Former Arsenal man, Lee Dixon, has heaped praise on Takehiro Tomiyasu following his fine start to life at the club.
The Japanese star was one of the last players signed by an English club in the previous transfer window when he joined the Gunners from Bologna.
Because he didn’t have any experience of the Premier League, few expected him to shine.
But he has slotted into the Arsenal right-back spot smoothly and goes about his business with ease.
Dixon has been won over by the 23-year-old and praises him for how he has started his time at the Emirates.
‘I think he [Tomiyasu] has certainly taken the eye, there is no doubt about that,’ Dixon told The Daily Mail.
‘He has done brilliantly. He has certainly not got the stature of a typical full-back. Having said that, [Marcos] Alonso [at Chelsea] is tall and a similar stature to him.
‘He has been very good at coming out with the ball. His link-up play with the midfield and forwards has been great. He is an athlete who gets up and down brilliantly well, and he is great in the air.”
Just Arsenal Opinion
Tomi has been one of Mikel Arteta’s best buys and makes it easy to trust the Spaniard’s judgement on players.
The Japan star is just 23 and has a lot of room for improvement, but his start to life in the Premier League suggests he would easily get better.
Arsenal needs to find another solid player who can act as a backup to him, and we would be settled in that position.
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brilliant is a bit of an overstatement, albeit his contributions have been greatly appreciated…I would suspect that since that position has been so unsettled for several years that expectations have naturally lowered, which is why some were even heaping praise in Chambers direction, when he filled in late last year…of course, this isn’t to suggest that Chambers didn’t do a decent enough job or that Tomi hasn’t been far better, from a consistency standpoint, than any of his more recent predecessors, it just means that “brilliant” shouldn’t be thrown around in such a cavalier fashion, at least not at this early juncture
I think brilliant is just fine.
the very fact that you believe this to be the case adds considerable credence to my above commentary…thanks for chiming in little guy(lol)
Ok, which right backs have performed better than him in the premier league this season?
you clearly didn’t read what I originally wrote, as I certainly didn’t slag our present RB, in fact I stated that I truly appreciated his contributions thus far…all I said was that I felt it was a little premature to throw around terms like brilliant, considering his brief tenure and the fact that there’s room for improvement, especially when it comes to his offensive zone play…it’s called having perspective
No one is saying he is world class or the best ever. Simply he has been briliant in the games he has played. Players before him or the amount of games played doesnt change that fact. I hope he keeps it up and with his age and abikty there is room for improvment.
TRVL, As a Gooner who, in general, tries to avoid overhyping players and encourages more precise use of language , being something of a language pedant as I freely admit, I have to agree with your hesitation to accord “brilliancy” to Tomi as yet.
I would describe his tenure so far as well exceeding any realistic expectations. Also very satisfactory.
“Brilliant”, I would reserve for the careers at our club of Sansom and Cole as full backs.
As we all know, both were here for many productive years and, without over the top hype, ANY player who has been here only months is very unlikely to have EARNED a “brilliant” comment.
I could see your point if anyone were saying that “he is brilliant”, but they are not, they said that “he has done brilliantly”. And, until now, he has.
Also if we extend this logic that brilliant must be reserved for the exceptional, does it mean that an individual performance should no longer be described as such? If Auba scores a double hattrick against City it wouldn’t be brilliant because before that he’s been out of form?
Argooner, A good though failed attempt to distinguish between two things which however mean precisely the same thing.
Ipso facto, if you have “done brilliantly” then you are “brilliant” but only for that period, in which you did brilliantly.
But that does not equate to being brilliant for almost the WHOLE time and therefore wrongly described as brilliant and few players ever are for absolutely the WHOLE time, even the likes of De Bruyne Foden etc, though both are certainly brilliant players.
My contention is that very few indeed- I stop short of saying absolutely no one ever, as there are in life always exceptions – can achieve being brilliant without the fair passage of time.
And that very TIME FACTOR is the key determining factor distinction with Tomi.
You will always find it hard to argue on language matters with me, as I am both a language scholar and a language pedant, neither of which matters one jot, outside of narrow language debates.
On your “individual performance” example, I still think it incorrect to use the wrong adjective, as so often happens.
Our English language is rich for the reason that we have so many words for often subtly reasons of distinction and words do have various meanings sometimes but not always.
My first post above, is how I prefer to accurately describe Tomis time here so far.
Brilliant as an adjective means to be very intelligent or skilled, brilliantly as an adverb means to do something very well, in an intelligent or skilled way, thus you can perform brilliantly in one game or period without necessarily being brilliant on the whole.
I think it is more realistic to say that Tomiyasu has been brilliant compared with the dross we have had playing at right back. Yes there is a lot of room for improvement but as I said, compared with the competition for his spot, he is a revelation.
well said, which was my point in the first place…Cheers
No disrespect to cedric and chambers but give either of those two a run in the team for like ten game and you’ll understand that tomiyasu truly deserves the word brilliant and then some @The-Real-Vieira-Lynn
it appears that you, like several others, either didn’t actually read my original post or didn’t fully comprehend the nuanced nature of my commentary…I literally spoke directly to the exact point you’re trying to make, but did so with a modicum of rational perspective, as any reasonable person doesn’t usually attempt to compare apples to oranges with such a reckless disregard for context
Defensively he is excellent.Great positional sense, great in the air, quick enough to match virtually all his direct oponents I have seen this season.He is also two footed and is one of the few naturally right footed players who is equally comfortable in tackling with his left.In all my days there are only a handful of defenders who have been able to do this.Cancello of Man City is one who falls into this category.In terms of attacking he is improving and whilst he will never be able to cross a ball like Cedric, his strengths far outweigh his weaknesses.I hope I have not gone over the top TRVL in my praise of Tomi but even someone like you who sets extremely high standards will surely concede how well he has done to adapt so quickly to the demands of the Premier League.
Grandad, I would certainly agree with your assessment, as I too believe that “his strengths far outweigh his weaknesses”…that said, such a description, albeit well-reasoned and concise, falls short of the author’s “brilliant” description…not sure anyone who critiqued my original post actually read it, as my statement was anything but negative…all I said was it’s a bit early to anoint him as the next great RB, but I’m grateful for his contributions thus far and I’m incredibly hopeful of the future possibilities
Brilliant as an adjective means to be very intelligent or skilled, brilliantly as an adverb means to do something very well, in an intelligent or skilled way, thus you can perform brilliantly in one game or period without necessarily being brilliant on the whole.