Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has praised Takehiro Tomiyasu on the club’s official website for his performance against Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool.
Arteta’s Arsenal suffered a 2-0 defeat to Liverpool at the Emirates Stadium in the first leg of the Carabao Cup semi-final tie on Thursday evening.
Except Gabriel Martinelli and Martin Odegaard, none of the Arsenal players really had a good game.
Right-back Tomiyasu had one of his worst games for Arsenal since joining the club in the summer of 2021.
However, Arteta has praised the 23-year-old Japan international, who can also play as a centre-back, and has hailed him for playing against Liverpool despite having just recovered from a calf problem.
Mikel Arteta verdict on Takehiro Tomiyasu
Arteta said about Tomiyasu: “Well, he’s done incredibly. We didn’t want to play him, we had to push him because Cedric and Callum were out and we didn’t have any full backs.
“The moment that he knew that he knew that he said that he would play. He didn’t have any training sessions with us, and still was willing play and compete the way he has done today. So I am extremely proud and grateful for the players that we have.”
Struggling for Arsenal v Liverpool
In our view, Tomiyasu did not have a good game for Arsenal and really struggled against Liverpool.
The youngster looked rusty and should have done better for Diogo Jota’s opening goal for Liverpool.
Tomiyasu struggled from then on and looked off the pace.
In our opinion, the game against Liverpool came too early for Tomiyasu, who is a very good right-back and is one of the first names on the teamsheet when he is fit and available.
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