If losing 3-0 away at Crystal Palace wasn’t bad enough, there are now big concerns over the fitness of Kieran Tierney and Thomas Partey.
Prior to this evening’s defeat, news broke that the Scotland international had suffered a knee injury that is threatening his participation in the run-in and late in the game, Partey limped off with an injury that has manager Mikel Arteta concerned.
In his post-game press conference, Arteta was asked about the extent of Partey’s injury.
“I don’t know,” said the Spaniard, “He felt something in the same area that he got injured previously, it’s a big concern.”
The boss also provided an update on Tierney. “He’s seeing a specialist tomorrow and then we’ll know more about the extent of the injury,” he said.
“The feeling that he had he wasn’t feeling positive and what the scans showed, they weren’t either. We have to wait and see what happens.”
Injuries at this time of the season are far from ideal but Arteta isn’t going to lose any sleep over the depth of his squad. He says he’s been dealing with these issues since the season began.
“It’s the numbers that we have,” he said. “We lost Kieran, we lost Thomas now and that’s it. With the players that we have we will try like we’ve been trying since the start of the season. We never had a big squad.
“We can’t find any excuses today, we have to look at ourselves because it wasn’t good enough.”
Balls
Never had a big squad… and made it smaller in January without replacing. Predictable outcome.
Never say anything other than everything Arteta does is perfect.
yes, we should have used our limited resources and bought another pablo mari to play 2 months for us and then spend 2 years benchwarming, just in case someone got injured, instead of actually saving the money and aiming at better signings in the summer. and we should’ve kept kolasinac, who without a doubt would lead us to champions league. right?
Bad bad very bad. Both Cedric and tavarez had a tough time but my gosh tavarez was iffy. His shakiness disrupted the energy of the whole defence. They didn’t trust each other out their today I feel. Performance aside, the injuries were perhaps the worst part of today. Top 4 not so sure
it was never in the bag
It was never sure. And with those losses, (matches and players) it will be almost impossible. We weren’t blazing by teams and now it even got harder.
Tavares unsettling Gabriel big time tonight but the whole team looked lost. Credit to palace they did a number on us tonight
Partey getting injured was always my biggest fear.
It feels like the bubble has burst a bit. Although with all the outgoings in January, back then things did look precarious for the rest of the season. We’ve been really lucky with a consistent 11 and not too many important absences which have made us forget that we do have significant weaknesses when we don’t have the right combinations. The core of youngsters is still brilliant, the football has been stunning and we’re still moving in the right direction. I think CL would be an overachievement with this squad, I wouldn’t say it was a bad season if we… Read more »
Lose one match “the bubble has burst!” Good grief
Think it’s a lot more to do with losing two absolutely critical players at a vital point in the season than losing one match. If you told me a couple months ago we’d go into the final stretch without Tomi, Tierney and Partey, I’d have been devastated… and I am now.
We’re still in with a shout but we’ve got 2 should be winnable then 3 really tough ones with a potentially threadbare squad, so we’ll see.
I like the positivity and the away and home fans have been brilliant this season. Youngsters need encouragement and positivity around them.
Yes, lots of gambles this year. Depending on Saka, ESR and Martinelli to maintain scoring form. Not getting a backup/replacement for Laca. And gambling that the thin squad would stay healthy. Up through this break, we have had a long run with only Tomi out. But neither Tierney or Partey has a great injury record with us. Tomi needs to get healthy, then at least either he or Cedric can play LB. Lokonga is going to need to step up, and several someones will need to find scoring form. Absent those things, we may not even make EL, much less… Read more »
Yank Saliba back from loan as LB or defensive mid.
We move on. Tough times don’t last but tough people do. Keep the faith.
Nice phrase Teryima, love the positivity.
Cant help but panic.
Partey can be good at times but it’s clear he will never be the consistent midfielder that Arsenal need. Everything needs to be ticking for him to be good, and emotionally he’s quite fragile so once he starts misplacing passes you know he’s done for that match, then when he comes back from injury he needs a longer time than most to get back to full speed
Wondering if he wasn’t feeling a little niggle from the get? Could explain why his passing was off
Obviously haven’t been watching Partey in recent months where he has looked as good as any midfielder in the country. Yes like most of the team tonight he had a poor match albeit he did improve in the second half. Methinks a knee jerk reaction.
That’s why I said he can be good “at times”..
He’s not the guy who you can bank on for a full season.
I think Gallagher was all over him in the first half, made him rush his passing and we know the rest. Gallagher won that battle.
Partey is slow, he needs space and time on the ball. Every fast paced game he struggles, he’s not great.
We need both fit to have a chance at 4th.
Yikes for 2 crucial injuries so deep into season where injury can be the end of the season for the players. Time to get tough mentally, not panic and develop next man up mentality. It’s the only way. Doesn’t matter what hand they are dealt with keep going and they’ll be fine. My biggest concern is LB because I trust more in Sambi to cover for Thomas than in Nuno to cover for Tierney. Nuno is not as bad as he looks currently but he’s learning and it’s been baptism by fire for him lately. I hope he gets it… Read more »
If Tierney out, Saka to left back? I think that’s what I’d do. Or wing back and bring Rob in but that changes our whole style of play. FFS.
Just a thought, but if Tomiyasu is back, do you reckon its worth a punt having Cedric at left back?
An out of position Xhaka is far less risky than an out of position Cedric.
You can’t stick Saka at left back if you want top four this year.
End of.
I respectfully disagree. Saka at left back provides much more of a threat than Xhaka/Cedric. We’d be more fluid having a left footer as LB. I’d argue Saka would do a better job than what Tierney has this season
Opens up an attacking midfield position for ESR/Martinelli to start. If it’s a way to get them all in the starting line up, I’m all for it. They’re the ones who are going to get us into the top 4
You think Saka would do a better job at LB than Tierney.
I rest my case…..😂
Yeah he would..He’s that good.
Saka’s first season he played a lot of LB, quite reliable. Also gets the nod to play wing back for England over more senior and experienced players
I’d rather have him there than Xhaka, Cedric or Tavares
I think Saka at LB and Pepe at right winger is better than Cedric out of position at LB and Saka in his usual position. If Partey is out we can’t move Xhaka out of the midfield and anyway LB for him didn’t work last year.
We have no depth at all. Injuries to any first team player gives us a challenge.
Edu needs to be busy this summer
The consequence of having a long term strategy. We decided not to strengthen the squad this winter. I guess because we thought the targets were not there. I for one respect that. But we knew it would make us extremely open to injuries.
This team isn’t going to the UCL, that’s for sure. Y’all were and are still drinking Arteta kool-aid. Seriously with no backup what was he expecting, his naivety is alarming. I’m putting my money on our NL rival taking the forth spot.
And here they come… crawling out from under the dusty old Arteta-Out rug!
Yawn…
Oh give it a rest pal. No one wants Arteta out.
You’re like an old scratched 78 rpm bit of vinyl.
Although I’ll admit that gOD backing those Lilly white cunts for 4th is as crass a post as you can get.
What an utterly miserable stance you have!
We’ve been playing for about six months now numerically disadvantaged because laccazete has always been a passenger and it was evident against palace. He was a complete lost in the game and kept running aimlessly without putting any pressure on opponents. Worse of it all our four backs were awful with Tavares as usual doing what he does best to show his unworthiness to don the arsenal jersey even in the under 18’s. Cedric was also poor. We were slow and made our movements very predictable making it possible for palace to regroup to ward off any possible threat with… Read more »
Yep. Well said.
Ignore the downvotes. If you aren’t throwing cartwheels of unbridled joy regardless of the result, it messes with some people’s OCD.
Those fucking ref-protected lanky streaky pieces of fucking Palace piss.
Dirty, fouling, ‘Land of the Giants’ freak show cunts.
I love Paddy Vieira, but every time Palace lose from now on, I shall celebrate with a cold one from the fridge. 🍺
Crisis times require lateral thinking – if Thomas is injured, pull Saliba back from loan and play him in front of the defence… or even at LB, ffs.
We should’ve bought Renato Sanches when he waving at us in the Jan window!
I don’t think you can recall him outside of the transfer window..
Isn’t Renato Sanches injured (for a change)?
Losing is never enjoyable, losing in that manner even less so. But it’s the injuries that concern me more than last nights bad result + performance. This team have proven they can bounce back from disappointments, then string a few consecutive results together I’m yet to be convinced we can do that when missing key players. Feel sorry for Tavares, I’d be surprised if we seen him again this season, he has all the raw ingredients, but needs to be sent to play consistently at a lower level. Now our options are either Xhaka or Saka at left back, which… Read more »
Maybe a back 5 with wingbacks is on the cards? Saka at LWB/RWB
Tierney been out lost us that game, Gabriel was poor especially for the first 2 goals, maybe had one eye on taveres and took away from his own responsibilities. But Palace were excellent, I think manu or tot would have found last night difficult aswell.
Difference between Tierney and Nuno are obvious at the moment. However, I do feel that Tavares can become a great player if he adopts a proper mindset. He seems too careless at times, and hopefully Arteta can correct this. On the other hand, Partey’s injury is a huge blow. Just when he has started to show commanding presence in the midfield. I really don’t see Xhaka nor Sambi taking any initiatives. Although hoping that Sambi will surprise.
Worrying. Two key players likely to miss most of the run in. I think Tavares looked good going forward early in the season, but is clearly still early in his development defensively. He played with confidence in his first few games, but you could see his nervousness affect those around him last night (something that’s increased over the season whenever he’s featured) and you have to worry about that position over the coming weeks. I hate to say it, but I have a feeling he will still start against Brighton purely due to a lack of options and maybe Arteta… Read more »
I hope Tavares just needs gametime to calm himself and get in there. I rather they keep him in for the Brighton match to get him some more experience rather than having to throw him in cold in one of the big matches.
This sounds mean, I know; but in the light of our situation right now, I wish Lacazette was the one out in place of Tierney.
Am I the only Gooner who thinks that White is incredibly slow in moving the ball forward, last night he averaged 6 seconds in passing when he got the ball. Van Dyk would do it in 2!