Get fit, stay fit, get match fit

Morning.

Arsenal will train in London this morning before heading to Portugal this afternoon ahead of our Champions League tie with Porto tomorrow evening. As Mikel Arteta is usually so taciturn when it comes to injury news, perhaps our best way of trying to figure out who is available will be the session this morning.

As per competition rules, training is open to the media for the first 15 minutes, so we could see if the likes of Takehiro Tomiyasu, Oleksandr Zinchenko and Gabriel Jesus are involved. In his press conference ahead of the Burnley game, the manager even suggested that Fabio Vieira, sidelined since November after knee surgery, might be available for the visit to his former club. Although he didn’t necessarily say this one though, he could mean the return leg.

The dual challenge (not duel challenge as per Mik Arteta) of Europe and the Premier League is, hopefully, something we’re going to have to contend for the rest of the season. Therefore it’s so important we get as many of our injured players back. Arteta said there might be a ‘few’ back for the Burnley game, but my guess – and of course it is only a guess – is that he saw what his team did against West Ham, and backed the same players to be able to beat Burnley. That meant just a few extra days of rehab, absolutely minimising any risk of aggravating something by bringing a player back too soon.

The challenge Arteta faces now is how best to use these players without it impacting the overall performance and the consistency we need to maintain. Zinchenko is probably the easiest, given he’s played a lot this season, so his match fitness levels will be pretty high, even if his calves are tender. Vieira’s last first team appearance was on November 11th, when he picked up a straight red card in the 3-1 win over Burnley. He played an U21 game a couple of days later, then had surgery.

Tomiyasu missed a chunk of games in December, then played for Japan in the Asian Cup. You can’t help but think despite the fact they rested him for a couple of the early games, he wasn’t fully fit going into that tournament, and his minutes for Japan, rather than being useful for his fitness, have set him back. Of course, it’s entirely possible that he picked up another little niggle on his return, but it’s clear he’s not being risked right now.

Jesus was praised for playing against Nottingham Forest despite feeling something in his knee beforehand. To be fair to him, he scored our opening goal in the 2-1 win, but hasn’t played since. It remains to be seen if those points will have made the risk of using him in that game worthwhile. Emile Smith Rowe has been in and out, but at least has been garnering some minutes since his return from a knee injury, and the most challenging one is Thomas Partey who has been out of action since October. On the one hand, he might have fresh legs and zero accumulated fatigue, on the other we’re at a point in the season where we can’t carry passengers so he needs to get up to speed very quickly. Not to mention you just can’t be sure when he’s going to break down again.

Injuries frustrate football fans, and I’m sure managers too. They would like nothing more than 100% fit football-bots all the time, but sadly the human body is an impediment to that. Nevertheless, it’s one of the challenges of the job, and once the medical staff green-light a player’s return, it’s down to Arteta to re-integrate them, and get them up to speed as quickly as possible. If we are to achieve what we dream of this season, some of these guys will have to play a part, so let’s see who is around for tomorrow’s game as a starting point.

Meanwhile, the club have announced ticket price rises for next season. As someone who isn’t a season ticket holder, I don’t feel it’s my place to comment on these things, but the Arsenal Supporter’s Trust have provided their response.

Right, let’s leave it there for this morning. Over on Patreon we have an episode of The 30, our Premier League round-up podcast available for you right now, and there’ll be a Porto preview podcast a bit later on this evening. And if you haven’t had a chance to listen yet, there’s an Arsecast Extra covering the Burnley game here.

Have a good one.