Pre-season concluded yesterday with a 2-0 win over Lyon in the Emirates Cup, both goals coming from set-pieces in the first half. Declan Rice delivered both corners, first for William Saliba to head home, then Gabriel to double the lead. Nicolas Jover got his wallet back as a reward for his continued sterling work.
I thought we looked sharp and bright for the most part, but not quite decisive enough in certain moments in open play which would have made the scoreline more emphatic. Gabriel Martinelli did well enough on the left, just that final action was missing to make his performance a really encouraging one. I suppose you could worry that it’s just a continuation of what we got from him last season, but for me he looked a bit more like the exciting, impactful Martinelli, and hopefully as he builds proper match fitness that end product will return too.
On the other side, Bukayo Saka looked a touch rusty, but you can see immediately what a difference he makes to the team, and these minutes will be useful for him going into the opening game against Wolves. There was also a first look at new signing Riccardo Calafiori, who played a bit at left-back and then at centre-half when Mikel Arteta made a host of changes late on. These are the very early days of what we hope will be a long Arsenal career, and I think he’s a player who we’ll see eased into action over the course of the new campaign.
There was supposed to be a penalty shoot-out at the end but then there wasn’t, suggestions Lyon decided against it make sense. Arteta wanted this for every pre-season game, some teams were happy to oblige, others not so much. Liverpool, for example, didn’t want any part of it for the game in Philadelphia.
Afterwards, Mikel Arteta reflected on the pre-season as a whole, saying:
I think overall it’s been a really positive pre-season with the tour and the club and a lot of people put a lot of effort into making it work. I think it was a success again and then the two games that we have played here as well, really competitive and really good. I think the team was exceptional, especially in the first half. There were moments where we played at the highest level and then we sort of maintained it. We dropped a little bit in the second half. The conditions were tough, but it was a good match for us as well. So overall, very pleased.
He also updated on the fitness of Jurrien Timber and Takehiro Tomiyasu. It’s short-term for the former, and a bit longer for the latter:
[Timber] – “We expect him to be ready to train with the group in the next week, because he has no reaction. So quite positive.”
[Tomiyasu] – “I think it will take weeks on that one unfortunately. He’s going to have to be patient and work through it because I think it’s going to take a few weeks.”
Generally though, the squad looks in good shape, and we’ll see what might happen this week in the transfer market. As positive as pre-season has been, it still feels like this is a squad that would benefit from an injection of something new and fresh, particularly in the forward line, and I feel like Arteta must know that himself. A manager as analytical and in-depth as he understands that there is room for improvement when it comes to a couple of the incumbents, but it feels is the outgoings will have to happen for any potential arrival.
Despite what he said afterwards about Eddie Nketiah, I suppose it was interesting that the striker didn’t get off the bench at all yesterday amid rumours of a move to Marseille. The fact he was with the squad tells you it’s some way from being completed, but his lack of playing time yesterday might well be a hint that something is in the works. Eddie played a part in every other pre-season game, captaining the side on occasion too, so it is a bit of a change. Maybe he just has a little knock, maybe they don’t want to scupper a potential transfers, let’s wait and see.
I think this is a transfer window that will really heat up as we get towards the close (August 30th), and I expect us to be in the mix for a couple of new players. With the boost they might give us, and the potential bubbling under at youth level after the impressive summer performances from Ethan Nwaneri and Myles Lewis-Skelly, Arteta will have a big, deep squad at his disposal and it will be fascinating to see to what extent he uses that depth.
Anyway, there will be a lot going on this week as get ready for the new season. For this morning though, let’s leave it there. We will have an Arsecast Extra for you a bit later on. Keep an eye out for the call for questions on Threads @gunnerblog and @arseblog with the hashtag #arsecastextra – or if you’re an Arseblog Member on Patreon, leave your question in the #arsecast-extra-questions channel on our Discord server.
Pod should be out by midday or thereabouts. For now, have a good one.
