Arsenal defender Takehiro Tomiyasu revealed that a lack of game time last season caused him to lose confidence — but he is determined to compete with the likes of Jurrien Timber for a place in the backline.
The 24-year-old went from being a regular starter in the 2021-22 season to largely featuring on the bench in the last campaign, and then succumbing to a significant right knee injury in March ruling him out of for four months.
But the Japan international is now looking to establish himself back in the team — a tricky task following the acquisition of Ajax’s Timber to an already bloated defensive roster.
He said: ‘Yes, it was a difficult period for me. Ben White was doing very well and to be honest I lost confidence. But the injury period was four months and I think about a lot of things in this time.
‘You need to learn from the injuries, also the mistakes. You have good and bad moments, but you need to learn a lot of things from the bad moments. Now I am feeling good, not only for my body, my head also. It’s all positive.’
When asked if the signing of Timber could mean being left on the bench, he said: ‘The only thing I can do is prove my value on the pitch. That’s all I can do.’
The squad have been in high spirits on their tour of the US, and Tomiyasu believes the level in training is already higher than last season as the North London club eye Premier League glory.
‘Absolutely the level in training is much higher than last season,’ he added. ‘This is good for the team and for me. If you want to be a better player you need to play with better players in a competitive environment.
‘(In defence) we’ve got players like Ben White, Timber, Jakub Kiwior who can play full back or centre back.
‘I just want to be on the pitch. I want to play as much as I can and help the team. Which position, I don’t care. I haven’t spoken to the manager about it, I don’t know. I just want to help the team.’