Morning all,
Blogs is out of action, so you’ve got me on loan for a few hours. I’ll try not to be too Sterling.
There’s only one place to start and that’s the news that Takehiro Tomiyasu has confirmed he’s had surgery to resolve an ongoing knee issue.
The Japan international has featured for a total of six minutes this season, so to be ruled out until next season (I’m hazarding a guess) is a devastating blow for him. He’s had a series of problems since arriving from Bologna – a calf injury wrecked the second half of a promising first season and he also had an operation on his knee this time two years ago.
Anyone who has had a long-term injury will know his frustration. Overcoming the physical symptoms is one thing, but coping with the mental side, particularly the nagging concern that you might never get better, is quite another. When you’re a pro athlete and the clock is constantly ticking down on a short window to have the best career you can, it must add even more stress. I feel for him.
In the space of a few weeks, four Arsenal players – Reiss Nelson, Kai Havertz, Gabriel Jesus and Tomi – have undergone surgery. Bukayo Saka, Kieran Tierney and Ben White have also been under the knife since the summer. It’s a four to three split between muscular and knee issues, something the club must be concerned about. You suspect the inquests have already begun because Mikel Arteta, probably after chatting to the medical team, spoke at length last week about the lack of time his players have to train their muscles in the gym because of matches every three days. It’s a topic I suspect he’ll return to before the season is out.
Anyway, we wish Tomi and everyone else who is recovering all the best.
Other than that, with the West Ham game still a few days away, it’s relatively quiet on the Arsenal front – a real novelty given the relentless rat-a-tat-tat of this season’s schedule. Downtime isn’t necessarily good, as my mind starts to wander. And I’ve repeatedly landed on this: it’s been a tough season, hasn’t it?
I’ve watched a lot of Arsenal over the last four decades – when we’ve been shit, when we’ve been good, when we’ve been good and collapsed, when we’ve been bad and rallied, when we’ve been distinctly average. I’ve seen a bit of everything. But somehow, despite Mikel Arteta building an exceptional side and silverware still being up for grabs on two fronts, this season has felt like a massive slog.
The red cards, the goals conceded out of nothing, the inches denying us last-gasp matchwinners, the “you’ll never see that again” decisions. At this point, I don’t even need to mention the injuries, do I?
Too often, it’s felt like the world is conspiring against us.
It certainly doesn’t help that we live in an age of weaponised “banter”. That manufactured schadenfreude is waiting to greet every dropped point. That literal and metaphorical yellow cards are being dished out for over-exuberant celebrations. That Jason Cundy has a radio show. That VAR is always lurking ready to nip any joy in the bud, just as a hit of “unexpected delirium” courses through your veins.
I love football but there have definitely been moments this season when I’ve wondered whether it’s worth the time and effort.
And then yesterday, I saw these words from the lads at Red Action – originally posted on Twitter just after David Ornstein confirmed Kai Havertz would be out for the season.
We can still go to games with our pals and have the craic. Nobody can take that from us. The Fans are the Club.
Reading that was the slap around the face I needed. Because I really shouldn’t take it for granted that I get to go to the Emirates week in, week out to watch one of the best football clubs in the world.
So look, while I stand by the fact watching Arsenal has been a bit of a grind recently, I’m mindful that it continues to drip-feed me the good stuff as well. So I figured I’d attempt some ‘journaling’ – is that what the kids call it these days? – jotting down a few highlights as much a reminder for me, as for you.
The inevitability of Gabriel
There’s something uniquely satisfying about watching Gabriel Magalhaes power home a header from a set piece, especially after years of Arsenal making a total hash of them. For so long, corners were little more than a 50-second inconvenience, a chance for the opposition to reset while we aimlessly dinked the ball onto the head of the nearest centre-half. Not anymore. Now, we have Gabriel, a man built for chaos, steaming in like a freight train while hapless defenders cling to him like doomed extras in a disaster movie. Goalkeepers? Helpless. Flapping. Waving goodbye to their clean sheets as the ball rips past them. Just ask the likes of Vicario, Ederson, Fabianski, and whoever was between the sticks for Sporting Lisbon – each left sprawled on the turf, watching the Brazilian disappear into a mob of limbs and grinning teammates. Beautiful.
Tierney’s return
Football doesn’t often do sentiment, but watching Kieran Tierney – shirt still tucked in, as if he’s just finished double maths – feels like a small victory. At one point, it looked like his Arsenal story would fizzle out in the treatment room, no proper goodbye, just a quiet return ticket to Glasgow. Instead, here he is, six months before his inevitable Celtic homecoming, flying up and down the wing to help close out games. 109 minutes across six appearances isn’t much, but it’s something. Not many have lasted the course since Arteta took over, so there’s something comforting about seeing KT still in the mix. The Tesco-bag-carrying lad from Glasgow who’s been put through the wringer but never lost that connection with the fans. As a bonus, it also means we can revert to the original version of my favourite Arteta chant.
The kids are alright
There’s something special about watching a Hale End kid break through. To see not just talent, but swagger, the kind of confidence that says, yeah, I belong here. And in Arsenal’s hour of need, Ethan Nwaneri and Myles Lewis-Skelly have done exactly that, stepping up, stepping forward, and making it look effortless. We’ve known about Nwaneri for a while. A historic debut at 15 was one thing, but these last few months? A coming of age. The goals have been outrageous, the fearlessness even more so. He just keeps charging at his marker, daring them to stop him, and when the chance comes, boom – the finish is already a trademark. Then there’s Myles. A future captain if ever I saw one. We all chuckled in pre-season when we heard he was being tested at left-back (we’ve got seven of those, Mikel!) but look at him now, keeping out the big names around him. “Who the fuck are you?” asked Erling Haaland in September. After proving his big-game credentials nobody else will be asking that. Hale End has produced some gems in recent memory, but this? This feels different. This feels like the start of something huge.
The Resurrection of Jesus
“Five goals in 51 minutes, Jesus. That’s ridiculous.” One minute, our number 9 couldn’t buy a goal, the next he was rattling them in like he was prime Ronaldo. A second-half hat-trick in the Carabao Cup to drag Arsenal past Crystal Palace? “Is he always this good?” asked my fiance in a rare visit to N5. Erm, sure, we can pretend. Then an early brace in the league to bury the Eagles again at their own ground? Incredible. But it wasn’t just the goals – his confidence was back, the playful swagger returned, and there was a beaming smile to light up those chiselled cheekbones. And then, just as he was finding his groove, football did what football does. A cruel ACL tear, nine months on the sidelines, momentum gone in an instant. It’s brutal. All we can do now is hope he recovers quickly. What the future holds for him is hard to say.
City’s humble pie
For years, Arsenal couldn’t lay a glove on Manchester City. Twelve straight league defeats, each more demoralising than the last. But something has changed. The late John Stones equaliser at the Etihad might have denied us all three points, but the reaction? The petulance? The meltdown? That was priceless. Erling Haaland charging around like a man unravelling, Bernardo Silva and Manuel Akanji whining about “dark arts” while their own team perfected them for years. And then, as if rattled to their core, their season fell apart. Last month’s 5-1 battering was a statement – our fourth straight league game unbeaten against Guardiola’s side. It feels like we have their number now, that a chapter has turned. I waited years for Arsenal to give them a paddling, and when it came, it was soundtracked by 57,000 Gooners singing “Stay humble you cunt” at a giant Norwegian. Perfect. Of course, you’d be a fool to write them off completely, but let’s hope we can keep them at arm’s length. And maybe, just maybe, the courts will finally do what no one else has managed – put them in their place.
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Here’s hoping for more great moments between now and the end of May…whether they lead to silverware or not, we’ll just have to see.
Right, that’s your lot from me. Blogs will be back tomorrow.
