A timely reminder of what Arsenal can be

I’ve been off the blog for a week, as the Management and I went to an Italian wedding and then toured Umbria, but back this weekend – and what a lovely thing to come back to yesterday, eh?

Before I left for Italy, I was starting to feel like my daily musings were getting a bit repetitive. We had the Vini Junior to keep us sated for a week or so, then the announcement of Bruno G, which was edging closer until it happened, but that was about it. I never really felt like the game against Dortmund and Como could be seen as anything else other than fitness exercises; there were still so many players to come back, the team looked inevitably rusty, and there was a lot of chopping and changing in the line-ups. But yesterday was very different. Yesterday was an Arsenal side who had the stars returning, up against a City side who – Rodri aside – was also at full strength. This may be a showpiece friendly to kick off the domestic season for the big clubs, but both managers took it seriously, and so yesterday was the game to get a handle on how ready we are for the big kick-off next Friday.

We got a resounding answer on that front.

I thought Arsenal were superb yesterday. There were just so many positives to pick out and, in a summer in which a lot of Arsenal fans are a little nervous going into the season given the areas we haven’t fully addressed yet, an ACTUAL game of football quelled a lot of the nervousness – for me it did, anyway.

It also helps when you get a goal inside the first minute. I thought that Madueke looked offside when the excellent Christos Tzolis crossed the ball in, but the goal as allowed to stand, and Calafiori and Myles Lewis-Skelly will take all the plaudits for that one, as they should. Myles’ ball was sensational, and the run by Calafiori was perfectly timed. This was the sign of things to come, because by the time the first third of the match had been completed, we’re two-nil up and looking every bit the value for it. I think we’re going to hear his name a lot this season, but Christos Tzolis getting on the assist sheet for Havertz’s goal needs to be mentioned. I do wonder if Donnarumma fumbled it a little, but let’s focus on the build-up play and the man who got the assist. Havertz gets the goal with a good header, but Tzolis was superb all afternoon and must be a shoo-in to start against Coventry now. He looks like a very efficient player; it’s not about flicks, tricks, beating three men and then an action (which is a little more like Doku), but instead he is about being direct, looking for the pass/shot/header that gets you closer to goal as quickly as possible. In an Arsenal team that perhaps last season was accused of a little bit of profligacy, slowing down the play a little, having somebody like that to complement how Saka is also as efficient on the other side is really positive.

So much of our play yesterday was positive too. We know how good we are out of possession; this Arsenal team is well-drilled and gets into its shape when it doesn’t have the ball, making it hard to break down. But in possession, there was a fluidity of movement that wasn’t as evident at the back end of last season. We got over the line to win the league, but we found it tough going in those last few months; what I saw yesterday was slick interchanging of passes in build-up and spaces found by players regularly. Central to that was the skipper, who bagged the third goal early in the second half by sitting down the City goalie, but his all-round game was like peak Odegaard. If we get that version this season for most of the season, then we’re going to be a lot more silky in build-up and attack, methinks.

Three goals. Three well-worked goals. Good shape out of possession, good in possession, first official debuts for the new guys Bruno G and Tzolis, captain pulling the strings, plus we had Raya making several very smart saves to just let everyone know that we have the best goalkeeper in the league. It was the perfect way to get us ready for the new season.

Of course, we probably should add in a small caveat, which is that City looked a little undercooked in my eyes. They’ve played a couple of games less, I believe, plus they’ve been travelling to far-off lands, whereas we have deliberately kept ourselves closer to UK shores – so we looked more prepped. But whilst that might explain their performance a little, ultimately the Premier League kicks off next week, and so all teams need to see signs that they are good to go. If you’re a City fan waking up this morning reminding yourself of that performance, you’re hardly going to be jumping for joy.

I’d also say that given the strength of the squad we had, it was a little sad to see that some players didn’t even make the matchday squad. Gabriel Martinelli and Ethan Nwaneri were not in it, which will only add further fuel to the potential of them not being at the club come September. I can understand Martinelli moving on, but we can’t be having that happen for a low-balled price. At a time when clubs are paying £30million for players who have never played in the Premier League before, the idea that we’d sell a Brazilian international who has just played and scored at the World Cup for £38.5million is surely laughable. We might as well just keep Martinelli. I know his contract is due to expire next summer, but there’s a one-year extension that could be added on, and if we can’t find somebody better than him, then I’d be fine keeping him. For Ethan, I’m just hoping the club finds a good loan in England. Arteta has already said he needs to play, and I suspect that means he’ll not be at the club come September, but if it is because he has gone on loan for a year, then I’d be ok with that. Let’s have him develop in the Premier League, and then if we really are going to persist with giving Noni another crack, then by next summer we’ll know if he’s actually able to shed the ‘headless chicken’ part of his game, and hopefully Ethan will have stepped up and we can know if he can fulfill the understudy role to Saka. Cards on the table from my side – I think I’d rather that than persist with Madueke, personally.

But let’s not end on a sour note, because yesterday was pretty much all positive, and those Arsenal players got to celebrate another trophy – which for that winning mentality, really helps. Now, bring on Friday night, under the lights, to Frank Lampard’s Coventry.