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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2. Pablo Mari Being as Bad as This

There has been plenty of ‘I told you so’s’ in regards to the performances of Pablo Mari this season, all of which is fairly revisionist.

He was never an elite central defender but when he had a run in the side he did his job to an acceptable degree and was guilty of far fewer mistakes than Gabriel. This was a very serviceable defender who was very much in the Rob Holding mould of being neither dreadful nor brilliant most weeks.

Wow. What happened?

Mari has gone from being ‘OK’ to ‘oh good heavens’. Pre-season was brushed off as being no more than training matches, but the signs were there. Getting the nod against Brentford he was an absolute shambles, and then with Chelsea next up on the fixture list it was utterly terrifying contemplating how he’d fare against Romelu Lukaku.

Touch tight? On Lukaku? Really?

It’s not overboard to claim that he’s looked like a Championship defender this season. While he was never great, he was never this bad.

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3. Ainsley Maitland-Niles Has Impressed in Midfield

How would anyone know how good Ainsley Maitland-Niles can be in midfield if he’s never been handed a proper run in the position?

Well, a six month loan move at West Brom where he played there every week would have been a fairly reasonable period to make a judgement. Even if the club were battling relegation, horrendously negative on the ball and lacking in quality all over the pitch, at least it was a decent sample size.

Maitland-Niles looked ok.

Parts of his game, such as defensive awareness and looseness on the ball, were worrying signs for someone aiming to be a central midfielder permanently. While there were some positive aspects, the level he reached didn’t look sufficient enough to be part of an Arsenal side vying for a top six berth.

Has he been sensational since? No, that would be taking it way too far. But he has ironed out the creases shown with the Baggies and on the occasions he’s been given the nod, whether from the start or as a late substitute, he has not looked out of place: energy, tenacity and willingness in abundance.

After the Instagram drama that took place over the summer, the performances he’s been producing have been a pleasant surprise when it seemed his Arsenal career was done and dusted.

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4. Nuno Tavares Running Kieran Tierney Close

One man’s loss being another man’s gain has never rang truer.

Losing Kieran Tierney to injury last season was just about the worst possible injury the squad could have suffered. With no Sead Kolasinac in the country and not a single recognised left-back to slot in, when it did eventually happen it was catastrophic.

Did it derail the season? It certainly veered off track when Tierney missed 14 games with two separate injuries between January and May.

Thus, signing a left-back in the summer was an essential piece of business regardless of whether or not they would be stuck sitting on the bench for most of the season.

When the opportunity arose for Nuno Tavares to get a run in the side once his teammate got injured, there were some nerves over how he’d fare in the Premier League having been a benchwarmer over at Benfica. To be sat here now with a very real debate over who should be starting once both are fit is quite remarkable.

Now that is a surprise. The indomitable Tierney losing form (which is a surprise in itself) and the backup Benfica left-back performing quite superbly to the point where he may be lining up in defence once Arsenal travel to Liverpool next up.

Hats off to Nuno. He’s deserved all the praise he’s received.

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5. Calum Chambers Being Unable to Build on Last Season

Assessing the squad over the summer to determine the areas of most pressing need, as much as an upgrade at right-back was desired from all quarters, in terms of priority it was a position Arsenal could have kept as it was for six to 12 months.

Given the urgency to strengthening at left-back, in goal, at centre-back, in central midfield and at No. 10, with finite money those positions came top of the pile, ahead of right full-back.

After the 5-0 drubbing at the hands of Manchester City, Arteta knew he had to act.

It was that game, and that performance from Calum Chambers, that prompted Arsenal to act fast for a right-back, with the finances handed to the manager to go out and secure his favoured target, Tomiyasu.

Having impressively usurped Cedric and Hector Bellerin in the starting lineup last season after returning from a long-term injury, the performances of Chambers drew widespread praise. His crossing looked threatening, and he found some comfort in the inverted right-back role.

Still hopelessly slow and therefore poor at tracking runners, it was still felt he could do just enough to keep his place in the team. That seemed to be the case with starts against Brentford and Man City, but he looked out of shape and way out of place playing Premier League football for Arsenal.

Somewhat similarly to Mari, while he was never exceptional, the boost in quality from new arrivals has made him look like a fish out of water. This was his chance to kick on.

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6. Aaron Ramsdale Being Just Fantastic at Everything

While this list is in no way ranked, if it was then Aaron Ramsdale would still sit atop it as the biggest surprise of all this season.

Even those who didn’t oppose this signing couldn’t have predicted this. What he has managed to achieve in such a short space of time still doesn’t feel quite real. Statistically he was scoring average in almost all departments, and the disgusting abuse he received from ‘supporters’ prior to his signing looked like reducing his chances of success even further.

Only Edouard Mendy has a better save percentage than he has in the Premier League this season, and he, Ederson and Alex McCarthy are the only keepers who’ve recorded more clean sheets than Ramsdale, this with the trio playing three more matches.

With distribution like Ederson on steroids and shot stopping like David Seaman in his prime, the rise of this young man to not only number one goalkeeper at Arsenal but someone who is pounding on Gareth Southgate’s door on the international stage is remarkable.

Absolutely adored by each and every Arsenal fan and earning rave reviews from every corner of the goalkeeping world, Arsenal should be writing a formal apology to Sheffield United for the daylight robbery they’ve committed in signing him for a pitiful £30m.

Will he have a dip in form? It’s something that has happened throughout his career, but then again nobody expected him to be the second coming of Gianluigi Buffon, either.

Yes, we’re getting carried away. But it’s hard not to.