Arsenal: Fitness, not form, crucial for Dinos Mavropanos

Dinos Mavropanos played the full 90 minutes in Arsenal’s friendly win over Al-Nasr on Tuesday. At this stage, fitness, not form, is crucial for his development.

It has been a season to forget for Dinos Mavropanos. After signing for Arsenal a little over a year ago and blossoming in the final months of Arsene Wenger’s tenure, there was hope that the young Greek defender could begin to push the likes of Shkodran Mustafi and injured Laurent Koscielny for a starting role.

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Those hopes were only inflamed when Unai Emery, Wenger’s successor, allowed Calum Chambers to leave on loan for the full season. With depth a slight concern, the move told everyone that Emery was confident in Mavropanos’ abilities.

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Sadly, however, Mavropanos’ opportunities have been stymied by a crippling groin problem. Mavropanos has essentially missed the whole season with the injury, briefly returning to training in mid-January before mysteriously becoming unavailable once again. He has played in just three matches all season, one for the first team in the Premier League and two the under-23s in Premier League 2. All in all, he has totalled just 172 minutes of action this season.

This is not anyone’s fault. Injuries happen. They are an unfortunate consequence of sport. But that does not negate the impact that they can have on players’ careers and developments, and Mavropanos missing essentially a full season of action is hugely detrimental to his physical condition, his burgeoning understanding of the game, and his mental attitude, his self-confidence in his own body.

So it was important that Mavropanos played the full 90 minutes in Arsenal’s friendly win over Al-Nasr on Tuesday during their midseason tour of Dubai during the international break. If nothing else, it is proof that his body can handle the physical challenge of a 90-minute football match.

Mavropanos did not play especially brilliantly or poorly in the match. He and Shkodran Mustafi struggled greatly early on but steadied the ship later, and then he looked much more comfortable in the second half when Mustafi was replaced by Laurent Koscielny and Arsenal shifted to a back three, Mavropanos playing on the left side of that three.

But the form isn’t really important, at this stage. When so much football has been missed, as is the case with Mavropanos, the first port of call is simply to get back on the pitch. And then it is a case of working on your match fitness, rediscovering that sharpness that only comes with playing regular minutes.

For Mavropanos, the key now is to play and play regularly. Whether he can push into the first team or not, I am not sure. But if he can enjoy consistent training sessions between now and the end of the year, he may begin to work his way back up the pecking order.