Mikel Arteta says Emile Smith Rowe, Reiss Nelson and Gabriel Jesus have begun training outdoors but the trio aren’t yet close to a return.
Having worked his way back to full fitness after groin surgery, Smith Rowe is currently dealing with a frustrating setback that has kept him sidelined for the best part of a month.
Nelson and Jesus have also been long-term absentees; the former picked up an injury during the mid-December friendly with Juventus while the Brazilian hasn’t kicked a ball in anger since the World Cup where he suffered a knee injury that required surgery.
“The ones that they were long time like Emile, Reiss and Gabi they are closer,” Arteta said in his pre-Brentford press conference.
“They started to do some work outside but they are not ready to contribute yet.”
Arteta on injuries:
The ones that they were long time like Emile, Reiss and Gabi they are closer. They started to do some work outside but they are not ready to contribute yethttps://t.co/zMnRUnuhBB— Kaya Kaynak (@kayakaynak97) February 10, 2023
After undergoing an operation in London, Jesus has spent the last few weeks doing fitness work in Sao Paulo. This week he returned to London Colney to begin what the Gunners hope will be the final stretch of his rehabilitation.
The player previously hinted he could make a return at the end of February but Arteta remains cautious about putting any timeline on things.
“Gabi’s doing really well. He’s already been outside a little bit. It’s still early stages and he keeps pushing everybody every single day but we need to respect timelines and processes but he’s doing really well,” he said.
“He’s still too far from that [a timeline]. You see now when you put loads through that knee and get some movement and actions, they’re not as controlled as the ones he has been doing [before]. [You have to see] how the knee reacts and whether he’s comfortable to move to the next stage.”
🗣 "Gabi is doing really well, he keeps pushing everybody."
Mikel Arteta says it's still too early to put a date on Gabriel Jesus' return pic.twitter.com/efjtRdh69V
— Football Daily (@footballdaily) February 10, 2023
As far as we’re aware, the Gunners otherwise have a clean bill of health.
Thomas Partey, who was substituted in the second half of Saturday’s defeat to Everton, took part in full training this week and is expected to be available for Brentford’s visit to the Emirates.
Positive news all around. Would be great to have these three back in time for the stretch run
And excellent that TP is avaialble, we need him to stay fit given our great record this season with him on the pitch (and poor record without him playing).
TP, Marty, Zinny, and Saka are our most crucial 4 right now IMO, closely followed by CBs, Gabi, White, Xhaka (still can’t believe I’m writing that…lol) and Rambo and by fact of lack of depth up top Eddie too.
I just think the first 4 allow us to do things tactically that we cannot without them. Irreplacables.
Mikel’s got his non-negotiables and non-replaceables.
We don’t have a poor record without him playing.
In the 11 games he hasn’t started this season, we’ve still won 8.
That’s five wins in the Europa league, Oxford in the cup, and Villa and Fulham in the league.
The matches that we have lost this season he either hasn’t played or come on/off eg the Everton match where we were drawing, he came off and we then lost.
REISS NELSON I BELIEVE
Isn’t Elneny out for the season?
I read that was the case, unless anyone has a more positive update on him.
He just had a surgery; his rehabilitation has barely begun. What’s the point talking about him?
‘As far as we’re aware, the Gunners otherwise have a clean bill of health.’
All is well mate, I was just wondering about this sentence.
Anyone else shudder a bit when Arteta talks about Jesus and “putting loads through that knee”? I’m sure it’s ok and just technical medical talk but it gave me a very graphic image
I quite enjoy the non-medical language. For instance, I love when Arteta says that a player has been outside for a little bit, a description that in an of itself could represent a light jog, some gardening work, or being wheeled out into the sunshine for an hour.
No surprises. It’s not so much the players that are available though- we had the strongest available side at Everton – but the attitude and application of those players, which wasn’t there at Goodison Park for some reason. We shouldn’t underestimate Brentford, they’re unbeaten in their last five games so we’ll need to be on our best game to ensure the three points.
But the best positioned side they played was Liverpool. Should get that one done!
You can question the application against Everton, but not the attitude. The lads kept fighting to the last minute . We just came up against a side who were fighting for their lives. I’d be more concerned that the bench didn’t recognise we needed two overlapping fullbacks against a team that were doubling up on Saka and Martinell, like the Newcastle game, rather than the attitude of the players.
I had hoped Smith-Rowe will have a great second half of the season. Sadly, it seems Nketiah, Martinelli, Saka, Ødegaard, Vieira and Trossard will bear the creative and attacking load for the foreseeable future. I hope we are done with our injury quota.
Tough game ahead vs the 🐝 🐝
I find myself in a weird position where I’m so happy we’ll have Jesus back soon, but I also can’t believe we might end up seeing him before Smith-Rowe.