Arsenal: 6 biggest player surprises this season

Surprises come in all shapes and sizes. Sometimes they take us aback in a positive sense, while on other occasions we’re left groaning in despair at that we didn’t see coming. There has been a bit of both for Arsenal this season.

On the whole nobody was quite sure what to expect from Arsenal. While the 2020/21 season finished strongly with some commendable league form, everything that happened up until that point hadn’t been forgotten.

An appalling season by all accounts was sought to be remedied with the addition of six new players for a hefty combined total of around £150m. Yet even with that investment expectations for the current campaign were relatively low.

Just as there was optimism that Arsenal had taken all the right steps to ensuring they could be competitive once again, the strength of the sides around them was undeniable and the wild inconsistencies previously demonstrated would not be quickly reversed.

Arsenal: 6 biggest player surprises this season under Mikel Arteta as the Premier League takes a break for international football

In regards to the players, some have been surprisingly good, but not to the degree that they can be deemed as a ‘surprise’. Emile Smith Rowe, for example, was performing at such a level that despite the additional responsibility of being the club’s No. 10 it was always felt he had it in his locker to add that all-important goal threat.

At the back we’d seen the best and worst of Gabriel, and this season was his time to demonstrated healthy qualities of the former. His quality was always there.

Meanwhile Nicolas Pepe, someone capable of both the sublime and the exasperating, has continued to live up to those tags again this season.

And with 11 matches down in the Premier League season after the 1-0 win over Watford, looking back on the individuals this season there are certainly a few who’ve captured the imagination as much as they’ve fallen off the proverbial cliff. Six of those spring to mind.

1. Takehiro Tomiyasu Has Slotted in Seamlessly

Ahead of the visit of Norwich it had only been a few days since the Japan international had arrived in north London, therefore it felt like a big ask of the defender to make his first Premier League start. Not because the quality of opposition was tough, and instead due to pressure on the team at that point and that he’d only had one training session under his belt.

That performance was a sign of things to come.

Mikel Arteta desired a particular profile to fit his system and not only did he source the right one, he secured the perfect player within that niche to join the club.

His tactical comfort within the system is a credit to his dedication. It’s a very specific role and one of the biggest compliments you can pay Tomiyasu is that oftentimes you can forget he’s even on the pitch, such is his quality and the proficiency with which he performs his task.

An excellent defender on the ground and in the air, he’s adding a touch more adventure in his game as Arteta slowly starts to include more intense pressing from back to front. Everything he does is performed to such a high standard.

What is surprising is that there hasn’t been a sniff of the 23-year-old needing to acclimatise or adjust to the division and the team. It’s been seamless. This is even more impressive when factoring in how few players make the move from Serie A to the Premier League successfully, or at least without requiring a considerable amount of time to adjust.

A fantastic signing.

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