Friday links: Arsenal in the Community, Merino, Gyokeres, Jesus and more

Morning.

We’ll wait to hear from Mikel Arteta this morning about injury updates before making any comment on a story that suggests Kai Havertz’s return will be a little later than expected. From what we had heard, he was looking at the game post-Christmas, but before new year, to make his comeback, but now it might be mid-January.

Even if this story is accurate, it doesn’t add too much to his already elongated absence, but let’s see if the manager is in any way forthcoming about that when he meets the press later. Perhaps his Christmas gift to the fourth estate is a little nugget of news he wouldn’t normally provide. He doesn’t want to be Scrooge, does he?

For today’s blog though, we have a bit of a link drop, starting with Andrew Allen’s visit to the Arsenal Hub to visit Arsenal in the Community on the event of their 40th anniversary. It’s well worth your time, and I think people can get a bit jaded about the idea of a football club and the work they do locally, but this stuff really matters and that’s evident from the piece and the people Andrew spoke to. Read that here.

As part of that event, Mikel Merino was there, and Andrew had a few minutes to chat to him about the people who have influenced his career, and how his experience has seen him become part of the leadership group at Arsenal:

I knew I had a lot of information in my head to give to my teammates. I wasn’t looking for the leadership group or whatever role. I was just trying to be myself, trying to help the younger kids, trying to help my teammates, give them my experience and give them my point of view. And I guess they just liked it because they got me into the leadership group, and that’s reinforcing my mentality.

He seems like a great guy and such a solid pro. That look he and Arteta exchanged after the Wolves game said a lot to me. You can read the rest here.

Viktor Gyokeres has been a topic of discussion, particularly over the last couple of weeks when I think, given the fixtures, people were fully expecting him to add to his goal tally. It didn’t happen that way, and over on Sky Sports a typically excellent piece from Nick Wright analyses the striker’s season so far. Do his teammates just need to give him better service, or is there more he can do himself? Read it here.

Speaking of strikers, Gabriel Jesus writes in the Player’s Tribune about his time out with an ACL injury:

For me, a day without football is a terrible day. It’s been that way since I learned to kick a ball.  After I tore my ACL, I had 300 bad days in a row. When the doctor told me that I would be out 12 months, I mentally collapsed.

And his determination to make up for lost time, and the unfinished work he feels he has at this club:

I feel that I have unfinished business at Arsenal. I don’t want to leave. When I came here to join Mikel, my purpose was not only to score goals. My purpose was to win titles. I think that’s why Mikel brought me here, years ago. I don’t always need to be the number 9 to help the team.
I am not still here for the weather, eh?! I am here to make history.

He’s gone from being a kind of forgotten man to someone people are talking about with hushed optimism. I think you have to recognise the difficulties and the impact of the injuries, but also remember he’s still only 28, and he is a quality player. Hopefully he can stay healthy, get fully match-fit, and if he does he could make a big contribution to this team. Read the rest here.

Back ‘home’, and in his column this week, Tim talks about competing for the title in an era when the fear of failure doesn’t just come from what happens on the pitch, but also on your phone or your laptop. It can feel like there’s no escape. Read it here.

And finally, there’s an Arsecast below in which I chat to Kaya Kaynak about all kinds of things, including the EFL Cup. It’s one of those things that can give people fear about our ability to compete for the title, but could it also be fuel for that race too? Lots to listen to.

We’ll have all the news from Mikel Arteta’s press conference on Arseblog News this morning, and we’ll look ahead to the game against Everton with a preview podcast on Patreon this afternoon. For now, have a good one folks!