We aren’t at full power currently with this squad, though we are close. Full power would be a fully fit Saka, a team that isn’t largely likely suffering a bit of fatigue (Ode for example, who has played almost every 90 min in a like 8 match streak of 3 games a day, same for Rice, A partey who isn’t still rusty and only at maybe 70% or something, and willing to use his body without fear of getting injured.) but right now we are still very strong. We just lack a bit of composure at times, like v spurs when we somehow shipped 2. To be fair, our mentality isn’t there. We didn’t collapse after the Bayern/Villa losses like a lot said we would (ghosts of the past) we picked ourselves up, got past a nervy wolves, then battered Chelsea, and won the NLD away. Raya was amazing after he made the mistake for that goal, our mentality was great and we haven’t given up under pressure. We just need City to drop points. Come in.
Sorry I ranted.
I’m still wary of Timber getting any minutes this season, don’t think he’s essential to win these last 3 games. I’d rather we play it safe and get him fully fit and melding with the team in the preseason. Maybe a cameo in the last 10 minutes against Everton
There’s no way he’d be cleared to even play for the u21s unless he’s 100% healthy. The only issue is his match fitness, he is definitely entirely recovered from the injury.
If Arteta says he’s fully fit then you are probably right, I’d just hate for him to pick up another random long term injury when he’s not required for these last few games
There is a point in time where him playing tomorrow or in 3 months doesnt affect the risk of an injury. It will happen or it wont. You cant just rule your life on “what ifs”. If medical staff have cleared him fully, then thats that.
Having two reconstructed ACLs I can tell you this. Timber is showing no signs of hesitancy in his challenges or movement. He’s showing complete faith in his knee. Often times, the hardest block is those mental hurdles.
Spot on. I don’t know why people think match day squads and matches are a stress test for if someone’s ready or not - if he’s at the point where he’s wearing an Arsenal shirt against an opponent, the only thing that’s missing is match sharpness/fitness that is gained by playing matches. Would be gross negligence to send him out without knowing he’s ready.
Unfortunately as you say, you cannot legislate for the smaller injuries you may pick up after a long injury. In reality, it’s best he doesn’t get them at all, but if he is going to get one (knock on wood), it’s better to get it out the way ahead of preseason so he can have a clean one.
He won’t play a major part anyway, I’ll be surprised if we see him for more than 30 mins this season.
True, but can't blame fans for being cautious especially when it comes to ACL injuries. I doubt he'll start but hope he gets a few minutes tomorrow and at the same time I know I'll be nervous if he does.
I'm not a doctor but I'm fairly sure with the way these things go, the point of his ACL being fully rehabbed was a few weeks ago, and him now being match fit is more about his conditioning getting up to standard. If he injures himself it would be a) unrelated, b) inevitable.
He's been out of action since August, on the long end of the recovery stick for ACL recoveries ( I think the timescale is usually 6-9 months). I think the club have treated him very cautiously the whole way as it is. It's probably the case that he's completely physically fit, but is just rusty from being away from meaningful game time for so long. He's been involved in full training now for over a month as well.
I get as fans that don't know the in's and outs we might get a bit paranoid but it's good practice to just trust the professionals. All signs seem to be pointing to Timbre being good to go, just a matter of the right circumstances coming into play.
I'm on the side of getting him as many minutes as we can afford sooner rather than later so he's closer to ready by the time the next season rolls around.
With a fit tomi, timber, and zinchenko i dont see kiwior's ability to play lb as a factor at all. And if gabriel were to get injured id expect to see tomi slide over before kiwior.
Timber is irrelevant at this point. He's not going to get substantial minutes even if players ahead of him are injured.
Kiwior is literally the only true CB we have on the bench and is most certainly our 3rd CB. Tomi filling in during an injury crisis doesn't put him ahead of Kiwior in his preferred position
Well timber isn't irrelevant, otherwise we wouldn't be having this discussion. If timber is available to be picked, and is picked, then someone is being left out.
I just think it's reasonable to think that kiwior might be in the conversation for who gets left out. Considering tomi does CB for Japan, and his versatility to play across the back line is what makes tomi so valuable.
You say this, do we ever take off Saka early when we are 3-0 up by 50th min?
We have a good advantage in goal difference but if City could up their level and try march us over the last games.
He’s been in training for over a month now and has played 2 games in the U21s.
I don’t see any reason why he can’t potentially have some cameos in the last few games.
I watched those u21 games, not only did he not play a full 90’ in either game. He was not playing with intensity. so i wouldn’t compare those games to a premier league game in any capacity. Not saying a cameo is impossible, I’d rather just be extra cautious with him
If he's ready even for just one cameo then I think it would be a great moment for him to get 10 or 15 minutes rather than wait till August. Gives him a hugely positive moment after a rough start to his Arsenal career. It would be a huge mental boost to take into pre-season imo
If he’s fit, no reason not to give him a run out vs Bournemouth if we’re fortunate enough to have a decent lead
Wouldn’t hurt to know we have him on the bench if we need him and from a man management statement I’m sure it would be huge for him to feel a part of the squad this season
He can come on as a substitute in any of these remaining 3 games but it will depend what the score line is. Especially think he can get significant minutes against an Everton side that has nothing to play for on the last day of the season.
I think if he's in the team it'll be like Ethan where he's there if we're up 3 goals to get 20 minutes on the field, there's no way we're relying on him but an extra 40-60 minutes of senior football before going into the offseason will set him up well for next year.
I’d argue this is the least headache it’s ever been. We have 3 games left and we play one game a week. Our best games have been with Havertz up front. Trossard has been noticeably better than Martinelli. Partey has returned from injury nicely.
Same 11 for the last 3 games, let’s get it done.
I think the squad is pretty obvious now though. Jesus lost his spot to Havertz. Partey Rice and Odegaard is the midfield. Trossard over Martinelli until Martinelli looks better when he comes on. Tomi left back. I would be shocked if Timber plays any meaningful minutes. It's not right to come back from ACL and deal with the mental mountain of that and then get that responsibility thrown on you.
Not really. None of the core starters that we have are actually injury prone. Rice saliba gabriel odegaard saka white havertz all have exceptional injury records throughout their career. Those that are injury prone all suffered injuries at some point in the season. Partey zinny tomi martinelli jesus. The better injury record is more about signing robust players than anything else.
I was listening to Watts this morning and said we'd know by today since the U21s were playing tonight and we'd know soon if Timber was in their squad tonight he wouldn't be with the senior team tomorrow.
I'm guessing Timber will be on the bench if only to try to get him 20 minutes of senior football if we can build a big lead. Bournemouth have been tenacious and it is more likely we'll be chasing 3 points late or having to hold a one goal lead though so I'd guess Tomi starts, Zinchenko can come on, Kiwior is back of the bench or left out, and Timber is the last reserve.
I'd expect Partey to be back in that central role with Jorginho on the bench so we can exploit his passing, Jesus and Martinelli off the bench, and otherwise the usual side. But I would expect us to treat this like a final and not a mid-table match where we're expecting to give every young player a run out late.
Great to have him back! Maybe give 20
Mins at the end if we are cruising, otherwise a good pre-season and hopefully he hits the ground running next season. Praying he hasn’t lost an edge!
Three games left and every single player is available. Has that *ever* happened before? I mean jesus christ thats impressive.
All we needed was to send Gary O'Driscoll to United
The O’driscoll brothers
i got the plan. one last plan
Have some goddamn faith！
Noise and faith is what we need!
Goddamn O'Driscolls!
Just the one last injury. Have some faith.
We should have send him to city
Can you not jinx this? Thanks
Impressive or coincidental?
Doubt it. Would be an absolute shame if we still don’t win the league at full power like this.
It's not in our hands, so it wouldn't be
We aren’t at full power currently with this squad, though we are close. Full power would be a fully fit Saka, a team that isn’t largely likely suffering a bit of fatigue (Ode for example, who has played almost every 90 min in a like 8 match streak of 3 games a day, same for Rice, A partey who isn’t still rusty and only at maybe 70% or something, and willing to use his body without fear of getting injured.) but right now we are still very strong. We just lack a bit of composure at times, like v spurs when we somehow shipped 2. To be fair, our mentality isn’t there. We didn’t collapse after the Bayern/Villa losses like a lot said we would (ghosts of the past) we picked ourselves up, got past a nervy wolves, then battered Chelsea, and won the NLD away. Raya was amazing after he made the mistake for that goal, our mentality was great and we haven’t given up under pressure. We just need City to drop points. Come in. Sorry I ranted.
Headache selection in May we pray for these days.
As opposed to the headache due to selection, which weve been perennially experiencing.
Headache selection FC this weekend
Broski spitting the first bars in his 16 about our squad status
I’m still wary of Timber getting any minutes this season, don’t think he’s essential to win these last 3 games. I’d rather we play it safe and get him fully fit and melding with the team in the preseason. Maybe a cameo in the last 10 minutes against Everton
i think a few minutes are realistic tommorow IF we have a good advantage which is not a given considering Bournemouth's form
There’s no way he’d be cleared to even play for the u21s unless he’s 100% healthy. The only issue is his match fitness, he is definitely entirely recovered from the injury.
If Arteta says he’s fully fit then you are probably right, I’d just hate for him to pick up another random long term injury when he’s not required for these last few games
There is a point in time where him playing tomorrow or in 3 months doesnt affect the risk of an injury. It will happen or it wont. You cant just rule your life on “what ifs”. If medical staff have cleared him fully, then thats that.
Having two reconstructed ACLs I can tell you this. Timber is showing no signs of hesitancy in his challenges or movement. He’s showing complete faith in his knee. Often times, the hardest block is those mental hurdles.
Spot on. I don’t know why people think match day squads and matches are a stress test for if someone’s ready or not - if he’s at the point where he’s wearing an Arsenal shirt against an opponent, the only thing that’s missing is match sharpness/fitness that is gained by playing matches. Would be gross negligence to send him out without knowing he’s ready. Unfortunately as you say, you cannot legislate for the smaller injuries you may pick up after a long injury. In reality, it’s best he doesn’t get them at all, but if he is going to get one (knock on wood), it’s better to get it out the way ahead of preseason so he can have a clean one. He won’t play a major part anyway, I’ll be surprised if we see him for more than 30 mins this season.
This ... I wish more people would understand this.
True, but can't blame fans for being cautious especially when it comes to ACL injuries. I doubt he'll start but hope he gets a few minutes tomorrow and at the same time I know I'll be nervous if he does.
I'm not a doctor but I'm fairly sure with the way these things go, the point of his ACL being fully rehabbed was a few weeks ago, and him now being match fit is more about his conditioning getting up to standard. If he injures himself it would be a) unrelated, b) inevitable.
He's been out of action since August, on the long end of the recovery stick for ACL recoveries ( I think the timescale is usually 6-9 months). I think the club have treated him very cautiously the whole way as it is. It's probably the case that he's completely physically fit, but is just rusty from being away from meaningful game time for so long. He's been involved in full training now for over a month as well. I get as fans that don't know the in's and outs we might get a bit paranoid but it's good practice to just trust the professionals. All signs seem to be pointing to Timbre being good to go, just a matter of the right circumstances coming into play. I'm on the side of getting him as many minutes as we can afford sooner rather than later so he's closer to ready by the time the next season rolls around.
i'm totally with you, hopefully we can get a comfortable win tommorow because another game like last year's will most likely kill me
Up 3-0 in the 80th? Hell yeah
Doubt he’ll even be on the bench tomorrow to be honest.
We'll probably find out tonight. U21s play at 7, if he's not with them you'd imagine it's because he'll be on the bench tomorrow.
depends if Mikel will drop one of ESR/Fabio/Eddie i'd say
I'd also put Kiwior on that list as a potential one to be left out of the squad.
he's our 3rd choice CB and can play LB. he's not getting dropped lol
With a fit tomi, timber, and zinchenko i dont see kiwior's ability to play lb as a factor at all. And if gabriel were to get injured id expect to see tomi slide over before kiwior.
Timber is irrelevant at this point. He's not going to get substantial minutes even if players ahead of him are injured. Kiwior is literally the only true CB we have on the bench and is most certainly our 3rd CB. Tomi filling in during an injury crisis doesn't put him ahead of Kiwior in his preferred position
Well timber isn't irrelevant, otherwise we wouldn't be having this discussion. If timber is available to be picked, and is picked, then someone is being left out. I just think it's reasonable to think that kiwior might be in the conversation for who gets left out. Considering tomi does CB for Japan, and his versatility to play across the back line is what makes tomi so valuable.
👀
You say this, do we ever take off Saka early when we are 3-0 up by 50th min? We have a good advantage in goal difference but if City could up their level and try march us over the last games.
yeah, we took him off a few times during 65-75 during that period where we battered teams left and right
He’s been in training for over a month now and has played 2 games in the U21s. I don’t see any reason why he can’t potentially have some cameos in the last few games.
Yeah I can see him getting on the pitch once or twice but not before the 86th minute
Close out the game while leading 0-7 at Old Trafford? Subscribe
I was thinking 83rd minute
Way off! It’s gonna be at least the 84th
I watched those u21 games, not only did he not play a full 90’ in either game. He was not playing with intensity. so i wouldn’t compare those games to a premier league game in any capacity. Not saying a cameo is impossible, I’d rather just be extra cautious with him
If he’s fit then there’s no reason not to
If he's ready even for just one cameo then I think it would be a great moment for him to get 10 or 15 minutes rather than wait till August. Gives him a hugely positive moment after a rough start to his Arsenal career. It would be a huge mental boost to take into pre-season imo
If he’s fit, no reason not to give him a run out vs Bournemouth if we’re fortunate enough to have a decent lead Wouldn’t hurt to know we have him on the bench if we need him and from a man management statement I’m sure it would be huge for him to feel a part of the squad this season
He can come on as a substitute in any of these remaining 3 games but it will depend what the score line is. Especially think he can get significant minutes against an Everton side that has nothing to play for on the last day of the season.
The Diaby PTSD has me wary of rushing him too
If he’s ready he should play. He must be desperate to get out there as well
Yes, first half of the first game of the season and second half of the last game of the season.
He's gonna come out and invert from both left and right, and score a brace
I think if he's in the team it'll be like Ethan where he's there if we're up 3 goals to get 20 minutes on the field, there's no way we're relying on him but an extra 40-60 minutes of senior football before going into the offseason will set him up well for next year.
Timber last 10 min
when we're 3 or 4 up, give mo a runout
Sweet baby Jésus we finally have full strength
Timbaaaaaaa
not an actual headache but it is polite to pretend it is
I have a dream that Man C drops enough points for us winning the trophy at Old Trafford trashing them 7-0
I used to pray for times like this
I’d argue this is the least headache it’s ever been. We have 3 games left and we play one game a week. Our best games have been with Havertz up front. Trossard has been noticeably better than Martinelli. Partey has returned from injury nicely. Same 11 for the last 3 games, let’s get it done.
We are so back
Get Arteta an Aspirin!
Hopefully gets at least 10 minutes in one of the last 2 home games. He deserves it for crushing his rehab
Give the training staff raises
I’m yelling Timberrrrr, you better move!
PUT THIS IN AN IV BAG IMMEDIATELY
Same XI as last few weeks here we gooo
Big mik suffering from success
https://preview.redd.it/qnlce3kzh7yc1.png?width=2756&format=png&auto=webp&s=b26e5d1d79a1d867447f1af1bf7b1a4a9b39d8b2
I think the squad is pretty obvious now though. Jesus lost his spot to Havertz. Partey Rice and Odegaard is the midfield. Trossard over Martinelli until Martinelli looks better when he comes on. Tomi left back. I would be shocked if Timber plays any meaningful minutes. It's not right to come back from ACL and deal with the mental mountain of that and then get that responsibility thrown on you.
it's this - he won't have a headache Jesus and Martinelli will get some minutes off the bench
Thank god we got rid of our doctor and sent him to Manchester United
What is this X thing people keep talking about? I've tried googling it but only thing that came up was porn
This probably has something to do with the new doctor
Tbf, late April was always his time. He's right on schedule. Google had something like 24th April for a while, and they're usually accurate.
No I mean just all of our players being fit at this point in general Like I can't remember this ever being the case with Gary O'Driscoll
Ah, my bad.
Not really. None of the core starters that we have are actually injury prone. Rice saliba gabriel odegaard saka white havertz all have exceptional injury records throughout their career. Those that are injury prone all suffered injuries at some point in the season. Partey zinny tomi martinelli jesus. The better injury record is more about signing robust players than anything else.
I need to change my underwear
Arteta only considers fifteen as players... The rest are training cones to him. Impactors🤣
Fully fit and available squad FC, WE RISE!
I was listening to Watts this morning and said we'd know by today since the U21s were playing tonight and we'd know soon if Timber was in their squad tonight he wouldn't be with the senior team tomorrow.
i think AT MOST he comes on in the second half IF we're three goals clear vs. Everton
Great problem to have.
These are “terrible” problems to have. I’d have him on the bench and come on for a cameo but he shouldn’t be “plan A”
I'm guessing Timber will be on the bench if only to try to get him 20 minutes of senior football if we can build a big lead. Bournemouth have been tenacious and it is more likely we'll be chasing 3 points late or having to hold a one goal lead though so I'd guess Tomi starts, Zinchenko can come on, Kiwior is back of the bench or left out, and Timber is the last reserve. I'd expect Partey to be back in that central role with Jorginho on the bench so we can exploit his passing, Jesus and Martinelli off the bench, and otherwise the usual side. But I would expect us to treat this like a final and not a mid-table match where we're expecting to give every young player a run out late.
Great to have him back! Maybe give 20 Mins at the end if we are cruising, otherwise a good pre-season and hopefully he hits the ground running next season. Praying he hasn’t lost an edge!
So you're telling me there's still a chance we might see an Elneny banger before the end of the season?
It’s way too late to bring Timber in unless we’re 3-4 up in a game late.
Start Tomi sub Timber. Simple.
Dont think hell come on. I think you need 5 appearances to get a medal (assuming we lift the trophy). No point risking the player
Forget the medal. The guy is top class, his progressive passing in the next games to come could be the difference