Arsenal lost another preseason game, to another London rival, on a rainy August afternoon at the bowl. No one likes to lose, no one likes to lose to Spurs, but this is preseason and nothing really matters bar the result on Friday night. If you spent last season campaigning that beating Liverpool in the Community Shield meant nothing, pardon me not caring much about how important Spurs is in the Mindfulness Cup.
So let’s reestablish what preseason games are all about.
- Bringing your fitness levels as close to perfection as you can. Reality is, for elite level athletes, it takes about 6 games to get fully fit, so these guys are going to be burning.
- Trying out new tactical approaches. Arsenal will have a lot of time on the training ground this season, so expect the football to develop
- Learning who you can trust and who you cannot. There were players out there today you’d hope to see the back of in the next two weeks
What we did not like:
Our forward line really was drossy today, it has been all summer long. It was last season. Nicolas Pepe loves a standing start and it interrupts his strengths. Lacazette is our best striker, but he can’t drop deep then make up the ground. Auba is the next point.
Auba has lost all his confidence in his thirties. That’s a major concern. He looks depressed and he lacks the ability to contribute at the level we know he can. He’s so far off the pace and that is a concern. I don’t think this is an Ozil issue, he clearly cares, but he’s nowhere near the level he should be right now.
We only have two centre backs that are acceptable to this system. It’s pretty clear that Pablo Mari and Rob Holding aren’t cutting it. Mari with a horrendous bit of WTF in the build-up the Son goal. That’s a concern heading into the season and one that we’re going to have to live with this year.
We’re getting the ball into good spaces and crossing like there’s a target man there. None of strikers are tall enough. None of them seem to have the desire to hustle to win those high balls. It’s pretty clear we need to sign someone with a height and playing style of Tammy if this system is going to work.
Our right side of defence needs the Tierney treatment. The most ideal candidate would be Ainsley, but he wants central midfield, and doesn’t seem to have people advising him to take the Arsenal offer. That leaves us Hector Bellerin, who wants out, but has no interested clubs. With Soares, who is lucky to be at Arsenal. Chances are looking sparse that we move on anyone in that position and that is a massive, massive L for the summer plans.
What we most certainly did like:
Lokonga isn’t going to need 6 months to make an impact on this side. We don’t need to see Mo Elneny in the starting 11 on Friday. The Belgian midfielder looks composed, his range of passing is stunning, and he moves around the pitch with ease. Mo came on and we looked week, Granit Xhaka barking at him because he wouldn’t play a pass that looked on the mild side of risky is exactly why Mo shouldn’t be anywhere near our midfied, but be real, who is taking him?
Ben White looks like the central defender we’ve been needing for a long time. Not sure there will be many doubting what he offers. He has great recovery pace, his ability to dribble with the ball if there is no option makes him dangerous, his passing range is like a midfielder… and he is lightning quick into the back of strikers and midfielders. There were moments he could have done better, there are partnerships to build, but for a full debut, against a decent side, he looked very solid.
Granit Xhaka has come back looking fit and ready. I know a lot of people wanted him gone, but playing next to people like Lokonga and Partey brings out the best of him. He’s going to have a decent season and start on the right footing.
We controlled the game for the most part, moved the ball into dangerous positions, but didn’t make our chances count. That’s the story of the backend of last season. It’s positive that we can do that, but we really need to see some movement on players that can help us be more incisive. Tammy Abrahams in this system gets goals. James Maddison gives us better set-plays and more incisive balls where they need to be. We’re not there yet, but the basics of a very good system are there.
Final thing I liked. It’s clear what needs to be done this week. It’s clear who should stay and who should go. It’s absolutely 20/20 on what the side needs as we head into the final 2 weeks of the window.
Can Edu, who has been on about 15 holidays this window make it happen? So far, it doesn’t look good. We’ve moved the squad forward with two signings that’ll likely be there for the start of the season, but there’s nowhere near enough work on exits and there’s still a massive, massive lift needed to land that #10, a back-up keeper that’s not dropping howlers, and a striker that gives us the right sort of options for the type of chances we’re creating.
It’s a big week, all eyes are on Friday, all hopes are on a big 3 points landing to calm the nerves.
See you in the comments.
Ok I took a break from the site for a few days
Back and I have to say, what a shit show if Totts get Martinez
A player we wanted
They are linked to Aouar
F this man….
Now Mike saying we are going to roll with what we have in attack???
Like wtf
Something is seriously wrong here…..
*a few obvious changes and tweaking
Tom,
The farmer’s league is about to welcome Messi.
So much for Josh and his incredible summer
Deadline day here we come
Sorry Stan but you gonna get fleeced by Edu on deadline day again
Saliba is easily 3rd on our CB depth chart, ridiculous he’s on loan and not getting bedded in right now to be on rotation duty with Gabi.
Anonymous
What makes you think Saliba is number 3 on the depth chart
For all we know he may be our best defender or our worst
Problem is we will never know thanks to le sauce.
Can we just not get anyone?
Maddison played the other day. So likely not him.
Aouar still there waiting
If Chelsea could sack lampard, a proper club legend, why is it difficult to get rid of arteta? He has used up all his credit with the fans and listening to his interview after the match, he is now sounding arrogant, we the fans don’t want to hear that you are working to improve these players that have been failing us for the past 4 seasons, you cannot polish turd. Bellerin, elneny are not going to get better, The club itself makes more backroom staff appointments than players whom we need to improve the team, we have the garlick chap,… Read more »
I also noticed that Runnarson is still around
That deal to the backwaters of Turkey fell through because he is overpaid and they realized he’s utter dross.
amen Bro to this
seems they are forgetting that it’s better players that improve the team , not all these appointments, it feels like it’s one big gravy train.
This club has got its priorities badly wrong.
Edu needs to speak to Martinelli
I hope we convinced someone on the olympic team to come to us
I mean Ill take anyone of those Brazil kids
this is so pathetic
Newsflash: Wikileaks hack reveals a fragment of the list of banned phrases and words on Le Grove. 1) “Arteta is shit”. 2) “Selling Martinez was a blunder” 3) “Xhaka is shit” / “Xhaka is a limited player” 4) “It’s fucking stupid to splurge £50m+ on a defender when our problems are in midfield and in chance creation”. 5’) “Fofana didn’t cost Leicester a Champions League place.” 6) “Saliba might be a decent player. Why not use him?” 7) “Arsenal is not a destination club for up and coming players.” 8) “Some football players are not that attracted by the bright… Read more »
Not forgetting a new scout from fulham
Saliba needs to just bide his time, by the time he returns from his loan that imbecile Arteta will probably be out of work.
Dissenter Saliba is below Gabi and white, he’s ahead of holding, Mari and chambers. Watch him play, watch our picks play. Nothing more than that is needed. If you really want to you can go look at the deep stats and they’ll agree with him being 3rd on our depth chart. At the end of the day he can’t be any worse than the likes of Mari, Holding and chambers. Chambers btw is 4th on our depth chart but will get less games than both Mari and Holding. Thankfully football is a simple game, just have to watch the players… Read more »
Oh no! Pedro’s been hacked!
I’ve never seen the Kroenkes back ANYONE like they backed Arteta. They essentially gave him the keys.
It’s seems every staff he wants, he gets. All sorts of exotic assistants. Even Wenger never got this level of support,.
Guns it don’t matter that Maddison played. Martinez played for us when we beat Pool in the Community Shield and he was sold to Villa shortly afterwards.
I think Maddison is a red herring
a smoke screen the club used as they normally do in summer to keep fans engaged and believing we would sign someone.
Happens most summers.
We will get ODE our savior on deadline day…. 40 M plus
watch
We will go no where
Good luck Willock
Hope you do well
Getting off this sinking ship was a smart move young man
Mike has some dirt on KSE or something
He gets what he wants which is entirely wrong most always
You only have to look at Arteta’s goal keeping coach to understand the state of the power dynamics at the club.
Arteta’s handpicked assistant totally botched the Runnarson signing with a nepotistic job offering. Runnarson’ s wages at Dijon was about €4,000week – we increased it to about £40k weekly.
That GK coach is still the driving force for the search for a new goalie so no wonder no one trusts him with the Ramsdale nonsense.
“The farmer’s league is about to welcome Messi.“
WoB, then he’s in for a shock when for warm ups they’ll make him pick tomatoes
window closes on Aug 31?
Aouar played yesterday
Tom,
I’m picturing Messi, picking champignons and running rings around Saliba while he munches on a baguette au Camembert.
Gravenberch and aouar would rescue our midfield irrespective of arteta’s failings, unless he keeps on playing xhaka even with those two in house.
Le Grove has unfortunately become terribly predictable. Instead of offering an independent view of what is going on, Pedro just seems to parrot what the club says and/or try to frame the narrative so that what Arteta does makes sense… Am I saying he’s getting everything wrong? No, but he’s nowhere near getting everything right either. My thoughts on the transfer window so far. The overall process seems to be better. We have a definite plan and profile of a player we’re going for. We need to sell before we buy. If so receiving £25m plus for Willock is a… Read more »
I would love Aouar and Gravenbach… it would be a fantastic upgrade to our midfield. The question is do we have the money?
“Oh no! Pedro’s been hacked!“
Clearly, not by Wikileaks though but rather by …………Tony Attwood.
“I’m picturing Messi, picking champignons and running rings around Saliba while he munches on a baguette au Camembert.“
Ha ha, that would be Pedro’s pick for a backdrop of every post henceforth.
For warm downs they’ll have Messi lead the cows out for grazing on the stadium pitch.
AC
Aouar and Gravenberch also my ideal MF duo that we buy this summer.
Dusan Vlahovic, the Spurs target a bit green bu also very good in the air.
Isn’t Florentina repeated looking at Torreira? Throw him into deal and get the deal done.
I see Maddison staying at Leicester personally.
Like him a lot but would much prefer Aouar on a cheaper deal who imo has a much higher ceiling and is already a comparable level to Maddison.
*but
Tom,
Neymar, Mbappe, and pretty soon, Messi.
Wish I had the money those French farmers have.
And I am not changing my position on Lautaro Martinez at all.
Good but not top drawer ST. Quite a downgrade from prime Kane in fact.
*repeatedly
What did we learn? Didn’t learn a damn thing really.
Last season we saw artetas signature horsehoe passing, this match was more of the same.
Also, who coaches the damn team to get to the byline and send in crosses when we have no target man? I swear doris the tea lady needs to be fired for all the shit coaching and tactics.
Saliba and Guendouzi were both fantastic in their OM debut.
Meanwhile, we have Pablo Mari Elneny.
You know, the one major difference between arteta, Emery and Wenger’s style of play is penetration. Wenger coached the team to pass between the lines, pass between players. Emery coached the team to pass into space in order to feed attackers. Arteta coaches the team to preserve possession with attacking penetration being an afterthought, I will give him that he has the team defending better than the other two but goals are what win games and points. The more experienced of the 3 were willing to sacrifice defense in order to score more goals, the least experienced of the 3… Read more »
If Willock’s $25 Mil is to be spent wisely in the MF the club should also be looking at Sandre Berge at Sheffield, Bruno G from Lyon and Renato Sanchez. All major talents in the $25-35 Mil range who would vastly improve our MF.
I’ll never understand why Tets refused to give Saliba a wet 5 minutes let alone a full 90 all of last season for us, even against pub teams like Dundalk and Molde.
@Leedsgunner
“Le Grove has unfortunately become terribly predictable. Instead of offering an independent view of what is going on, Pedro just seems to parrot what the club says and/or try to frame the narrative so that what Arteta does makes sense.”
No truer words have appeared on today’s post. Also noticed the AKB crowd is kind of thin today, maybe they are recovering from a shock of reality and are still paralyzed and can’t get the keyboard moving.
Pretty soon we will have comedy and sarcasm galore here after the TW has closed..
My predictions for this season :
-We will start with 3 draws and the spin from Pedro and his army of Arteta pom pom posse will be that’s a solid start from 3 tricky games although the reality is it’s 3 points from 9….
– I will be surprised if he makes November and shocked if he gets till his normal season start of Boxing Day
– I’m still happy to sow my arsehole up if he achieves anything better than 7th.
Surely if Willock is moving on that means we have room to promote and increase the involvement of Azeez and Patino. By all accounts they are excellent youth players coming through our system.
For goodness sake, give them a go, not Elneny!
If willock wasn’t ready for any considered involvement after that run at Newcastle, then none of the kids coming through right now can ever be ready.
Saliba wasn’t ready despite getting into the ligue 1 team of the season shortlist off of half a season of play too.
We also have fewer games without Europe so fewer opportunities for any youngsters cooking through to net minutes.
It’s just a hole that keeps on getting deeper without any bravery from the management.
We should have signed an attacker weeks ago.
How fucking long does this take to do? WHo did Edu have in mind?
Euros are weeks over as is Copa.
Makes no fucking sense right now
I hate arteta fr, his mismanagement of our resources is on a high criminal offence level
The Arsenal PR machine –
“we tried”
” target did not want to move to us”
“team was asking too much”
“we have signed ESR- he is like a new signing”
other BS excuses
Is clear we are waiting go get Ode on the last day. Assuming that he is familiar with us already, does not seem to need a bleeding in time with new teammates.
Idiocy
Only arteta will experiment in the semi of a EL, and play it safe during the preseason, when the results don’t matter.
Auba left, laca up top, pepe right. Lmao
We know this isn’t working, why are we sticking to it during pre season? Try a 4-3-3, try auba and laca up top together. Find different formations that work. Try something new.
Arteta on thin ice, pedros credibility is already shattered.
I hope what we are seeing in preseason isn’t the plan. That painfully slow U can’t be what Arteta is actually going for, can it?
Guns
Its gonna get a lot worse before it gets better , hopefully we dont fuck up after we sack Arteta .
K’Phobe Absolute No from me. Almunia couple of crackers with the last 2 sketches. Game Same crap different day – nothing changed from last season. Pre season where White did ok but Saliba could have played well in that match, too. Not knocking White, but just saying from what I’ve seen and heard of Saliba he would have handled that game in his stride. Thought Lokonga and Travares also acquitted themselves well enough. Both should prove to be decent squad additions, but not top 4 quality this season. Tammy A No thanks for a striker who regressed from 15/35 PL… Read more »
Tbf as low as willocks offer at 20m is, that’s double what was offered for Granit in his prime coming off the back of his best arsenal campaign and some of his best ever international performances at the euros…
UTarse if he gets 6th or 5th I’m not sure any sewing will be necessary
Weagle saliba was too raw for Dundalk. Gotta respect them. They presumably won the Irish league! No mean feat
Leeds if we had won that 2-0 the opening sentence would’ve read
‘I know it’s just a preseason but it’s a north London derby and the last one before we kick off the season. If any preseason game counted it was this one. And we didn’t disappoint!!
stan gonna get fleeced by Madrid on last day of the window watch
Ode is like a new signing
Utarse
Good too see you and I’d recommend using organic stitches that disintegrate in 36 hours.
Why suffer when Arteta and Edu don’t?
Tony
Its a fact now , Arteta doesnt like Saliba and it has no relation to his playing abilities.
Mike and his U Shaped attack LOL
Fear the U!!!!!
Divina Shelock Agree but Arteta made his mind up last summer TW. He wanted White this window and knew Saliba would show enough to stop that deal. Playing skills I’d say Saliba has the higher ceiling but doesn’t have the OL experience. But the kid has resilience and reportedly better than Forfana. Unfortunately, Stan and Josh are intoxicated by Areta’s City connection and think he’ll become the next Pep G or even better than Pep G. Unfortunately both didn’t understand what a cheque book manager was and Arteta was king of the lip service merchants. Stan and Josh are inherently… Read more »
Morning China1, Evening Guns. Guns you worry me sometimes hope you have something to chill with in TW seasons. China1 Sorry to see Wilcox go just hope we have a buy back clause but not holding my breath as Graylick has already sold Willock cheaply, so expect the contract to be in Newcastle’s favour. I mean 8 PL goals in 14 games in midfield and he can’t get a kick in pre season. How many goals for Xhaka last season? I mean Xhaka wanted to leave and yet still first name on the sheet. Wilcox wants to stay at the… Read more »
Auba is off the pace and really struggling but the picture of him above shows a very negative pose with his arms folded.
I know that has been the standard pose from times gone by but not today.
Andy1886 and Bob be interested in what your wives think, but it screams defensive insecurity to me.
Tony
To be fair it was Wenger and his dithering in the TW.
Its like being a little kid waiting for Santa but he brings you the wrong toy or its broken
LOL
Edu and Co are just doing what Arsenal always do
Im not the only one having anxiety over this dithering.
We fans invest a lot of time, energy and money into this team
Its not cool what they do to us.
£25m for Willie is good bread…like straight swap for our boy at Lyon. Now you wouldn’t fault that would you.
Auba elitesm can’t just disappear like that…
Granted, his game is limited; has always been. But what got him £375,000 a week with us must still be in there somewhere. These are the reasons clubs hire top coaches, to work on things like this and bring guys back to their best.
“ Saliba needs to just bide his time, by the time he returns from his loan that imbecile Arteta will probably be out of work.”
😂😂😂😂😂
There’s a philosophical gap in arteta’s general handling of young players. The way he sees it they aren’t going to help him now in the present, so he’ll sacrifice them to help himself by selling willock and having saliba go on the loan merry go round. “One has to come to the full meaning of life when he is willing to plant shade trees under which he knows full well he will never sit.” If arteta actually cared about the club and not his own hide he would have been willing to play the likes of balogun, willock, saliba, amn… Read more »
Anonymous
Clearly there is a personal thing going on. Maybe Saliba said some stuff about him and its like that …. just does not like him not want him…
Saliba aint the most mature player… a kid yea… and might have said something to someone who told Mike? who knows
But it feels personal
From a May 21 Athletic article
“For sure,” Arteta said when asked if Willock is set to stay at Arsenal.
“He’s got a contract and that’s going to be here, that’s for sure.
“He has grabbed that opportunity (at Newcastle) in a really positive and remarkable way and he will come back to us.”
To say that and not even offer him an opportunity in preseason is again the worst kind of player management. So out of his depth
Its the double takes with Mike.
Says this, but means this.
Wants this, but really means he wants this….not what you think
He is a very confused person… and his confusion really makes him look bad.
And folks think Emery was a bad communicator. Id take him over this used car salesman anyday… at least he tried to be honest with everyone
And I wholeheartedly agree Anonymous Commentator that Arteta’s main objective is to save his skin rather than plant seeds for the future otherwise the talented young players coming out of our development program would be given more first team opportunities. Elneny before Willock and Azeez in preseason is laughable but it isn’t
Always said the same that after selling emissions he was in it for self preservation. Unfortunately, being Willian was his next poor decision and many have followed since. The more Arteta made error prone decisions the more tried to counter with face saving actions that led further to his and Arsenal’s downfall. Now he’s hung his hat on White for £50m ++ where if he’d relaxed on the youth played Saliba and bought a quality MF and CAM and did an about turn playing Balogun, Eddie and Martinelli to see if they could work as partnership. even if it all… Read more »
after selling Emi*
**Basically what Edu and Arteta does when window shopping in the TW is they wait for bargains or a late inclusion when a player wants out of a club**
Does anyone here think that Edu and Mike know what they are doing? Besides them?
LFC only sell when they want. They have a very wealthy owner and sound leadership at the club. That they are prepared to sell Madders would make me look more into the player. I don’t believe they’d sell a valuable play who could help them gain a CL spot next season. I’d go for Aouar and Bissouma before Spuds spend their Kane money. Guns I’m like you and was why I only posted answering posts for a while and let the TW pass me by. I always planned to be back for pre season. I was also going to give… Read more »
Marseilles is not a small club and Salibi will thrive under their coaching especially since they speak his native language. Now at the end of the loan ALL the negotiating power rests with him and his agent and depending on how pissed of he is with Arsenal or should Tets still be at AFC (shudder) will make him decide to resign with Arsenal or leave on a free to stick it to AFC. He is GONE and will not play a single minute in the PL for AFC £27mil wasted. There is only one small hope for change a revolt… Read more »
My God – some of you are talking as if we had actually played 10 Premier league games this season and lost all of them. Just calm down and watch the season unfold. AND stop going on about Saliba ffs.
Joe Willock after scoring more than our midfield did in 2 years is set to leave , is that what Utd did to Lingard ? But here we are still hoping Xhaka works out . Nicee
I hope this is indeed just preseason thing. Arteta will come under serious pressure this season unless he gets his team to play better and get some early positive results. Otherwise, I don’t personally see him surviving up to December.
Hopefully Willock isn’t too hasty in agreeing a move he obviously doesn’t want.. In 3 months time we may have a new manager, so my advice to him would be to sit tight and be patient… Plus there is nothing to say that he won’t get opportunities to stake a claim in the Arsenal starting line up. Willock should remind himself that Steve Bruce benched him after a couple of games and it was only the fact that he continued to score match winning goals almost every week that forced Bruce’s arm and made Willock undroppable. Bruce would have been… Read more »
Thats because Xhaka is nearer to being a starter than Willock is and Willock is fetching more value. When we used him for a whole game he was limited. It would have been great to use him as an impact sub, but we need the money. If it buys the next required player then it’s probably for the best.
Edu and Arteta clearly don’t know what they are doing in the market. Its grating that journalists in interviews ask silly questions and let Arteta get away with all of the bullish bullshit he says.
Arteta is not confused, he is just a two faces PR machine. Forget what Arteta says in public, watch what he does. After Willock exploits at Newcastle, he could not say I would rather keep Xhaka than give Willock a chance. So he paid lip services, said that he was going to be played when in reality he just wanted to sell him at the highest price so he can fund his purchase of Ødegaard. Ødegaard who if he joins will be discarded within 12 months for being unsuited to the EPL. Remember last summer the big lie he spew:… Read more »
I like how white kept going straight through the back of his man and coming out with the ball cleanly
Those are some of the most satisfying tackles you can make as it also gives the opposition doubts every time they receive the ball with their back to you that they think you might be about to do it again. Those doubts in their mind are a value tool
Gabriel is also excellent at going straight through his man from behind. We have to hope that Gabriel kicks on and white is really at that level for the long term
Pierre,
I think that Arteta will be sacked in December after the Everton game. However if we start badly and after a month a tough start we are hovering just above the relegation drop places, the atmosphere at the Emirates could turn toxic.
Arteta may not be able to handle the vitriol that will come his ways, but more importantly the Kroenkes may suddenly panic and sacks him immediately.
I’m not against us selling willock per say, I just don’t see it being part of some well thought out plan
New contracts for the dross and sell some of our genuinely quite promising kids
If it seemed like part of some clever master plan that would be one thing but it all feels about as thought out as the ‘just keep lobbing crosses in the box’ ‘tactics’ we’ve tried and failed with for the last 18 months
Like forget willock as a starter, he’s guaranteed goals as an impact sub in midfield. He might never be starting 11 quality but what he can do is rare and valuable and no one else in the whole squad can do it. I personally would’ve not rushed to sell him unless the offer was really high
Selling Willock and keeping Xhaka feels like an Emi Leno situation repeat
Look at val talking of dishonesty. Pot, kettle and all
“Carroll, Cabaye, Debuchy, Sissoko, Mitrovic, Wijnaldum, Perez , total Newcastle transfer outlay—$57million…………..sold on for—$220millionLol”
Lol for stating transfers of over half a decade (except ayoze Perez who I think has spent like two years with Leicester) to prove your point.
Cg’s post seemed as if Mike Ashley has been doing the Dortmund thing consistently.
“The farmer’s league is about to welcome Messi.”
Yes on insane contract. He is going there to earn crazy wage and other performance related bonuses. That equally gives PSG a straight run up to the title.
Overall, it still doesn’t equate the French league to
the EPL
I know it’s only preseason and games don’t start to matter until after Christmas, but it’s a bit disconcerting to see Nuno barely a month into his Tottenham job getting his Kane-less troops playing more free flowing, attacking football than our Arsenal under Arteta some 20 months into his Arsenal job.
NUFC is a model football club.
Arsenal should strive to meet those standards
gonna be insane watching psg choke in the CL this year!