Arsenal have been hit again and again with injury and frustration this season and lost several key players including four of their attacking options. The losses of Bukayo Saka, Kai Havertz, Gabriel Martinelli and Gabriel Jesus could indeed cost Arsenal this title.
Losing players of quality is something which every team has to deal with, but Arsenal have dealt with perhaps more than most, particularly in one area. However, there is a growing argument that the injuries suffered by one player across multiple seasons have had an even bigger effect that titles could have been won with his presence not just in the 2024/25 campaign, but the previous two as well.
That player is Takehiro Tomiyasu. The Japanese international signed for what was thought to be a bargain, less than £20million in 2021, and has sadly been embroiled in an injury disaster that can be likened to that of Abou Diaby, Jack Wilshere and Santi Cazorla.
He simply cannot stay fit, and now the defender has undergone another knee surgery to try and correct the problems that have meant he has played less than ten minutes of football all season. He returned in a late cameo at home to Southampton after suffering the problem at the end of the previous campaign, meaning he missed pre-season and the start of the season, but in that small showing, he aggravated the problem.
More than three months later, unable to have recovered through rehab, the decision has been taken to end the player’s season and go under the knife in the hope of fixing the issue once and for all. While in isolation, fans have perhaps become acclimatised and even forgotten about Tomiyasu and his loss as it has been so long since he’s had a run.
Yet there is a good argument that the absences of Tomiyasu in the past two seasons can be associated with the failure to win the league in them, and potentially another factor in the current campaign for the gap to Liverpool. Here’s hoping it will not be for a third time, but the prognosis is not great.
Tomiyasu was injured in the 2022/23 season in the Europa League defeat to Sporting CP. He suffered his first major knee injury in the game and required surgery, this is the same right knee that, as shown by his Instagram page, that he has required further procedures on.
In the same game, William Saliba also suffered an injury that ended his season. Arsenal would win just five of their remaining 11 matches and would concede the title as a result to Manchester City.
The following season, Tomiyasu suffered a calf injury in December and he missed the festive run. Arsenal would lose 1-0 away to Aston Villa, draw with Liverpool and lose at home to West Ham United.
Oleksandr Zinchenko played at left-back and suffered a difficult patch of form, coming in for some criticism at the time. Had Tomiyasu been fit to help the defensive unit and cover these errors, the points difference could have proven to be the difference come the end when the Gunners missed out on the league by two points.
Then into the current campaign. Ben White’s injury combined with some unfortunate other players having to miss games through suspension has seen Arteta revert to using Thomas Partey in a right-back role.
Had Arsenal been able to call on Tomiyasu, Partey could have stayed in midfield, a natural player would have been in the side at right-back and the results against the likes of Liverpool, Newcastle, Fulham, Everton, Brighton and Aston Villa might have been different. Tomiyasu is expected back at the end of the year and so perhaps next season the Gunners will get the player’s benefits.
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