Morning all.
Arsenal were beaten by Liverpool overnight in what was the last fixture in the USA. I’d imagine the players and staff are already on their flight home.
What does the result mean? Nothing, absolutely nothing.
Mikel Arteta on the current level of his team:
I think we are in good condition. I think we played some really competitive matches. Today was a really strong test. I think we started the game fantastically well. I think after six or seven minutes we should be 2-0 up. Then we lost control, especially with two things that we didn’t do well enough and we allowed them to run in transition, which is a really dangerous thing to do against them. And in the second half we improved a lot and we deserved more. But it was great, really difficult conditions to play. Great crowd and we’ve got a lot out of it so I’m really pleased.
On any concerns ahead of the season:
Obviously we can improve. The game would have been very different if the first chance that we had, we scored but that’s the goal. It makes the difference when you’re in those areas in those spaces in the box, putting the ball in the back of the net and we created a situation, we had another two or three big open situations to go better but we didn’t, so we have to improve.
The good old ‘had we taken our chances’ line, a line which we the fans have muttered for a few seasons now.
I didn’t watch the game so I’ve no idea how we actually played and in all honesty, I don’t really care. Pre-season is about regaining fitness and preparing for the opening fixture of the season and the ten months which follow.
This time last year, we lost a fixture against Man Utd whilst out in the States and ‘people’ started raving about ten Hag’s side but we all know what followed. Slot might turn out to be the perfect fit for Liverpool but there’s a chance he might not too. My point being, a pre season friendly in the USA is not the time to judge.
Did anyone care about the results against Bournemouth and Manchester Utd? I know I didn’t and I certainly don’t care about the result against Liverpool either.
It’s not the time to judge Arsenal either, especially as a number of players involved in our USA fixtures might not be at the club come the end of this month let alone in the team/squad. Plus, we still have Declan Rice, Bukayo Saka, Aaron Ramsdale and David Raya to return. New signing Riccardo Calafiori will be important to the team too as will any other new signings Arsenal make over the next four weeks.
It’s hard to believe though that the new season is just over two weeks away. Before we face Wolves on the opening day though, we play Bayern Leverkusen and Lyon. These fixtures are more relevant in my opinion as there’re played in England, on a much better surface and with Wolves just around the corner, players will want to be better prepared mentally.
Catch up in the comments.
Good morning Rico and everyone..
Only one thing to say from the clips I’ve seen, ZINCHENCO..
I really hope we get rid of him before the new season starts as he will always be a disaster defensive wise..
Left to me I will rather give Tierney a chance than keep him.
Also we still need a clinical striker, an actual one, cos the Gabriel Jesus I saw isn’t different from the one we had last season, too many unnecessary touches on the ball.
Morning Mexy, Gazza.
Why am I not surprised to read that about Zinchenko. He’s a liability at left back.
I’m a Nelson and/or Smith Rowe over Vieira too, every day of the week. I just don’t think he has the physique to play in English football. He might have talent but any half decent opponents will just brush him off the ball with ease.
Zinchenco at LB should never be seen again , keep him for back up midfield because the man cant defend or doesnt want to ,whichever. Viera should have been sold and ESR kept , this lad is shit a gust of wind would blow him over , he is a terrible back up for Saka . Kiwior should be sold on not up to PL standard . Nelson who we are selling is better then Viera as saka back up. Odegaard was a touch of class throughout the game , lewis skelly also looked decent when he came on.
Morning Rico and all.
I don’t care about the results of a practice matches as these are only used to try players in different positions.
Liverpool had more to play for than us, after all there players have to impress there new coach were our players and Arteta allready know each other.
Morning Geoff.
I don’t think players give 100% in pre season, fitness is more important imo.
I see Utd’s new defender has been ruled out for three months..
Morning Rico and all
I always ask myself why did Pep let Jesus and Zinchenco,because neither is good enough for an elite team looking to win a Title but I doubt they will be sold.
We can’t rely on Tierney at all so maybe Timber will play LB as the Japanese player is injured and imo he plays better on the right.
We still need a natural goal scoring Forward .
Morning Kelsey. I think both made a big difference to our game when they arrived and I totally understand why Arteta signed them. Jesus isn’t a bad player but he’s just not clinical enough in front of goal. Zinchenko just isn’t cut out to be a defender.
Atletico Madrid have agreed a fee of just under £34m (€40m) with Chelsea for Conor Gallagher.
Similar fee to what Fulham are paying for ESR isn’t it…
Fabrizio Romano
@FabrizioRomano
·
14h
🚨🔴⚪️ Arsenal are closing in on Mikel Merino deal as verbal agreement is now getting closer!
Agreement in place on personal terms as Merino wants the move.
Verbal discussions with Real Sociedad for package in excess of €30m, talks on to get the deal done.
Morning Rico and all, yeah the results aren’t the be all and end all but we don’t want to get smashed and there was a period in that 1st half when we could have been 4-0 behind, Jota hit a post and they missed a couple of clear opportunities, we seemed vulnerable to a long ball over the top and that was a worry.
Arsenal agree terms with Mikel Merino
Per both Romano and reports in Spain, Arsenal have agreed personal terms with Real Sociedad’s Mikel Merino.
Reports state a four-year deal running until 2028 has been agreed with the 28-year-old.
The positive developments don’t stop there, however, with news of Arsenal thundering in with a verbal offer worth €30m/£25.3m plus add-ons also emerging.
Real Sociedad had originally valued Merino at €50m/£42.1m, though were forced to lower their asking price given Merino has less than one year remaining on his contract.
Romano and the same sources in Spain all strongly suggest Arsenal’s discounted bid WILL be accepted by Real Sociedad.
Consider where Zinchenko was when he first got taken to the cleaners as an Arsenal player. Up to that point he’d been a revelation midway through the season before last, Arsenal had dominated most games he’d been involved in and then we went to Anfield where Salah exposed him and from then on he was targeted. So Arteta needs to pick and choose his games because against certain opposition he can still do a good job, bug dong pick him against Liverpool again because that’s just dumb.
Marseille have submitted an improved offer nearing €20 million for Arsenal striker Eddie Nketiah, which is expected to be rejected but is closer to what the Gunners want for the player, according to David Ornstein.
I have no idea what a bug dong is but it sounds fascinating.
but don’t
Morning Kev, but likewise, didn’t we have a number of chances missed?
The only result which matters to me is the Wolves one in two weeks time and those which follow. Lol
Smith Rowe Fulham-bound after passing medical
The homegrown attacker is the subject of an agreed deal with Fulham worth £27m plus £7m in add-ons.
Smith Rowe has agreed personal terms with the Cottagers and per Fabrizio Romano, the 24-year-old passed a medical on Tuesday.
With Smith Rowe’s sale on the cusp of completion, Arsenal have ramped up their hunt for a new midfielder.
Re Zinchenko, isn’t that exactly the reason we’ve signed Calafiori?
The key is rotating depending on the opposition but without weakening the team. Over to you Mikel. Lol
Havertz in midfield is a waste, he’s far more effective at centre forward whereas Jesus should be used on the flanks, Jesus has a great touch but over does it instead of getting a shot off, Jesus also, even after all this time, doesn’t seem for a supposed striker, to have the eye for running into the optimum spaces to receive passes and crosses into the box.
Playing Partey as the lone D/M vs a team like Liverpool is asking for trouble, hopefully it was just a ploy to make Slot think he’s got Arteta’s number.
Exactly Rico, if Timber and/or Tomiyasu.had been available then Zinchenko probably doesn’t start although Lewis Skelly looked good when he came on.
Agree re both. Havertz is better further up the pitch but neither he nor Jesus are clinical in front of goal. Second season for the German so hopefully a lot more goals if he’s to be our front man.
Links to Viktor Gyokeres are interesting though…
I think Partey will be gone by the end of the transfer window. At the end of last season it was painful to watch him struggle.
We did make some good chances Rico but Liverpool opened us up like I haven’t seen since Rob Holding last played. I was a bit worried for a spell in the 1st half as we looked as if we were going to collapse as we often do at Anfield when Liverpool have their tails up.
Same with Kiwior Kev, both were used at left back because of injuries.
The fact that once Tomi and then Timber were fit, Zinchenko dropped to the bench suggests that Arteta doesn’t trust him at left back either. Certainly not against the sides with speed and width up front.
Not good then Kev. I’ve not seen much of the game. Was Kiwior in defence? Looked like he was dawdling for their first goal and prevented Salah from being offside.
Partey can still do a job for us in certain games but he needs a partner in others, it was preseason and I guess it was as well to see the limitations of certain players now and to be prepared when the season starts. Surely Arteta would have noticed how sluggish Partey was in some games towards to end of last season?
Kiwior played the right centre back Rico and did ok but any team will miss Saliba and we did.
White and Gabriel had some nervous moments as well.
Once the first choice back four is in situ and Raya is in goal we’ll be fine.
Hein did ok but he’s not at our level yet.
One would like to think so re Partey. Either his mind is elsewhere or his body is worn out. Injuries certainly seem to have had a negative impact on his game.
A left footer on the right is hardly ideal Kev. 😂
Seriously though, these guys have seldom played in front of Hein, certainly not Gabriel and Kiwior. It was always going to be a nervy affair imo.
As we saw last season, a regular and settled back five makes a huge difference. Just why I’m not fussed about these friendly fixtures.
While I think Saliba and Gabriel are arguably the best centre back pairing in The Premiership, if not in Europe, someone (Calafiori perhaps) with a bit more pace could eventually be replace Gabriel.
I didn’t see the match, but wonder how much difference the score line would have been if we had Ray in goal,
I think similar could be said throughout the team as we improve. Standing still can do more harm than good sometimes.
A lot of good comments and it was a marketing exercise by Kroenke this trip but too much rotation isn’t healthy either .Hein is going out on loan isn’t he ? So what about Ramsdale as it’s all gone quiet.
ESR,Nelson and Eddie will all go but I agree with Rico we need an out and out striker but maybe Arteta isn’t bothered as we score plenty of goals .
We need cover for Saka who is a goal threat but got overplayed,,and I feel Trossard can be just as lethal but he’s not cover for Saka..
A fit Martinelli would make my day .
Partey is getting old,pretty slow so probably best if he goes to Saudi . retaining him is also likely and play him in certain games.
I feel a lot will still happen in the next 2 weeks.
I think a lot could happen between now and the end of August. Ideally, transfers would be in by now but football doesn’t work that way, especially with PSR in play.
In my opinion Thomas Partey has not been the same since the Qatar world cup,clearly he has still had some good games – outstanding when everything is just right,but too many where the game passes him by.
Arteta must still rate him,he played those last 5/6 games last season when Jorginho was on the bench.
If we get an offer I’m sure he’ll go.
Thinking about it the only money raised so far is for Mika Biereth and the sell on percentage for Hutchinson (probably wrong about that but can’t think of any others) I heard on a podcast that Arsenal are cash rich but might need sales for PSR.
If teams want to test our resolve on Ramsdale price, we’ll just keep him as the best backup keeper in the league, and we’ll use him to push for FA and carabao cups. You can’t complain about us selling poorly, and then say we should panic and jump at insulting offers., or feel sorry for the player not getting his wish.. if we receive any offers, that is. We have to be firm.
I remember the scene in the spurs documentary with Mourinho.. when Levy sat down Erikson and told him sorry, but if we don’t get our valuation, you can’t leave. It’s part of the process of changing our selling reputation.
Eddie, if it has to be € 25 m then it’s fine. We picked him up for free, and he is not helping our club at all now. I’d much rather keep Reiss Nelson on talent and ability.
Can’t say I disagree with any of that Nigel, we have room to upgrade our 25 man squad regardless of departures. We might have to wait until January to sell Ramsdale but injuries and relegation will ensure we get a fair price for Aaron.
Yeah, €25m might just do do it, maybe instead of a sell on clause we should insert some goalscoring or appearances clauses just to squeeze a bit more out of the Frenchies.
Leicester and West Ham are both wealthy enough to pay a decent fee for Reiss, we should just tell them to pay or he stays, unlike Nketiah I haven’t seen Nelson wanting to move.
Not sure what we’re going to do with Tierney, I really don’t want to see him end up back at Celtic on a free.
They screwed us for the entire £25m in one go so we don’t owe them any favours.
Kev,
We and Tierney have just been so unlucky. I can’t blame anybody… though he was injured even when we bought him, wasn’t he. Our fault mostly?
Some more bad news, Lokonga hamstring .. will be out for a month, then will probably have to be introduced into the season slowly.
So if there was a clause for appearances triggering an obligation to buy, we’re already in trouble even before the season starts.
Could our selling luck get any worse?
New post up.