Arsenal’s Usual Suspects all injured ahead of Chelsea clash

Arsenal are preparing to face Chelsea in the Florida Cup Final this weekend, and although Mikel Arteta has lots of players to choose from, there are three that will not be available and they are definitely “The Usual Suspects”.

Kieran Tierney usually misses half a season with injury, but it came to a head last March when he had to go for a knee operation. HHe didn’t play again until our bisit to Nurnberg a few weeks ago and he was taken off after 30 minutes. Arteta said it was a precaution and nothing to worry about, but he has not been available since and will not be able to face Chelsea either. Arteta is still making out it is not a big problem. The boss said after the Everton win: “We have Kieran [Tierney] with a slight problem, we have Emile [Smith Rowe] with a muscular niggle, Tomiyasu as well and Ben [White].”

Tomiyasu is another that was out for practically the whole of the second half of last season, and was not seen in the open training session in the video below. The Japan international is obviously still being treated with kid gloves. We are still unclear whether he will be ready for the start of the season…

And of course, the third candidate is Emile Smith-Rowe, who has continually had to be used sparingly ever since he broke into the first team, which is why he has gained a reputation as a bit of a supersub. After the Everton game Smith-Rowe himself said: “I picked up a little injury so I’m just trying to get my way back onto the training pitch with my teammates. It [pre-season] has been tough.”

The youngster has been training by himself in America, so it looks like he will be watched carefully before being risked in any starting line-up in the new season.

The good news is that Fabio Vieira has rejoined the squad after a small foot injury and hopefully he will make his debut against Chelsea…

———————————————-

CALLING ALL ARSENAL FANS! Anyone who would like to contribute an Article or Video opinion piece on JustArsenal, please contact us through this link

Watch highlights from Arsenal’s open training session on our preseason tour of the USA

Please watch, enjoy, and subscribe to Just Arsenal Vids

Tags Takehiro Tomiyasu tierney

31 Comments

  1. I’d sell Tierney and ESR as much as I like both. I’d keep Tomi for now and give him a proper shot once back to see if he’s a recurring problem.

    With Zinchenko coming and a lot of midfielders on the books already we can afford to lose those 2.

    1. Problem is you can’t sell a player who
      Is always injured,the player would need to be injury free for 12 months before a buyer would even look at signing them .

  2. Tierney and ESR both deserve time to clear injuries properly and then can be judged.
    Kieran especially is a future captain of our Club, and I am inclined to believe many of our injuries are in fact to do with youthfulness and those young bodies needing to strengthen.

    1. I do agree here. The important phrase,to me, is let these injuries heal properly. We did not have adequate cover so perhaps coming back too early. Especially in full back positions. Now we’ve Zinc & White to cover,or a back 3. ESR could be like a Wiltshire,just unlucky. Let’s hope not,but time will tell.

    2. Tierney was infamous for his injury records before joining Arsenal and his contract will only expire in 2026, so he can’t be shipped out this summer. This is why we need versatile players to cover the crocked ones

    3. Sensible comments Jon.I’m afraid some regulars on JA tend to overreact on various issues including injuries to players .Injuries impact on every professional football Club and in this regard, Arsenal is no different from any other. To suggest we contemplate selling players of the calibre of Tomi, Tierney and ESR is ludicrous but not unexpected in an age when patience is a virtue which seems to have bypassed the brain cells of so many , including fans and the media in general.

      1. Grandad, Patience sadly, is a word whose meaning is unknown and misunderstood, even when known, by so MANY young people.
        Young people in general do not live in world that is patient, whereas we older ones did, when young.

        LACK OF PATIENCE IS THE CROSS THEY BEAR.

  3. Playing back 3 negates these concerns, and with Saliba its one hell of a back 3! It allows us to flood midfield and control things better.
    Tierney I feel is a Wilshere. He will never be long term fit

      1. Tomi has never play as CB for us before and Saliba is still yet to play any competition game for us. You can make it look like Ben White is poor all you like but I can categorically tell you that he is one of our best CB signings in the last decade. Put some respect on his name.

  4. But Arsenal have once Turned down Aston Villa offer to sign EsR from them two seasons ago. And went on to give the young versatile Arsenal natural goals Scorer Rowe, a lucrative contract extension, i think the young lad will recover fully from his injury sideline sooner than it is expected. And will return to playing games regularly for Arsenal.
    And I believe the top quality Tierney will soon recover from his latest small injury to start playing as a starter regularly in games for Arsenal very soon.
    Even Tomiyasu too will not be left behind in the treatment room. As he will soon recover from his injury to regain his starting role in the team. Which he lost to his deputy Cedric Soares who deputized very well for him in games for Arsenal during his absent,
    i think until Man City have wrapped up the deal for 8righton’s Cucutalla, then will they sign off Zinchenko to officially join Arsenal. Hence, I think the delays occasioned by Arsenal to announce their signing of Zinchenko.

    1. I think the good news is that the squad is far bigger than it was in May.

      We ended the season with a squad of just 21 and had to fill the bench with academy players, who Arteta did not trust to use even when there was injuries. He may have learned from his lesson, hence he is affording chances to Bellerin, Saliba, Mari, Maitland-Niles, Nelson and Balogun who were not with us last season in addition we already have 5 new boys. As it currently stands (with Zinchenko) he only has to leave out Leno and Runarrsson to meet the non-homegrown rule and only has to leave out Matt Smith, Olayinka and Lewis from the homegrown pool. With the likes of Saliba, Martinelli, Saka, Balogun, Marquinhos and Okonkwo all classed as u21s for next season, meaning we can name a 31 man squad instead of 21.

  5. Zinchenko will become our main LB this season. Tomiyasu, should be sold next summer. Tierney, if anyone comes in with a good price should also be sold. They aren’t much use to us if they aren’t fine. Next summer, we need to revamp our fullback position.

    1. Remember even Van Persie eventually played a whole season injury free….then Judased off the next season, so there is still hope for all our Diabies.

  6. We obviously need depth in the squad, but it seems we have to wait until AMN, Bellerin, Mari, Torreira, Pepe and Leno will move on. Seems like management will now be working on moving these players on before deadline day.

    1. At least let us not sign melo given his injury record last year, this one would make no sense. I really think that if Tierney and Partey suffer significant injury again this year then they will have to be moved on, as they would be just using up squad places.

  7. Tear-knee is my greatest worry but we now have a couple of back ups to step in and one of them is not necessarily a back up! Tomiyasu will be ok and ESR’s current problem is just a hiccup. We are ok, don’t worry.

  8. As I commented in an earlier article.this season with the signings we’ve made and the squad we have, I’ll expect less injuries to our players.so far bar a couple of positions(mainly fullbacks) and suspensions, MA won’t have many excuses for rushing injured players back too soon or to play tired/fatigued players because he doesn’t rotate the squad properly/efficiently even with a busy schedule.

  9. Genetics and luck are factors – not all humans are born equal in the physicality department, some have defects, some don’t.

    Example: Nadal has Mueller-Weiss Syndrome affecting the Navicular bone – a degenertaive condition which gradually gets worse over time.

    That’s a more extreme example, but not everyone is born with strong ACL ligaments just as not everyone can have bulging biceps.

    Key point here is that some folks are prone to certain injuries – or certain types of injury. If someone is getting injured a lot then they’ll probably keep on doing that.

    Betting on Tierney and Tomi being fit is not a great idea, which is why I don’t expect to see Arsenal line up as a back 4 as often as they used to, whether that’s from choice or because it’s dictated by circumstances.

    1. You made some valid regarding injuries but I was talking about the injuries caused by say fatigue (lack of rotation) or players being rushed back and not being fully fit yet.

  10. Technically Tierney will be our back up at left back .

    The writing is on the wall, Zinchenko will play lots more game than expected.

  11. Tierney is injured mast of the time, but we have Zin now. Tomi may be injury prone but Cedric is a good backup. Real problem is Saka. Our best player. He’s young, overplayed, and one day he will be injured with no back up (Pepe is irrelevant). Second best player: Partey. No good back-up for him too. Those should be our priorities .

  12. If Tierney is frequently injured then Arsenal should keep Traves . They need 2 fit players to play across EPL and Europe.

Comments are closed

Top Blog Sponsors