As is tradition, I will use the final column before the start of the season to look at three players for whom the upcoming campaign represents something of a crossroads. It’s going to be a big 2024-25 for…
Fabio Vieira
The sale of Emile Smith Rowe, in my view, puts plenty of extra pressure on Fabio Vieira to deliver in his third season at the club. Even if his salary is likely modest compared to his teammates, he came with a transfer fee in excess of £30m, he is not in the Lokonga and Tavares ‘worth a punt’ category of prospect signings.
Arsenal fans liked Emile Smith Rowe a lot and, rightly or wrongly, Vieira’s performances will now be viewed in that light. I don’t consider that to be a problem, if you want to succeed at a club like Arsenal you have to deliver under pressure and if Vieira doesn’t do that this season, he will likely be moved on in any case. The pressure is already on regardless of that context.
The upside for Vieira is that the ‘left eight’ area of the team is surely the one that presents the most opportunity. Smith Rowe has been removed as a competitor for the role and Havertz will clearly be used upfront on plenty of occasions. It is one of the least crowded areas of the squad and at the age of 24, Vieira is not a callow youth- especially in this team.
Vieira is also a very different profile to the other midfielders in the squad and if Arteta wants to build further unpredictability, at the very least, the Portuguese should become an option in midfield. Against relegation threatened opponents last season, Arteta tended towards a more creative option in midfield.
Vieira started away at Everton in September, Smith Rowe started at Nottingham Forest and at home to Luton. There are also two further Champions League group games this season and, potentially, a couple of extra knockout games too so rotation is going to have to become even more commonplace. And ultimately, if Vieira doesn’t deliver, Ethan Nwaneri is coming up on the tracks behind him now…
Gabriel Martinelli
Much like his compatriot and namesake Gabriel Jesus, Martinelli under delivered in 2023-24 compared to 2022-23. Martinelli had 0.45 goals contributions per 90 last season, compared to 0.65 per 90 in 2022-23. As I wrote earlier in the summer, I think there are a few reasons for that.
Wider dysfunction (relatively speaking) on the left side of the Arsenal team and injury had an impact. I am sure Jesus and Martinelli, who combine very well because Jesus likes to drift wide more than Havertz does, missed one another. But like Jesus, Martinelli’s contribution was not missed as much in absentia due to the form of Leandro Trossard at the end of last season.
My own view is that the fortunes of Jesus and Martinelli are probably linked. They form an excellent, fluid partnership. Whereas I think Trossard really benefits from playing off Havertz as a striker because he likes to arrive late onto the ball. So for me, it is likely to be a question of which pairing wins out- Havertz and Trossard or Jesus and Martinelli?
Objectively, in the long-term it would probably be better for Arsenal if Jesus and Martinelli could rekindle their partnership and Havertz could become the firm ‘left eight’ choice as Arteta probably intended, with Trossard moving back into more of a Sylvain Wiltord style ‘first back up for several forward positions’ option. Time will tell whether that happens and Martinelli cannot become a Goldilocks player who needs the porridge to be just right to perform consistently.
Takehiro Tomiyasu
One of the major differences between the Arteta era and late Wenger Arsenal is that the manager does not wait for players. When Tierney suffered one too many injuries, Zinchenko was brought in. When Thomas Partey’s fitness issues became a blocker to Arsenal’s progress, Jorginho was brought in.
A mixture of the manager’s ruthlessness and the competition for places means that players can be forgotten quickly. Zinchenko and Jesus have both seen their primacy reduce (at least to this point) because they were injured and other players came in and took their places. Now both are trying to fight their way back up the Arsenal ladder.
The same is true of Takehiro Tomiyasu, who was the starting right-back when he first signed in 2021. His physical issues opened the door for Ben White at right-back and William Saliba at centre-half and Tomiyasu has now become a high level rotation option. The shift in style during the second half of last season saw Tomiyasu preferred to Zinchenko at left-back.
When Tomiyasu signed a new contract recently, the terms, we are told, do not differ enormously from his initial terms and his deal was only extended by two seasons. Both of these things tell us the club essentially have him on trial pending his ability to stay fit. So his latest injury, while not incredibly serious in isolation, is particularly poorly timed.
Firstly, July is probably the worst time to suffer an injury for a player, even if the affliction is relatively minor. It basically costs you the first couple of months of your season as you slip out of synch with the rest of the squad. I think that timeline is exacerbated for squad players, who will naturally take longer to tune up with less regular minutes.
Jurrien Timber and Riccardo Calafiori have been added to the back line this season and that represents even greater competition for Tomiyasu. But he can only compete for them if he is available. He basically won’t be able to do that in any serious way until the autumn, at the earliest. It already feels like this could be a make or break season for Tomiyasu’s Arsenal future.
He is an excellent defender and option but that hardly matters if he is injured. If he cannot be available often enough, he will surely slip behind Timber and Calafiori in the pecking order and Zinchenko is not going away either, while Ben White has firmly made the right-back position his. The left-back door is now also a narrower one to try to pass through.
