Injury setback? Why Arsenal star Jurrien Timber missed Netherlands training | Football

Arsenal star Jurrien Timber sparked fears that he may have suffered another injury setback after missing the Netherlands’ group training session on Tuesday.

Timber has endured a deeply frustrating period over the last year, with a groin problem forcing him to miss two months of action in the back-end of Arsenal’s title-winning campaign.

It came after the 25-year-old defender returned from an ACL injury in his debut season at the Emirates to establish himself as arguably the finest right-back in the Premier League.

While Timber came on as a substitute in the Gunners’ Champions League final defeat to Paris Saint-Germain in May, he was not deemed fit enough to be considered for the World Cup, which came as a devastating blow for the full-back.

Determined to avoid a recurrence of the injury, Mikel Arteta has adopted a cautious approach with Timber’s fitness in the intervening months and the Dutchman did not feature in any of Arsenal’s pre-season fixtures.

Timber did travel with Arteta’s squad for the club’s pre-season camps in Spain and the Republic of Ireland, where he spent his his time doing individual rehabilitation, but returned to London for specialist check-ups in late July.

Arteta handed Timber his first appearance of the season in the champions’ victory over Sunderland at the Stadium of Light, and the right-back was given a 60-minute run-out against Brighton last weekend.

Netherlands head coach Xavi had seen enough to call Timber up for the Oranje’s upcoming Nations League matches and the ex-Ajax man will no doubt be desperate to build up his playing time over the next two-and-a-half weeks.

On Tuesday, news of Timber’s absence from Dutch training had Arsenal fans fearing the worst, with the defender the only member of Xavi’s squad not to take part in the session.

But according to Voetbal International, this was nothing out of the ordinary given Timber is following an individual programme due to the aftereffects of his injury which cost him a place at the World Cup.

He is therefore on a modified schedule, which had been pre-agreed with Arsenal, and like the Gunners, the Netherlands are making sure to handle his load management with extreme care.

The Netherlands open their Nations League campaign against Germany at Amsterdam’s Johan Cruijff Arena on Thursday.

Xavi’s men head to Belgrade to take on Serbia three days later, before travelling to Thessaloniki’s Toumba Stadium to lock horns with Greece.

Virgil van Dijk and Co conclude the international break by returning to Amsterdam to host to Serbia on October 4.

Speaking exclusively to Metro, Stephen Smith, CEO and founder of Kitman Labs which specialises in injury welfare and performance analytics, explained why every precaution was being taken with Timber.

‘The smart thing for Arsenal to be doing at this time would be to manage his load,’ Smith said.

‘To try and create rotation opportunities for him to rest and recover and refuel the tank.

‘The output Arsenal try to deliver physically is huge so it makes total sense given the injury history and his importance to the team to ensure they don’t run into the same issues they had before.’

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