Preseason kicks off with a Win in Sing
Hello everybody and welcome to the first official blog post on the Talking Out Of My Arsenal blog. It is coming to you a little bit earlier than was originally planned, as I was aiming to publish the maiden post on August 1st. However, I’m currently sick with COVID and not working to my full capacity in my regular 9-5 Monday to Friday job so it gave me a little bit of extra time on my hands and I was able to spend that yesterday watching Arsenal’s first preseason game ahead of the 25/26 season.
Yesterday’s game was played away in Singapore against AC Milan and I figured well, just like the players need a preseason to get up to speed, I surely need a preseason of my own if I’m going to kick on with these blog posts.
Over the course of this post I’m going to do a quick review of the game, my thoughts on the player performances, and some opinions on how we look as we finally got to see our beloved Arsenal back in action.
We saw 22 players used by the Arsenal yesterday over the course of the 90minutes which resulted in a 1-0 victory over AC Milan, courtesy of a goal from the Starboy early in the second 45. Unsurprising, given the fact that it’s the first preseason game and fitness levels are a work-in-progress, but also when you consider the heat and humidity in Singapore, along with the aching muscles from the rigors of preseason, I’m sure the players won’t have too many complaints when they were hooked. It should be mentioned that there didn’t seem to be too many more than that in the stands watching the game either, but that’s another topic…
All in all, it was a pretty comfortable performance. AC Milan offered very little in the way of an attacking threat. Truth be told, I don’t recall them having more than a handful of half-chances over the course of the match. A couple of breakaways, a shot over the bar from the edge of the box, but overall, Arsenal were easily and clearly the better team.
With that said it is evident that it was early doors in the season, with the fluidity and fitness not up to the standard that you would expect come August 17th. We improved as the game went on, but there were also periods of a lull. To be expected. For sure, the volume of changes made by both teams in the second half impacted the progression of the game, but, we start with a win. One nil to the Arsenal.
Player Assessments
David Raya started in goal and frankly, there was very little for him to do. One moment stood out for me from David and it’s just about all that I can comment on but I did find it quite exciting. He played a lovely, low, volleyed kick to set off a potential counterattack; played down the left wing ahead of Gabriel Martinelli who ultimately did not actually win the race to receive the ball. What I liked about that moment was more the opportunity that it presents us for next season. For me and I think probably for many fans and people who watch Arsenal on a regular basis is the feeling that Arsenal struggle to mix up their attack. Over the course of last season they proved to be underwhelming and ineffective in transition. They’re not direct enough or lethal enough, relying more on a safe, methodical, possession-based build-up in attack. This allows the opposition to get back into position and organize themselves, and Arsenal then find it difficult to find an avenue to goal. Ponderous is probably the wrong word to use, but this self-inflicted approach play can make us look slow and inefficient at times. I think that Martin Zubimendi’s arrival is going to massively help our abilities in transition. We’ve seen, notably in the second-half of last season, Declan Rice powering forward with the ball and really putting opposition defenses under a level of stress and concern as they look to deal with that whilst getting back into position, but we also have to be able to move the ball faster away from feet. Zubimendi will bring that in buckets and, as everybody knows, our incoming new striker Viktor Gyokeres is one of the best in world football (in his position) at playing in a transition style. I also think this will bring the best out of Gabriel Martinelli, who comes in for a lot of criticism and although I can see why, I remain a very staunch fan of his. I don’t think that the structure of the team and the attacking tactics that we use play to Martinelli’s strengths. However, that raw pace, his ability to run direct and get past a defender in a straight sprint when matched with somebody with the passing levels of Martin Zubimendi or David Raya, as well as having a striker who lives and breaths to score goals will bring the best out of Gabi. Yes, this is all a side note but I wanted to mention it as it is something that very much excites me. Back to the topic at hand – a player rating for David Raya – not much to do, but what he had to do, he did perfectly efficiently. Very little more to comment on there.
At right back, Benjamin White started the game and for me was our man of the match. I was delighted to see him back and in good form. Ben offers something so very different to Jurrian Timber when in the team. I’m not saying that I prefer one over the other, I think it’s very much dependent on the opposition and how we want to play that should dictate if we play Timber or White. Timber might be the slightly better defender, but I do believe that Ben White is more effective in attack. I love how well he works in tandem with Bukayo Saka, and so I was really happy to see him starting and delighted to see how he performed. He played one beautiful through ball to Bukayo Saka in the 1st half, a brilliant pass that Saka should have done better with, but he also made a number of overlapping runs in the type of performance that we grew accustomed to seeing on that right flank in the 23/24 season. Great to have him back and fit. He’s obviously very eager and working hard to get back into the team. He may have an opportunity afforded to him by Timbers lack of fitness currently. He also did have one shot which he should have done a bit better with, but it seemed as though he just slashed his leg at it and pulled it wide. I think really at the ball and and really pulled it wide. A poor strike but hardly can detract from a very good overall performance. Well done Ben.
William Saliba started at right center back and it was a very typical William Saliba display. He does the simple things well, and he does the difficult things extremely well. A solid performance, not much to highlight for praise or criticism. One moment of note occurred when it seemed he got a little bit caught out on the halfway line and AC Milan began a rapid attack. Raphael Leao was released through but what we saw then was a prime example of the Rolls Royce of physical attributes that William Saliba has in his locker. He chased down one of Europe’s fastest and more most skillful wingers, put him under pressure and resulted in Raphael Leao running the ball out of play and ultimately, out of danger. Many of my friends know I am not a big fan of Rafael Leao and was not too enthusiastic with the links that emerged over the course of June and into July linking him with a transfer to Arsenal. Thankfully those links have somewhat quietened, and I have to hope that they do not resurface – he’s not a player that I particularly fancy for our team.
At left center back was Riccardo Calafiori. This man for me is somewhat of an enigma, I find it hard to figure out my thoughts on him. It was nice to see him start at left center back – he hasn’t played much there, if at all really, during his Arsenal tenure. Lovely to see him fit again as he struggled last year with injuries. He looks strong and fit and he adds an element of chaos at times to the Arsenal game which can be badly needed. I just don’t know how highly I rate him yet, and I’m hoping this season is the one where he proves he’s Arsenal standard. He seems to have a wild aggression in how he does things; running forward, pressing up to meet the ball, taking players on, applying pressure. He seems to operate with a wildness. I’ll get criticism for this but for some reason at times he also reminds me of David Luiz. There’s an unpredictability to him that’s not always on the positive side. Nonetheless, he played well yesterday did Calafiori, and was replaced by Jacob Kiwior at the half.
At left back uh maybe a surprise starter for the first preseason game in Oleksandr Zinchenko. He had a solid game, comfortable mostly and nothing much of note, right or wrong. One of the players strongly linked with a move away from Arsenal over the course of the summer and we’ll see how that develops but looking at the depth of the squad and the options that we have, he does seem somewhat surplus to requirements. I say that even with the departure of Takahiro Tomiyasu and Kieran Tierney.
At the base of midfield, we had a mini-Arsenal debut for Christian Norgaard, starting to the right in what initially looked like a double pivot alongside Declan Rice. As the game progressed, Rice evolved slightly more into the orthodox left 8, but continued to lend much support over the course of the game to the defensive structure. It was probably for the best, as Norgaard did strike me as being a little excited / nervous / emotional at the prospect of pulling on the Arsenal jersey for the first time, misplacing a couple of passes, and not quite getting his foot to some interceptions that I think a calmer demeanor would have achieved. I don’t mind that though, he did well overall, pushing forwards and settling more as the game went on. We should also remind ourselves that this was a it was a big occasion for him, friendly game or not; anybody who watched his “welcome” video posted by Arsenal could see what it to him. I am one of those who believes that Norgaard is going to be an excellent addition to the Arsenal squad, lending talent, discipline, maturity and physicality in depth, in a position that definitely needs it. I’m really happy to have him within the team. Once the transfer window closes, I’ll give a more dedicated post to my thoughts on our new signings, so I won’t drag on the point here, but I was happy to see our new man starting in the number 16 shirt.
Back to Declan Rice, and I’m maybe a little bit more inclined to say that it was a slightly sluggish performance from Dec. Yes, I accept that this might be a little bit harsh, but to my credit, we’ve been so spoilt in seeing what he does on a consistent basis that I imagine he runs 15km in his sleep. What I’m most grateful for, though, is that this summer Dec will have actually had a rest and then a full preseason. I am convinced that the Euros last summer killed the poor guy. Against AC Milan, he didn’t do too much wrong, got back well, defended well, supported well. Nothing negative to say here on his performance on the day. However, what I will say is that I just don’t like seeing Declan Rice play that more defensive role. I don’t want him play as a number six or as part of that double pivot we saw yesterday. Declan Rice for me, always needs to be that rangy box-to-box left 8 and I do that that’s what we will see this season going forwards. He causes such panic in the opposition when he moves through the gears with the power he has. um I think and I think that’s what we will see this season going forwards um so yeah work to do for deck to get up to speed but looking forward to seeing him over the rest of the preseason and see how he levels up in that time
Ethan Nwaneri started as our #10 yesterday, and I think we all enjoyed that. What was noticeable was that Ethan played quite centrally in that role, moving to the right at times. When we typically see Martin Odegaard in that role, he leans very much to the right side of the pitch where he forms those triangles with Jurrian Timber or Ben White, and of course Bukayo Saka. Ethan seemed to play more centrally and perhaps that was afforded to him because of the double pivot behind him. He looked very bright and showed us some lovely bits of skill; one particularly nice turn on the byline to beat his marker, and another moment where a lovely first touch teed him up to unleash a cracking volley at goal that the keeper did very well to save. He looks to be another player who has put in some hard yards in the gym over the course of the last months too, adding some noticeable bulk to his frame. Ultimately, it was a performance that allows us to be excited about what this next season will hold for him. I will admit, I don’t fully subscribe to the level of hype that everybody seems to have about Ethan, and how high his ceiling is. Let me be clear, I do think that he will end up being an excellent player, I have no doubt about that, but I also do think we need to measure our expectations somewhat. I am on record with my friends last Christmas as having said that I believed Miles Lewis-Skelly had the higher ceiling of those two. I still stand by that. My justification is that I believe when it comes to young players operating in an attacking role, you see them play with the youthful, unbridled fearlessness which everyone loves. On top of that, they have some glory moments in scoring goals and providing assists and it can be so easy with the media and the socials to overhype them vs where they really are in reality. I repeat, I do think he’s going to be a very, very good player, and fingers crossed he has another season like the last ahead of him this year. Consistent development for him will be crucial. Today though, next in line to Ben White as my Man-of-the-Match.
Bukayo Saka was our goal scorer on the day, playing in his usual position out on the right. I thought Saka looked good overall, albeit a little bit rusty in some moments. Perhaps a slightly fortuitous finish to score the only goal of the game, but that aside, he remained our best attacking threat, constantly demanding the ball and looking to take on his man. He made a number of those weaving forays across the box in search of a gap to shoot through. It was everything that you would expect from Saka really, and I believe the summer break has done him well. I didn’t think he was really at his best when he came back from injury last season, over the last handful of games, but I thought he looked good today. Over the next 2-3 weeks of preseason, we will definitely see the guy go up through the levels and it’s guaranteed he will be raring to go for that first game against Manchester United. A player in line for a strong season, particularly with the competition and support from Madueke.
Gabriel Martinelli started on the left wing and unfortunately, it was not as strong as performance as I would have liked to see. Gabi didn’t really do anything of note from an attacking perspective. Defensively, he always offers a lot to the team but not a lot to comment on for him today. I won’t talk too much about my opinions on Martinelli from a broader sense because I plan to do a separate blog post specific to him in the coming weeks, but one of the quieter performers on the field from the starting 11.
Kai Havertz is another man who has spent significant time in the gym over the last six months. Kai started as our striker but put in a quiet performance, not dissimilar to Martinelli. I’m a big fan of Kai – love his attitude, I love his work rate, and I love his intelligence. Some people love his flexibility and his ability to play in multiple positions. Personally, I’m not a fan and would prefer that that narrative quieten down somewhat, but with the imminent arrival of a certain Swede, I can’t see that happening too soon. Regardless, I would be slow to drop him, so I guess I’ll have to get over my desire for him to just be an out-and-out no. 9. Not much joy for him today, and hopefully the intense scrutiny on his position doesn’t tear down his confidence in the weeks and months to come.
Multiple changes at the half; Kepa for Raya (mini debut), Lewis-Skelly for Zinchenko, Kiwior for Calafiori, Martin Zubimendi for Norgaard (mini debut), Odegaard for Nwaneri, and Trossard for Martinelli.
Kepa, fair play to him, saved 3 penalties in the mandatory shootout post-game but not much else to do. Miles was solid if unremarkable, but my god do I love that kid. Trossard looked bright and threatening and stung the hands of the goalie with a rasper from outside the box off his right boot. And lastly, Kiwior continues to change my mind on him. Forgive me for skimming over these players so brutally, with pointed apologies to Kiwior in particular as he sent in a wonderful cross for the goal from a nice piece of open play almost certainly drawn up on the training ground, but I want to spend a little bit of this section speaking more in-depth on some points of note starting first with our captain, Martin Odegaard.
I am a little bit worried, I can’t lie, and I am trying to remain calm and not overhype a non-entity performance in the middle of July, but I was disappointed with what I saw from Martin. Everybody will accept and will agree that Martin had a poor season last season, and never got near the heights that he has set before. I think all Arsenal fans, myself included, were really hoping that that drop in performance level could be attributed to the injury that he had early on in the season, and the subsequent struggles in getting back up to speed in a team that had multiple other injuries coming at them. Again, I think every Arsenal fan hoped that this offseason would provide a reset button for Odegaard, and he would come back and be the player he was in 2023 when in my modest opinion, he was the best player in the Premier League. I didn’t see that today, and it’s hard not to worry about it when you see more of the same. I don’t want to draw too many conclusions or create hypotheticals from 45 minutes of a low-level preseason game, but the undeniable fact is that he just doesn’t look to have that decisive attacking threat he once had as second nature. He seems risk averse, second guessing himself at the crucial moment. He’s trying too hard, or at least that is how it looks. Don’t get me wrong, he’s a player who always plays for the team, running hard and organizing. He’s very good from a defensive perspective, but, to the same point as Martinelli, he’s playing as a 10 (or close to it). We want to see the output in attack to balance out all the rest that he’s doing. I miss that player who would thread through ball without thinking, in a split second and have the defense arse-over-tit. I miss the player who would pick up the ball at the edge of the box and flash a shot at goal from instinct. On one occasion, the ball fell to Odegaard in the second-half in a situation where even an amateur can see you just pull the trigger immediately. He didn’t, and as a result didn’t score. I couldn’t help but think that this is still that same hangover. I fear with all these incomings, Martin may find his position under threat at some stage this season. Oh, and he missed his penalty too, which can’t help.
On a brighter note, Martin Zubimendi came on for Christian Norgaard and looked every inch the player we hoped we were getting. I have said for the last number of months that I think more than any striker we sign, any winger, or any other player, I think Martin Zubimendi will be the player that brings us to a trophy. Drawing conclusions as every fan does from 45 mins of the first preseason game has as only made me double down on that opinion. Jokes aside, this guy moves the ball with such pace. Arsenal players are going to have their have to make sure their first touch is on point because Zubi does look to whack that ball at them at a greater rate of knots certainly than Thomas Partey or or Jorginho did. He fizzes those passes with the zip you want to see from your maestro in midfield. Another point I love is how often he passes the ball forward and in a penetrating style. As he enters that last third of the pitch as the deepest of the midfield unit, he really looks to play that decisive killer pass and I love that. Christ, it’s what I’m screaming out for Martin Odegaard to do. To draw a more like-for-like contrast, Thomas Partey was a real component of this sideways passing, keeping possession but not giving much threat. Zubi looks to go more direct and it will be crucial to our success. Brilliantly enjoyable first cameo from the lad.
A mention of some players who came on a little bit later in the game; three very young players I should say in Marli Salmon, Josh Nichols and the highly touted Arsenal wunderkind Max Dowman. Big props to firstly to all three of them for getting to this point, making the preseason tour, and for their accomplished performances. I thought Salmon and Nichols did quite well. Josh Nichols had one piece of play where he showed very good composure and skill to hold on to the ball on the on the byline whilst being put under pressure by the AC Milan players. Marli Salmon came in at center back replacing Saliba and similarly did well, providing one lovely cross-field pass. I can’t see us seeing too much of either Nichols or Salmon in the season to come, as I think it’s a little early in their development (Salmon is 15 years of age FFS), but congratulations to both of them and it’s always encouraging to see Hale End continue to churn out such exciting talent.
I have to be completely honest now, the player that I was most excited to see was Max Dowman, and my lord he didn’t disappoint. Wow! What a talent that kid is and at 15 years of age. Confidence, skill, agility, and I should mention he almost grabbed a goal for himself in the process. He really reminds me of a young Jack Grealish at Aston Villa. Seeing his running style with the ball, it was the first comparison that came to mind, and I can’t shake it. He’s going to get kicked, not least because defenders don’t like getting beaten time and again by a kid, but if he can remain robust and continue on this trajectory, we’ve got ourselves a gem. (Yes, the hypocrisy is not lost on me that I made a point counter to this when speaking about Ethan, but let me say, I don’t expect us to see much if any of Max post preseason this year, so chill).
Mikel Merino and Reese Nelson also came on uh to the pitch. Nelson looked bright, I have to say, but is another player linked with the exit door. We will all be sad if and when that day comes, and no one will ever forget Bournemouth, but I do think it’s a matter of time unfortunately. Merino, truthfully, I didn’t notice much from him if I’m being completely honest. Not his fault; I had eyes only for Dowman at this point, so apologies Mikel but I don’t have much to to comment on your performance.
One final comment. For those of you didn’t see the game, remember the name Lorenzo Torriani. The young 20-year-old goalkeeper came on for Milan in the second half and I was very, very impressed with his performance. Three penalties saved was the icing for him, but his in-play saves were as good if not better.
With that I leave you. Yes, a long post for the first post but I just had that feel-good buzz after watching the boys back on the pitch.
Thanks for your time, and if you think I’m talking out of my arse, let me know!
Cheers
TL;DR – a win for the Arsenal in our preseason opener in Singapore. Saka with the goal and a strong performance to boot. Work still to be done, particularly with some of our expected starting 11 in 3 weeks, but the depth of talent is building and competition will bring the best out of them. Zubimendi – a steal.
Still TL;DR – we back, baby!