Morning all.
Liverpool extended their lead at the top of the Premier League last night after a 2-2 draw with Aston Villa, but having now played a game more than us, there’s a chance for us to cut that deficit on Saturday if we beat West Ham. That is the big IF, of course, nothing is guaranteed, but the door is open just a little wider if we do.
I saw some frustration that Villa couldn’t take all three points, but a draw will do me fine. Back in 2007-08, we had a 5 point lead over Man Utd with 12 games to go. Without wishing to trigger anyone, that 2-2 draw with Birmingham happened, and we drew our next three games to see United overtake us and build a 3 point lead with 8 games to go.
Those circumstances were obviously very different. I think the team was traumatised by the Eduardo injury and the late penalty which cost us the win that day. It didn’t help that our captain sat on the pitch, displaying a dearth of character and leadership which I firmly believe played a part in that run of games that followed. But the point is, draws at this point of the season can be costly, so while it would obviously be better if the Mugsmashers lost a few games, as long as we can do what we need to do, draws are useful in the context of this title race.
Liverpool are away to Man City on Sunday, and by that point we could have cut the gap to 5 points with 12 games to go. A win in our 3pm kick off on Saturday will apply just a little extra pressure, but our challenge lies beyond just winning a game. We’re without key players from our forward line, we needed a bit of a Hail Mary intervention from Mikel Merino last Saturday against Leicester, and I’m sure Mikel Arteta is trying to work out the best starting XI which will help us take all three points against the Hammers. Right now though, there’s more than a glimmer of hope, and that’s a good thing.
Elsewhere, Arsenal have confirmed Takehiro Tomiyasu’s surgery and revealed the timeline for his recovery, saying:
Despite an initial surgical procedure in August, followed by a return to full training, and featuring as a substitute in our home Premier League match against Southampton in October, Tomi continued to have issues with his knee, resulting in a further corrective surgical procedure.
Tomi will now begin his recovery and rehabilitation programme, which is expected to be completed towards the end of this year.
I wrote a bit about him in more depth last week, but we’re in February now and they’re talking about the end of this year as a potential comeback date. It’s just really sad for the player, and again I’d stress the need to look at this from a human angle. Yes, he’s very well paid and – in the grand scheme of things – he’ll be comfortable, well looked after from a medical perspective, and all the rest.
Nevertheless, this is clearly a big problem for Tomiyasu. This isn’t an ACL injury, this is an issue that has been ongoing for some time, that they tried to fix once, have tried to deal with without surgery, only to end up back in a position where he has to have an operation to try and fix it. I’ve seen it described as a complicated or complex injury, and when you look at how long he’s been out, and the measures taken to try and get it right, that seems obvious.
However, you don’t need a masters degree in reading between the lines to understand that this is an injury that could possibly have serious consequences for his career. By the time his rehab finishes, he’ll have 6 months left on his Arsenal contract, although there is an option for another year. It remains to be seen if that option will be taken up, and it will all depend how successful this surgery is. There are no guarantees everything will go as planned, so it’s not beyond the realms of possibility the Arsenal phase of his footballing life is over.
Maybe he comes back at the end of 2025, maybe he goes on loan somewhere to play more regularly, and then in the summer his contract is up and Arsenal decide not to extend. To me that’s a situation than deserves more empathy for the player than criticism just because he’s getting paid while out injured (like any contracted employee is entitled to, by the way). I know the worst excesses of online discourse aren’t representative of the majority (not just in football either), but they still rankle with me a bit because here’s a good guy, a solid pro, and none of this is his fault.
Don’t worry about his wages. Arsenal have the money – as the latest financial results show – and while we can discuss his place in the squad and what we need to do to fill it, don’t cast him aside and speak about him like some kind of broken trinket that’s of no use. I think we’ve all probably been guilty of that at some point, and I completely understand frustration around players who could bring a lot to the team who aren’t fit to play, but maybe a slight shift in how we have those discussions would be welcome.
Right, I’ll leave it there for now. We’ll have an Arsecast for you a bit later today, so stand by for that. In the meantime, enjoy your Thursday.
