round him. Typically it’s laborious to see precisely the place a participant suits, however over the course of a season issues turn into extra clear, and I’ve a sense we’ll see that with Tomiyasu as time goes by.
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Proper, let’s go away it there for now. James and I’ll have an Arsecast Additional for you a bit of in a while this morning. Hold a watch out for the decision for questions on Twitter @gunnerblog and @arseblog on Twitter with the hashtag #arsecastextra – or in case you’re on Arseblog Member on Patreon, go away your query within the #arsecast-extra-questions channel on our Discord server.
For now, have one.
