Tomiyasu being injured for half the season was highly predictable, bless him.

I'm not sure a perceived defensive frailty will only work against us. We've been such a well-organised team that without some sense of weakness, many opposition sides haven't ventured out or stretched themselves against us.

goon I wonder if Kiwior is an option with Gabriel somehow.

Having seen the way Arteta usually manages the XI, I don't think this will happen unless Holding is blatantly exposed or punished in a match.

      We should be fine with Holding at CB for most of the games.

      City, Liverpool, Newcastle, and Chelsea are the ones where we will absolutely need Saliba. So if we can manage him and get him to play some of the games, it would be ideal.

      Burnwinter was Tomi injured for half the season though? Seems like he was mostly fit this season, only injury was right before WC and then that unfortunate slip.

          He did miss a chunk last year but he has been in the squad for 23 out of 28 matches we've played this season.

          Kel Varnsen One of the best things Artetas done is move Xhaka further forward to mitigate his brain farts. He's also no where close to the defender Holding is.

          The solution is there and its obvious. Play Holding.

            Clrnc — my sense is he hasn’t been match fit though. As in, good enough to make the bench but not fully fit for 90mins.

              Clrnc was Tomi injured for half the season though?

              True, he was only injured more than half the time we wanted to select him. 🙃

              C'mon man, Tomiyasu's a good player but he's brittle as fuck. Durability is a huge issue for him. People will often talk about White showing signs of fatigue or his form taking a dip, but at least his body doesn't regularly break in half like an old ship's biscuit.

              Saliba's started nearly every match this season, but the one time Willy gets injured we can't bring White back to his familar role at right centre half because Tomiyasu has also broken down. The upshot is that Tomiyasu's fitness issues affect the side, much as they did when they resulted in Cedric having to take the field for us.

                I think if Tomi was fit Arteta would still playing White RB. He is always talking about not making changes to more than one thing at a time. He's happy with White at RB and I reckon he'd either player Holding or Tomi at CB.

                  One thing that is predictable about Arteta is he will keep his main players in their positions. So we aren’t going to adjust Partey etc to different positions. The problem with moving Partey is given how well oiled this team is, that would affect 3 or 4 other players who depend on Partey’s passes and link up.

                  So we will persist with Holding or so if we can fit Kiwior in. Can’t see another solution.

                  Qwiss

                  True, this might be the case. It's a moot point.

                  Good for Rob Holding if he has this big chance to shine. Our next ten matches will be the peak of his career if we win the title with him as a regular.

                    I reckon it’s Holding or Kiwior.
                    White has a good thing going with Odegaard and Saka. Let’s not disturb that.

                    Yeah it's never a good idea to tinker with more than one position if you're fixing one position. Just play Holding and hope for the best. Like invis said, he played well in two FA Cup finals, it's not like he's just dropped in from League One.

                    Saliba is rumoured to be unavailable for the weekend, which isn't all that surprising. Hopefully is good shape for the trip to the Etihad.

                    Didn't Arteta say something like I hope he will be available for us this season? Means that an immediate recovery is all but ruled out?

                    just checked out the Leeds pre match conference and I think he indicates this. Questions were quite loaded though.

                    More recently, I think the rumour is that he's short for Anfield but there is hope beyond that. There is a part of me that wonders if we should only consider him we lose a game again.

                    Yeah the reporter asked if he’ll play again this season and Arteta just responded he’s very hopeful.

                    I'm sure it'd be tempting to pump him full of painkillers and send him out, but spines really don't work like that.

                    a month later