Takehiro Tomiyasu: Takehiro Today, Injured Tomorrow

[Rasmi]

I like Gabriel, he has a lot of positive traits but I think White is better overall. He is not as commanding but is better on the ball, is calmer and makes less mistakes.

For me if Tomi gets back in its at Gabriel's expense with White moving centrally although I would plump for Gabriel against more physical opposition.

White makes less good defending. He gets beat far more for pace and strength. He doesn’t stand out because he doesn’t engage in a lot of situations and just stands off. So it doesn’t look too obvious for some people

 

[Deleted member 102404]

White makes less good defending. He gets beat far more for pace and strength. He doesn’t stand out because he doesn’t engage in a lot of situations and just stands off. So it doesn’t look too obvious for some people

Doesn’t engage? Stands off?
Not seeing that. Think he is number 1 in the squad for tackles.

 

[Mrs Bergkamp]

I'm glad he's back in London unscathed. Now all he has to do is stay fit.

 

[Rasmi]

Doesn’t engage? Stands off?
Not seeing that. Think he is number 1 in the squad for tackles.

White is Jonny Evans school of CBs. He is not gonna win you a challenge he is not favourite to. On the outside he looks neat. But your defence will concede more than even with error prone CBs who are physically gifted. Hence why we conceded more when White was CB than the previous season or this season

 

[Deleted member 102404]

White is Jonny Evans school of CBs. He is not gonna win you a challenge he is not favourite to. On the outside he looks neat. But your defence will concede more than even with error prone CBs who are physically gifted. Hence why we conceded more when White was CB than the previous season or this season

When he actually played last year we conceded about a goal a game. When he didn’t we conceded close to 2 goals per game.

Haven’t looked , but I bet his duels won/lost numbers are excellent.

I really can’t work out the negativity towards White. He’s had a really good start to his Arsenal career. Maybe he got caught in the Arteta vs Saliba crossfire.. who knows… but none of the criticisms actually hold up to scrutiny. Think you might just be on a bit of a mission.

 

[2Smokeyy]

Been telling man on here from the day he signed that Tomiyasu should be utilised at LCB since he’s such a useful player to have in the squad.

Really convinced he’s a better option there than Gabriel and it’s probably his strongest position.

 

[TheGreatWright8]

Great dilemmas to have him or white him or Gabriel the club have been lacking this for so long competition for places.

 

[bakaboo]

Great dilemmas to have him or white him or Gabriel the club have been lacking this for so long competition for places.

There are no dilemmas. Tomi is obviously a better RB than White.

 

[TheGreatWright8]

There are no dilemmas. Tomi is obviously a better RB than White.

Ben is doing very well to keep him out the side so Tomi got a fight on his hands.

 

[Red London]

Been telling man on here from the day he signed that Tomiyasu should be utilised at LCB since he’s such a useful player to have in the squad.

Really convinced he’s a better option there than Gabriel and it’s probably his strongest position.

IMO we have a really satisfying defence. We have Gabriel as LCB and Saliba as RCB.

But then we have White who can play RCB and the RB role similar to Tomiyasu. And then we have Tomiyasu who can play RB and LCB as well as LB.

The combo of quality and versatility amongst those 4 is immense, and I don’t know if I would swap it for any Premier League defence at this stage when you consider their age profile and add Tierney and Zinchenko into the mix.

 

[SA Gunner]

Been telling man on here from the day he signed that Tomiyasu should be utilised at LCB since he’s such a useful player to have in the squad.

Really convinced he’s a better option there than Gabriel and it’s probably his strongest position.

100%

I had said last season already that Gabriel is a liability at the back and needs to be upgraded upon. I forecasted White and Saliba being our starting CB pairing sometime this season, but I like what you are saying here.

We should go for another LCB in the summer though, and let Gabriel take Holding's spot in the squad.

 

[2Smokeyy]

IMO we have a really satisfying defence. We have Gabriel as LCB and Saliba as RCB.

But then we have White who can play RCB and the RB role similar to Tomiyasu. And then we have Tomiyasu who can play RB and LCB as well as LB.

The combo of quality and versatility amongst those 4 is immense, and I don’t know if I would swap it for any Premier League defence at this stage when you consider their age profile and add Tierney and Zinchenko into the mix.

Who do you reckon is the best CB pairing out of those four? As for some reason, I think we have a better pairing than Saliba and Gabriel which we aren’t utilising. Teta just stumbled across this pairing with White at RB and has just stuck with it which is a bit similar to ESR coming into the side due to injuries within the first team last season when we were struggling.

We should really test out the Saliba-Tomiyasu in the Europa League.

 

[TornadoTed]

Our best back 4 in my opinion is,

Tomiyasu Saliba White Tierney/Zinchenko

Gabriel has a load of good traits that I like a lot but he can be rash and is so one footed, he looks really clumsy sometimes when he is forced to use his right foot.

 

[2Smokeyy]

100%

I had said last season already that Gabriel is a liability at the back and needs to be upgraded upon. I forecasted White and Saliba being our starting CB pairing sometime this season, but I like what you are saying here.

We should go for another LCB in the summer though, and let Gabriel take Holding's spot in the squad.

Spot on.

Last summer, I wasn’t too fussed when Juventus were linked with Gabriel and I did say that if they made an offer we wouldn’t be able to refuse or give us someone like Chiesa (slightly unrealistic) then I’d be happy to let him leave.

Ben White has surprised me this season, I think he’s able to take his game up a few levels too. People have this obsession in the modern game of a left footed CB playing at LCB but the way Tomiyasu shapes his body + he opens up more angles/options between the lines than Gabriel due to him being ambidextrous is one of the key factors why I would opt for him, not to mention he’s probably better in the air, more composed and reliable in 1 vs 1 situations.

 

[BIoodBrother]

Our best back 4 in my opinion is,

Tomiyasu Saliba White Tierney/Zinchenko

Gabriel has a load of good traits that I like a lot but he can be rash and is so one footed, he looks really clumsy sometimes when he is forced to use his right foot.

I would like to see this combination too but Gabriel is really composed for his size and except this obvious flaw he really is an immense physical presence. I believe that Gabriel and Saliba is the pairing that we need in many games against strong opponent's but against lesser ones or smaller strikers I would like to see White and Saliba.

 

[BIoodBrother]

Would definitely love to see if we tried a combination of all 3CBs and Tomiyasu on the right in games if Saka or Martinelli plus Partey will be missing instead replacing like for like with Marquinhos and Lokonga in games against a playmaking opposition. 532 with Xhaka, Vieira and Ødegaard in midfield and little width.

 

[Red London]

Who do you reckon is the best CB pairing out of those four? As for some reason, I think we have a better pairing than Saliba and Gabriel which we aren’t utilising. Teta just stumbled across this pairing with White at RB and has just stuck with it which is a bit similar to ESR coming into the side due to injuries within the first team last season when we were struggling.

We should really test out the Saliba-Tomiyasu in the Europa League.

Its hard to admit because I like Gabriel, but Ben White has been the better player in 2022 out of the 2 for me.

Tomiyasu could be a dark horse, but at the moment I would say Saliba x White based off performances as Gabriel has looked quite shakey at times.

However, sometimes there are things you can't quantify, I feel like Gabriel brings something to the defence we cant see. He is a big presence physically, is an aerial behemoth in both penalty areas, bit of a leader, and brings some steel to proceedings. He is more of an old fashioned Centre Back but that's not necessarily a bad thing and sometimes when you drop these kinda guys you're at risk of becoming less than the sum of your parts.

Just my two pence there. But if he continues being shakey and it leads to errors which lead to goals, then yes we will need to drop him for White/Tomiyasu.

It would be really interesting to see Tomiyasu LCB in the EL group stages and I guess Cedric at RB. Maybe it would also tell Gabriel that he does in fact have a backup player who is capable, which will push him. At the moment he is our only left sided CB.

 

[Red London]

@2Smokeyy ok after today the sitch is getting precarious bro

 

[2Smokeyy]

@2Smokeyy ok after today the sitch is getting precarious bro

It’s funny how this played out but not surprised since Gabriel has been getting away with it for a while now.

Ngl I was a fan during his first season but it looks like the team overall have step up a level and he’s lagging behind. Ideally, we need to put Tomiyasu next to Saliba because as good as Ben White has been, I don’t really want to take him out of a position he’s flourishing in.

 

[Batman]

It’s funny how this played out but not surprised since Gabriel has been getting away with it for a while now.

Ngl I was a fan during his first season but it looks like the team overall have step up a level and he’s lagging behind. Ideally, we need to put Tomiyasu next to Saliba because as good as Ben White has been, I don’t really want to take him out of a position he’s flourishing in.

The guys who aren't technically proficient stick out like sore thumbs in this system now. It's jarring watching Tesco in place of Zinchenko and Gabriel is probably the worst player on the ball of anyone who plays regularly. Even Xhaka has risen to the challenge of being quicker with the ball at his feet. Gabriel needs to sort this out because it's a problem. I don't expect him to be as smooth as Saliba but I agree, I think Tomi could be very good there and I would like to see if it's an improvement.