Manager explains decision to omit Arsenal star from National Team, Arteta will be delighted

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Arsenal star Takehiro Tomiyasu has struggled with injury, but has now returned ahead of a busy few months.

The defender was in excellent form before he picked up an injury in November, and has appeared just once since.

Tomiyasu featured at the Asia Cup with the Japan National Team, but he picked up another problem towards the end of the campaign which prevented him from returning until now.

With another International break coming up, there may have been fears within Arsenal that the 25-year-old would pick up yet another injury, but Tomiyasu has been omitted from the Japan squad.

Takehiro Tomiyasu omitted from Japan squad ahead of International break

Japan have now confirmed that Tomiyasu will not feature in their upcoming International fixtures, and manager Hajime Moriyasu has explained that they want the defender to focus on his fitness.

“Tomi hasn’t played yet. The main reason is that he hasn’t played a match,” he stated.

“We have confirmed that he is definitely recovering and is fit to play. In that sense it might have been possible to call him up and have him play, but we decided first of all that he hasn’t played.

“I think we have to think player first there. The next game will definitely be intense and tough. In a situation where he’s not playing there, of course we might still ask him to play, but this time we decided not to call him up because of the risk of injury and because we haven’t confirmed how much he can play.

“I didn’t call him up, firstly for his own sake and for the sake of his club, because I don’t want the same thing to happen again, and also because I thought that if he showed a solid performance on the Arsenal and Premier League stage, he would naturally become an asset for the national team.”

Arsenal will be delighted with Japan decision over Tomiyasu

There have been several occasions where Tomiyasu has picked up untimely injuries whilst on duty with Japan, and his lack of consistent fitness has been a problem.

His injury during the Asia Cup has kept him out for longer than expected, but now he is back in training, two weeks in North London to work on his fitness will be of benefit to him.

Mikel Arteta will certainly be happy that Japan are acting cautiously over Tomiyasu, and he is well aware that having the versatile defender fit during the run-in could be vital for Arsenal’s hopes in the Premier League and Champions League.