First Half
After a nice jaunt round the Far East, Arsenal returned to N5 to play another in a difficult set of pre-season friendlies, this time against Villareal. The ground looked full of youngsters and their parents with the pitch of the crowd a couple of octaves higher than usual as a result. A good opportunity for those who can’t get to league games to see their heroes.
Starting XI: Raya, White, Saliba, Kiwior, MLS, Nørgaard, Merino, Nwaneri, Gyökeres, Saka Martinelli. The good news was that Timber and Gabriel were on the bench, along with Madueke, Zubimendi, Rice and Dowman. Missing were Trossard, Havertz and Calafiori.
Villareal started with Pépé, who left 2 years ago and Foyth, formerly of the East Middlesex Swampdwellers. with Danjuma on the bench, another who managed to pull himself from the primordial gloop of N17. Merino was the one to give the pre-match speech in the huddle, perhaps unsurprisingly being arguably the most senior player in terms of achievement on the Arsenal side.
Arsenal showed intent straight away and pressed the opposition back. Interestingly, at times in possession, Martinelli and Gyökeres were playing noticeably closer than any recent front pair, perhaps something we may look to build on as the season gets going. On 4 minutes, we had a good break after a fantastic turn in midfield from Nwaneri, who was bright throughout the first half, playing directly with zip, with both Martinelli, as noted before and often Saka taking narrow positions to support the attack. Arguably Saka could have opened the scoring in the 5th minute when a good piece of play saw Martinelli get some support from an overlapping Merino, who crossed well to the back post, only for Saka seemingly to get up too early and skew his header wide.
The pattern continued, with Villareal barely getting out of their own third, let alone half, until on 16 minutes, inevitably, they scored with their first attempt,. This was a feature of life under late-era Arsene, and in pre-season it has become a feature this season. This needs to be ironed out. It was Pépé who scored and respectfully didn’t overly celebrate. Fair play, Sir. You perhaps didn’t get the fairest shake of the stick at Arsenal, so you didn’t owe us anything.
Arsenal 0 Villareal 1.
We continued to apply pressure, forcing them back and actually put together some good moves, with Nwaneri and Saka in particular looking bright. However it was the visitors who scored next. After a break occasioned by the expedient of a ball over the right midfield channel into space, they manufactured a good shot, well saved by Raya. The ball looped up and a Villareal player was first to react and knock it in as it descended 2 yards out. It was well executed but I hope it gives Arteta and the defence reason to think and work on this as sloppy goals have become the norm in this pre-season.
Arsenal 0 Villareal 2
The ground appeared somewhat shell-shocked. This was not what the youngsters in the crowd didn’t pay their money for. However, there was a measure of recompense 3 minutes later when, from an excellently delivered corner on the left, following a well drilled series of runs and blocks, the ball dropped onto the head of the unmarked Nørgaard at the back post for him to nod home. That was more like it.
Arsenal 1 Villareal 2
Towards half time saw the first real glimpse of what we hope Gyökeres will do, when he jinked past a couple of defenders on the left of the box and crossed but to no avail. That was his best involvement of the half.
Halftime: Arsenal 1 Villareal 2
Second Half
Arsenal subs: off White, Nørgaard. On Mosquera, Zubimendi.
The second half started pretty much the way the first had, with Arsenal owning the ball and playing some good attacking stuff. On 49, Nwaneri slaughtered the right back on the outside and hit a low cross. Gyökeres, however, was stationary rather than looking to get across the keeper. Not terribly impressive from an expensive centre forward, but at this stage of the season, let’s put it down to players developing new relationships. This was somewhat counterbalanced in the 60th minute when Gyökeres had a good effort saved, immediately followed by another from Merino. This was the cue for another raft of substitutions, with Raya, Saliba, Kiwior, Nwaneri, Saka and Gyökeres off, replaced by Kepa, Timber, Gabriel, Ødegaard, Rice and Dowman.
Merino immediately went up front, in the absence of Havertz, and linked up well, showing the benefit of time in building relationships with teammates. Immediately noticeable was the pep added by Dowman. However, once again, this was undone by a single Villareal pass from their own third, the kind which we hope to see often from Zubimendi as the season progresses, which cut our defence apart. We seemed to be following the Postecoglou Defensive Playbook – few defenders, up around the half way line. Villareal’s single attacker received the ball with no Arsenal player within 10 yards and stroked home past an isolated Kepa. Yet again, pee-poor defending, reminiscent of many, many games under Arsene in the first 2 decades of this century, notably against Chelsea and Man U. Not good enough.
Arsenal 1 Villareal 3
We caught Villareal dallying in the box in the 75th minute and a nice trick from Dowman, again, resulted in him being clearly upended and the referee gave the penalty, duly despatched by Ødegaard.
Arsenal 2 Villareal 3
And that was that really. The game played out with Dowman continuing to look the best player on the pitch and the whistle finally blew.
There was a penalty competition for a bit of fun after, which we lost.
Lessons to be learned?
We are undercooked and as a result we underwhelmed.
Gyökeres has only been with his new teammates for a week so understandably they are still working on those “automatisms”.
We absolutely have to cut out the ludicrous defensive mistakes if we are to have any chance.
Dowman looks great, but let’s remember he’s 15 and therefore needs to be used sparingly, for his own long-term benefit.
Mosquera looks a physical presence.
There is much work to do on the training ground in order to be ready, but there is also time.
Two more things, Holics ….
Firstly, it’s time to sharpen your pencil, get your thinking cap on and enter the new season’s Predictathon ….
Predictathon 2025-26
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We are pleased to publicise a plea from Layth, the Editor of The Gooner and a very good friend of GHF to help save the Gooner fanzine, a publication well worth your support.
Layth’s Take: Help Save The Gooner Fanzine
It’s been sad to note the recent demise of more printed football fanzines, in Manchester City’s long-running King of the Kippax as well as Watford’s Yellow Pages, not to mention the continuing shrinkage of print media in general.
Among other titles closing I’ve noted recently is ‘The Lady’. Not that I’ve ever read it – but if an incredibly well-established magazine that can date its history back nearly 200 years is closing due to lack of print readers, then you know the print industry is struggling, badly.
Yet, while I was flicking through the pages of a glossy, well-known magazine recently, I also noted there were 17 members of staff, including, a grandly named “subscription executive”.
Well, unfortunately our humble labour of love doesn’t have such numbers, or riches (Oh, how I’d wish for a “subscription executive”…)
However, we’re quite proud in a humble way that everything everyone associated with the Gooner does for our humble publication actually comes on top of their day jobs. Which is actually kind of staggering when you think about it.
And it has to be said for no reward other than producing what we think is a half decent fanzine that has been standing on the shoulders of giants of those who came before us over the last four decades.
In an age where avarice is rife among certain kinds of ‘fans’ – those who drum up hysteria, hate and toxicity simply for cash – we’re really proud such heartening altruism is associated with the Gooner, and hope you are too.
Just another reason to help us Save the Gooner.
By the way, one promise I will make right now, is that if we do manage to save our humble labour of love, I will once again run a half marathon next spring to raise as many funds as possible for the brilliant Willow Foundation again. It nearly killed me to do the last one, so that’s how much I want us survive…)
If you have already taken out a subscription (and thank you so much to each and everyone who has already, you all qualify for a free hug, or firm handshake, next time I see you on a matchday…) then have you considered buying a £30 subscription for a pal?
Or even buying a Gooner t-shirt, or one of our back copies such as our souvenir 300th issue, definitely the best-selling edition over the last five years, for example. Anything to boost our coffers and help us get to our first target of 1,000 subscribers by the end of August.
A massive thank you to everyone who has already signed up, we simply wouldn’t be here without you – we just wish there were more like you….
…….
Help Us Reach Our Target
The reason we need to reach at least 1,000 to continue is threefold.
Firstly, and most importantly, it means that our postage costs are substantially cheaper when we hit 1,000 mailings to subscribers. If we fail to reach that number, it really is a serious threat to our existence because of the vastly increased costs of postage.
Secondly, and this is where our ultimate target of 1,100 comes into play, it not only allows us to peg our matchday cover price at £5, and our standard subscription rate of £30 for a fifth successive year under my editorship, it also allows for any bumps in the road – such as the Royal Mail increasing their postage costs (again) in the near future.
It also covers any future hikes in printing costs, such as an increase in the price of paper for our publishers.
And thirdly, it allows for items that are lost in the post. Which has been the bane of my life for the last few years, certainly since the Royal Mail’s service fell off a cliff after the pandemic.
It is not unknown for us to have to send out two or three replacement copies to cover issues lost in the post. My record is sending four replacements to an overseas address – which actually cost us far more in total than the person’s year’s subscription.
The simple fact is, if we don’t reach 1,000 for starters, there will be no Gooner after our next issue, which will be out for Arsenal vs Leeds, because the postage costs will be prohibitive, and we’ll simply refund everyone, and I can go back to sleeping soundly and not worrying about paying Gooner bills.
I don’t want that to happen – well, the sleeping soundly bit would be nice – but you know what I mean.
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And a small stop press to emphasise the point:
Layth’s Take: Help Save The Gooner Fanzine
Hello,
Despite last night’s result it was really good to be back at The Arsenal, as football returned to the Emirates for the first time in more than two months.
Not least because it was wonderful to catch up with so many old faces, who all care passionately about our club.
However, instead of the football, the first thing we spoke about to a man and woman, was the Gooner, the sentiment from all being: ‘we can’t let it die.’
I completely agree, and we are working night and day to try and ensure this awful scenario doesn’t materialise.
We’re proud to have provided a platform for intelligent, informed and irreverent independent football writing by loyal Arsenal supporters since 1987, and would love to continue in print.
But the simple fact is we also need more subscribers in order for us to meet increasing print costs and falling sales.
So, come on, please – we need at least 1,000 Gooner readers to sign up for next season by the end of August.
Walking back to Arsenal tube after I was done in the media room and the press box, I did notice that the toxic vultures were out in force where they normally congregate, sadly, at the Tony Adams statue, frothing themselves into a frenzy at a meaningless defeat, and I did think to myself: “If we die, that’s all that’s left,” – namely a cast of braying narcissists, in it for the cash generated by algorithms that reward hysteria and toxicity.
Just another reason to help us Save the Gooner, so we can continue to represent the knowledgable voices of the silent majority of intelligent and informed Arsenal supporters.
………
Save The Gooner
If you have already taken out a subscription (and thank you so much to each and everyone who has already, you all qualify for a free hug, or firm handshake, next time I see you on a matchday…) then have you considered buying a £30 subscription for a pal?
Or even buying a Gooner t-shirt, or one of our back copies such as our souvenir 300th issue, definitely the best-selling edition over the last five years, for example. Anything to boost our coffers and help us get to our first target of 1,000 subscribers by the end of August.
A massive thank you to everyone who has already signed up, we simply wouldn’t be here without you – we just wish there were more like you….
By the way, one promise I will make right now, is that if we do manage to save our humble labour of love, I will once again run a half marathon next spring to raise as many funds as possible for the brilliant Willow Foundation again. It nearly killed me to do the last one, so that’s how much I want us survive…)
All the best,
Come on you Gunners
Cheers
Layth
Please, please consider taking out a £30 annual subscription to the Gooner. It is absolutely essential that we save it. I had stopped reading it under the previous editor, but since Layth took over it is a much better publication.
In other news it was confirmed that James Maddison suffered a ruptured ACL, will require surgery and is expected to be out for nine months.
I took out a Gooner subscription in the close season, following on from conversations with C109 and TTG in particular. I commend it to the denizens of the bar. Good value and full of thoughtful writing.
C100.
There’s inflation for you…..
Good summary of the game, CER. It was difficult to leave the ground feeling that there was more to have felt concerned about than enjoyed – still, it’s only pre-season but please, Arsenal, do not play like that at the Old T a week on Sunday.
Thanks for your series of pre-season reports, CER.
I am abroad / travelling home for 2 of them so couldn’t really volunteer to take them on but they’ve been a job well done !
I did eventually manage to see quite a lot of last night’s game – minus the Dowman penalty – and yes, it was a disappointing performance. However, these friendlies are meaningless (if you lose them) but there is much to tighten up and smooth out before that trip the Old Toilet.
On the money with your headline, CER. New tactics are being practised but not yet mastered. However, we won’t be winning anything if we keep giving away goals like those.
The first two entries for the 25-26 GHF Predictathon have been submitted. An entry blank has been emailed to all of last year’s participants, so no excuses for any old hand failing to return for the third edition. If you’ve never played, all you have to do is predict the final PL table at the end of the forthcoming season. Read all the details of the scoring system, learn why Potsticker gets to lord it over the bar for a year and download your entry blank via the GHF Contests tab at the top of this page.
I am so shit at the prediction thing. Can someone else do it for me? Or I’m just going to pick teams out of a hat. In fact that’s what I am going to do.
SP@8: Don’t do yourself down. Remember, you were fifth the season before last and in the elite group that beat the Crowd.
Nwaneri signs new contract:
https://www.arsenal.com/news/ethan-nwaneri-signs-new-contract
One more nailed down for the long-term.
And very good news it is on young Ethan, Ned. 👍🏼
Ned I have never been 5th. 5th from bottom maybe. Great news about Ethan.
With all the new additions upfront for last season’s top four plus ManUre, picking the league positions and even the FL first game squad is tougher than ever this season.
As a Islington boy, this warmed the cockles.
https://www.arsenal.com/video?entryid=0_xrig0l92
CER@14, I thought it was jellied eels and pie and liquor that you fellas ate, not cockles and mussels, alive, alive, oh!
CER @14. What a brilliant film. As a former North London resident myself, I found that I had moist eyes asI watched it this morning. North London Forever has a similar effect.
As for an Aberdonian mocking the culinary habits of us cockernees (Bath @15) well words fail me!
Lots of food for thought here
Bath@15 – I had pie mash and liquor only the other week. Lovely. Although we’ve long since lost the local pie and mash shops in Chapel and Xmouth Markets, so I now have to go sarf of the river. It’s okay, my jabs are all up to date. The one in Hoxton St market is terrible and to be avoided.
C100@16- ahh, you can take the boy out of Northolme Road…..!
In the absence of any takers, I’ll write the match report up for this evening. If 21CG doesn’t get his press pass today (which is not looking likely now), it might be him writing up instead.
With Nwaneri signing in, we’re told for another 5 years (which will still only make him as old as Saka is now- I’m not sure I like the way that time passes anymore…) I can’t help but think we’ve done extraordinarily good business. I would have preferred Sesko, but that was his fault not ours and I’m sure Gyokeres will be great. Other than that all we need is one other on the left (we all know who), Saka and Saliba to sign new deals and it will be by far the best transfer window I can remember, even better than the one where we got peak Ozil.
Now for some sales please, Andrea. Vai, ragazzo, vai!
C100@18- that’s the first piece by Mike McDonald I’ve read. What the hell have I been thinking? Loved his analysis. Concise, sharp, on point. Thanks for providing the link.
CER @22 – I think that Mike is one of the most insightful penmen on Arsenal duty.
Having said that, had we sat down with a piece of paper and a pencil for 10 minutes, I’m pretty sure that we would have come up with pretty much the same list of ‘problems’ that he has. So if we can, so can MA8. Identifying the problems is easy. Solving them much less so – hopefully we’re on exactly the correct runway and the excellent overall performances of the past several season will be transcended and the trophy cabinet shelves adorned in silver.
BtM@23- yep you’re right. Still, it’s nice to see such a coherent, well analysed piece of writing.
In other news, you’re stuck with me for match report today. 21 CG is lording it with the 4th Estate in the press box today…..
C100@18: Thanks for the link, C100. As he is a coach, Mike McDonald has a different perspective and sees little things that the rest of us overlook; Raya’s potential mental tiredness, for example. While, indeed, most of us could have drawn up his list of problems (if only we could have remembered where we left the pencil), he can offer informed and feasible ideas for addressing them. I came away from reading his piece with the notion that Artata has built a team to fit his system, but our success this season will turn on his ability to tweak his system to fit the team so it can create chaos as well as impose control, if that is not too tautological.
CER@19: If it’s still there, Castle’s Pie & Mash in Camden Town would save you from having to venture where only the clerics can read and write.
Ned@25- spot on.
And@26 – I never even knew there was one in Camden Town! Much better idea. I’ll do some research…It’s a bit of a trot getting down to Tower Bridge Road. Although they do a delivery service if you buy in bulk, which I do a couple of times a year.
I’m so common.
Ned, Royal College St, right next to Camden Road station. 2 stops from Highbury and Islington on the overground. Nice work, Sir.
My other thought for the day is that Sesko has made a career mistake going to Man U. He will not get the development from Amorin that he would have from Arteta or Howe, and the weight of expectation at the OT will drag him down, blunting his undoubted potential. Sekso’s agent short-sightedly prioritised his own short-term interests over the long-term ones of his client.
CER@28: That’s the one. Old standby in my long-ago days on the sun-kissed uplands of the northwestern postal districts.
Yer all a load of snowflakes blubbing at soft focus videos and mood music . Son’s video had a higher blubbiness factor but this is on the way . I can remember when men were men and a simple handshake after a goal sufficed and music was confined to the Metropolitan Police Band . Jessies the lot of yer!
Strong team for this afternoon
Arsenal: Raya, Timber, Saliba, Gabriel, Calafiori, Zubimendi, Rice, Odegaard (C), Saka, Gyokeres, Martinelli
Subs: Kepa, Rojas, White, Mosquera, Kiwior, Zinchenko, Lewis-Skelly, Norgaard, Lokonga, Merino, Madueke, Nwaneri, Nelson, Havertz
Team’s up.
https://www.arsenal.com/news/team-news-six-changes-emirates-cup
Looks like a first team to me.
What a squad we have now…..
Team looks good . We must hope we produce a better performance this time .
Team looks good, squad looks fantastic. And Trossard (injured) and Dowman (school uniform fitting) aren’t even in it.
How many subs are allowed in the Prem and CL? Because, assuming full fitness, we are going to be leaving players out of match day squads if it isn’t 11 or 12. Have we ever had such a strong squad?
TTG@31- Comedy gold.
Thusnus much more like it.
2 shots we’ve given away from really poor defending
Drinks break. We have been playing noticeably quicker, more diritto, articilalalr yin getting the ball.out to the wines and especially to Saka. Very good.
Oh good. My internet had gone down.
2 quick, well.executed goals. Great stuff.
Great stuff. Really good first half As they say in boxing – Speed.kills.
I have been seriously misinformed about Gyokeres’s ability in the air! Absolute bullet header.
Superb goal from Havertz. Where did that pace come from?
What’s the score?
£60m down the drain.
Kai Havertz scores again!
3-0 to the good guys SP
First time we have played our first XI in preseason.
Seriously impressive. Power, pace and skill.
CER pour yourself a Negroni and get to work. Looking forward to your report.
A few quick takeaways: Clear effort to get the ball to Saka early, before the opposition can double up on him. The second half spell with Rice dropping into the back three looked to be an attempt to get both full-backs up high and wide to overload both wings. There seems to be some sort of new downward dog-looking stretching routine to shake off knocks.
Did we score even one goal last season like Gyökeres’s? Shades of Malcolm Macdonald. I also suspect that last season we wouldn’t have scored our second goal; Ødegaard would have controlled the ball and safely recycled it, not lobbed it forward speculatively.
C100@48. I’ll have it finished tomorrow morning. Daughter’s birthday today and we’re in prep mode for a family barbecue tomorrow.
Edu is not invited.
CER
Presumably 21CG will still deign to eat with you after he’s been to Mikel’s presser this evening ? I’m having a barbie too tomorrow . Haven’t heard if Edu is attending yet
Well in for the half-ton, CER.
Over here, if your firepit isn’t an oil drum cut in half lengthways and the meat on the grill doesn’t still have four legs attached, it ain’t a real BBQ, whether Edu is there or not.
Ned@52 – I’ll be round tomorrow morning for a barbecue lesson….
TTG@51 – 21 CG now barely acknowledges me. He’s far too important…..
>>>>>>>