Arsenal: Tomiyasu & Ramsdale profit from Arteta’s planning

After the Manchester City match had concluded it felt like the clocks had turned back: Arsenal had just been beaten handsomely away to a Top Six side with a team featuring players of an era supporters had hoped to see the back of.

Everything felt stale. No signs of progression; a group of players that had failed to deliver previously left to proceed as they had left off.

There were reasons that forced many of the selections, but the mood, the supporters and the squad were all in need of a lift. When Norwich came around after the international break the welcome returns of Ben White and Gabriel helped energise a dying battery. But while their inclusions were key, it was those of Aaron Ramsdale and Takehiro Tomiyasu that proved pivotal.

Bernd Leno hadn’t done anything outright wrong to deserve being dropped and Tomiyasu had barely even unpacked his bags before Mikel Arteta thrust him into the starting lineup.

Takehiro Tomiyasu & Aaron Ramsdale profit from Mikel Arteta’s squad planning with fine performances from the pair in 1-0 win for Arsenal

Both risks in one sense, they were selected with an eye on what was to come. Namely, Burnley.

Fine debuts for the pair against the Canaries were followed up with even stronger outings at Turf Moor, performances that it’s fair to claim wouldn’t have been as composed had they not have been given run outs in the previous game.

Tomiyasu won every single one of his duels at a stadium that relishes physicality, somewhere that would have been a daunting environment for anyone to make their first Premier League appearance after arriving from a foreign league. Despite the short turnover time, giving him 60 or so minutes against Norwich was clever planning.

While Ramsdale is richly experienced in the division for someone his age, any goalkeeper playing alongside new teammates needs time to gel on the pitch and the ‘easier’ contest Norwich provided was the ideal setting for him to bed in.

The 23-year-old was outstanding against the Clarets and while his performance is a credit to his own belief, desire and ability, there is no doubting the proactivity from Arteta in fielding him and Tomiyasu in the previous outing paid dividends in the pair’s respective displays on Saturday.

Arteta wanted to form some stability after the horror start to the campaign and the usage of Tomiyasu and Ramsdale has brought invaluable presence and solidity to a frail defence.

Solid selections that appeared hastily made proved to be wise calls with a look at the bigger, more important, picture.