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Happy Friday to you from Dublin, where spring has sprung … in the shape of snow. Wonderful stuff.
There wasn’t a huge amount in Mikel Arteta’s press conference, beyond Thomas Partey’s likely return to the squad for the game on Monday. There are still some question marks over Oleksandr Zinchenko and Takehiro Tomiyasu in particular, and as expected it’s all too soon for Jurrien Timber. With the March fixture list so light, I don’t think they’ll take any risk at all with him – and if there is a target it’s probably Man City away. A bridge we can cross when we come to it.
Speaking of caution, that seems to be the case with Tomiyasu. When asked about his involvement in the Asian Cup, but no football since his return, Arteta said:
He had an injury, in the last game that he played with Japan he felt something and he was out. We expected him to recover a little bit shorter but he was struggling at the beginning of the recovery and we decided to extend that period to be more certain because he is a player we really need. We are short and we cannot risk him being out for months.
Again, like Timber, maybe the fact we’ve found a bit of balance with Jakub Kiwior at left-back, plus the fact Zinchenko might also be able to return soon enough, means this period could be used to ensure Tomi gets properly fit. If we make progress in Europe, which we all hope is the case, the period between March 31st and May 19th – the final day of the Premier League season – could be really hectic, so having all hands on deck will be what Arteta is looking for.
The news on Gabriel Jesus was basically positive, but still a little vague. The manager played down a suggestion that he might have to undergo surgery for the most recent knee issue, insisting it was a different problem from the most serious one he suffered, but also said:
It is probably a question more specifically for the doctors, but as far as I’m concerned that has been resolved.
He was on the bench for the…
Source link : https://arseblog.com/2024/03/arteta-on-injuries-ornstein-on-transfer-targets/
Author : arseblog
Publish date : 2024-03-01 07:57:16
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