And so, to the last of the pre-season friendlies. The Arsenal team contained a few surprises, and a few still, thankfully, missing, e.g. Zubimendi, Rice and Saka. The starting team was:
Kepa
Julienne Gabriel Salmon Hincapie
Nwaneri MLS Eze
Dowman Jesus Martinelli
We had our first sight of goal in only the 3rd minute, with Eze hitting a free kick from the left-hand side of the box 25 yards out a couple of feet over the bar. Lots of power, just needed a bit more direction. The pattern of sustained pressure and high press from Arsenal continued and in the 6th minute we ought to have had a goal, when a well delivered Eze corner from the left-hand side found Gabriel unmarked in the box. Unfortunately his header struck the unfortunate Julienne on the line and went over.
From the resulting goal kick we really ought to have opened the scoring. A poor short pass from the goalkeeper into a Como player was excellently intercepted on the stretch by Nwaneri. The resulting loose ball went directly forward to Eze who was still in an offside position. That said, Eze’s touch was poor and resulted in his needing to pass the ball outside him to Jesus who managed to hit the post rather than score. Offside was called, which looked correct, but perhaps a sign of understandable pre-season rust. The press-trap was excellent, that being said.
We kept up the pressure with Julienne providing some excellent cover and attacking support down the right. Nwaneri continued to do some nice things in the box and managed to force a corner on 12 with a clever backheel after holding possession well led to a blocked shot.
The pressure was kept on. However Como had the next chance on 21 when Kepa was forced to make a save low towards the left-hand post in front of the North Bank. It was a smart save, but one he ought to make.
The breakthrough came on 33 when another good piece of pressing, this time from Martinelli, resulted in the Como keeper once again attempting to play out from the back unconvincingly, knocking the ball straight out to Lewis-Skelly, whose knock forward resulted in a one-two with Martinelli. This left MLS with the simple task of sidefooting into the bottom right of the goal in front of the Clock End. MLS displayed his pleasure to the whole ground. I do hope there is nothing behind the rumours being put about.
The goal was the cue for the first round of subs, with Eze and Jesus making way for Vieira and Gyokeres.
Dowman and MLS were pretty much in charge of the game at this point and anther smart piece of play saw MLS freed up for a shot from 25 yards, this time way over.
Just on half time, Como equalised when a good piece of skill in the right-hand side of the box saw Dowman and Julienne made to look foolish, with the Como winger Baturina nipping between the two and hammering home at Kepa’s near post. He made and took it very well, but 1-1 at half time did not reflect the run of play. The reaction from the Arsenal defenders, Gabriel and Salmon particularly, was most pleasing to see. They were not impressed.
Half-time saw more subs with Kepa, Gabriel, Nwaneri and Dowman replaced by Raya (Alleluia), Mosquera, Odegaard and new boy, and former boo-boy, Guimaraes.
The pattern resumed, with Arsenal on top, dominating with their press and finding it fairly easy to break through an attempted counter-press from Como. Gyokeres held up the ball impressively on a number of occasions. Odegaard buzzed around the pitch as he did before his injury a couple of years ago and was generally a pleasure to behold. On 53, the aforementioned Odegaard worked his magic on the right-hand side of the box before putting Vieira in with a cute pass inside the full back. Vieira, who yet again was about as convincing as an argument that the sun orbits the earth, limply padded his shot straight at the keeper.
More subs, with the impressive Julienne, Hincapie, Lewis-Skelly, Martinelli, Gyokeres and the invisible man Vieira replaced by Ben White, Calafiori, Merino, Tzolis, Havertz and Madueke respectively on 62.
On 70 a bobbling ball in the Como box fell for Madueke on the edge and his hammered shot was well saved by the Como keeper. The resulting corner from Madueke was dealt with unconvincingly by Como and another corner resulted, this time from the opposite side. Tzolis took it and floated it in excellently, almost resulting in a goal direct. The keeper made a curious flap and kept it out. It appears that we have another couple of decent corner takers in addition to Rice and Saka.
Arsenal were very much on top, and chaos continued to reign in the Como defence from corners. That said, the replacement Como winger gave Ben White a few hairy moments and required a decent save from Raya.
All in all, a better turn out than the last couple of friendlies, with some genuine progress in terms of style of play. Highlights for me were Julienne, Salmon and MLS, who all looked very comfortable.
One final point. This is just pre-season and therefore quite possibly out of any meaningful context, but I’m not quite sure what all the fuss is about regarding Fabregas as a manager. They were a shambles at the back. My impression was that he must employ an excellent PR team.
As the MLS issue burbles along in the background (Blogs this morning reckons that Arteta gave a non denial denial last night) a good piece from Keenos on how these things can happen when none of the principals (buying club, selling club, player) are instigating anything.
Top report, CER.
I’ll repeat roughly what I said in the last Drinks shortly before the cut.
It’s difficult to assess where the team is in terms of readiness for the fray given the number of changes in each game. We do look more secure with Big Gabby at the back though Mosquera and especially Salmon were both excellent last night. I too was impressed by Julienne. I was also pleased that Guimarães who, I thought, had a pretty quiet debut, scored his penalty and he can build on that. He is definitely a more handsome and less offensive-looking lad in red and white! I was delighted that MLS got the goal and thought he was excellent all night – I expect Zubi to leave us before he does and I will be sorry to see such an excellent player leave after only one season, but MLS has deserved to be chosen ahead of him since April.
Nwaneri also had an excellent game and looked well up for competing for a place in this team. While Ødegaard looked good, I thought Nwaneri’s earlier contributions more than matched his. All the forwards were slightly subpar apart from Tzolis who looks an excellent addition. It was nice to see Raya back between the sticks and he made a couple of excellent saves. I’m with Matt, in the previous drinks, not blaming Kepa for that superb goal which reminded me of Giggs v Seaman in that unfortunate SF at Villa Park. On the other hand Kepa does not inspire me with confidence and I think, despite TTG’s angst at his signing, Meslier is the better keeper but neither will displace Raya.
It was nice to see Cesc back and there’s a clip of his post-match comments going the rounds which is worth catching. WoB thinks he’s laying the ground for MA8’s succession.
For all interested, Matt has reinstituted the HolicsRopeyLeague for next season. If you were a player in 25/26, you are automatically entered if you enter a team on the PL FL site. You have until Friday 21/8 at 7pm to do so. If you want to join but weren’t in it last season, Matt has a code that he may share in the Drinks if there’s any expression of interest. Go on! Give it a go! Free for all!
A very fair summary of the game, CER. It is difficult to know what to make of the pre-season games, given the endless substitutions and the limited availability of World Cup participants. To my mind, Tzolis, Nwaneri and Salmon were the three who advanced their claims for first-team squad spots the most, while MLS solidified his. Max had an unremarkable pre-season, which, given that he did some very good things, is a measure of how we expect his talent to be on tap (as we do with Saka’s). Ødegaard looked more like his old self; perhaps he is no longer having to do the 2 am feed. I also thought he looked to have lost some weight, which, if true, would lend substance to the speculation that he had had an enervating illness last season. Jesus, Kepa, Martinelli, Nelson and Vieira showed why they are on the for-sale list, or should be.
Tactically, we seemed to be trying to play with more verticality and to use new rotation patterns in the inside channels. Did anyone spot any other tactical tweaks?
I’ve not been to a pre-season friendly since the Leverkusen game a few years ago. I used to take my grandson to the Emirates Cup when he was too small to see at league matches. He’s now 6 foot 2 and into bodybuilding so he could be a useful bodyguard or could perhaps bulk up Fabio Vieira who plays like a very puny man might be expected to .
The wholesale changes do my head in and render results pretty meaningless.
I thank CER for an excellent report and agree with his conclusions . Our young defensive tyros did really well. Theo Julienne was probably named after Theo Walcott ( think on that ). I thought he did extremely well. Marli Salmon looks composure itself . Max Dowman has inherited the tiny pocket on the right we used to squeeze Saka into but I’d like to have seen him at 10.
We owe a great deal to Berta but he signed Madueke when he might have signed Semenyo for the same price . I’ve seen him miss two penalties and I’d never have him near the job of penalty taker again. He lacks end product and while Martinelli would provide more profit with his sale he bleeds red and white and I love his commitment. I’d sell Madueke in a heartbeat . Chelsea collect wingers so I’d offer him to them . …..sorry you say he came from them . Oh well who else is stupid enough to buy him ? We will have the Quinteros coming soon and I really don’t see a future for Noni. I do have to say I see a bright future for Tzolis who rapped in a fine penalty and took a series of brilliant corners. Nice to see a fit Odegaard and MLS play so well.
It appears we are just about to sell Reiss Nelson to Wet Spam for….£3 million. Our record sale is Oxlade Chamberlain who we sold in 2017 for £35 million initially . That was nine years ago ! As regular Holics will know I’ve been raging about how pathetic our sales department has been for years . Frankly it’s a real weakness in our trading model. We buy ( very) high and sell ( very) low . We are at a big disadvantage to our rivals
In recent windows we have been selling players whom we have publicly indicated that we don’t want to keep in our squad either because they haven’t been up to snuff or because they have been misanthropes. Such players are difficult to offload, often on high salaries and priced accordingly. Since Fabregas and C115y’s taking advantage of our financial vulnerability to hoover up players whom the fans didn’t want sold but who had succumbed to C115y’s generosity, have we sold anyone good that we wanted to keep? That’s when we can drive up the price the way other clubs do to us when we try to get a top player from their squad. Sadly we may experience that this summer. If someone wants Martinelli I would expect us to hold out for over £60m, Zubimendi £75m, Nwaneri £70m or £50m with a buyback clause. If it were down too me, MLS is NOT for sale.
TTG@6: Nelson is a 26-year old with a proven record of struggling to play regularly with mid-table PL clubs and who has one year left on a contract that pays him £5.2 million a year. I’m not sure there is a lot of value left there to realise. He’s a fire sale.
I don’t disagree that we have a real weakness in our trading model, but it is the failure to shift players like that when they are worth £15/20/30 million.
Bath@7: If Zubimendi goes to the Bus Stop, they will finish second in the league. He would be for Alonso’s Chavs what Xhaka was for Alonso’s Leverkusen. £75 million would be as much as a bargain as the £105 we paid for Declan.
Thanks for the report CER, haven’t seen anything except the goals
so it’s much appreciated and good to know we played a little better!
With you on Fabregas coming back as manager – one round of Barcelona
is in my DNA, I must go back etc etc is enough for my lifetime.
Wot Bath said @7 except I wouldn’t sell Gabi M unless we
get in another player wide left, and I wouldn’t sell Zubi at all.
And wot Ned said @8 – I like Reiss Nelson but given the last
three or four seasons what we can we realistically do but take
what we can get.
I thought we got a fair price for Leo recently, and Gabi J and
Vieira will be a better taste of the current level of our Sales Dept…..
GOONERHOLICS ROPEY LEAGUE WELCOMES ONE & ALL!
Yes, thanks Bath for the heads-up and apologies everyone
for the late reminder but we are once again setting out on
the Glory Road. Can the Monks once again ring all our bells?
No Complines from me if they do!
What intrepid soul will lift the Prestigious Ropey League Cup of Cups?
It could be YOU!
Just let me know if you’d like to join and I will share the code
with you…….
Am I alone in thinking that the way this whole transfer window is panning out is weird? One minute we’re going to break the bank for Vinicius. The next were trying to sell players at bargain basement prices.
On the whole – desperate sellers like Newcastle, desperate purchasers like Sp*rs and confirmed human recyclers like Chelsea aside – there has been little significant net activity. Its almost as though the PL clubs have woken up and realised that at some point, individually and collectively, they have to balance the books.
Hmm…
Clearly Saliba is going to be out for a considerable period and no one knows when and if he’s going to be back to his best form. Hence we are thrashing about tapping up decent CBs (& Romero). Either Konsa or Quansa will be fine as stand-ins for what may be the full season. The latter is cheaper and younger so probably the better option.
It is the chemistry of the partnership between Gabriel and Saliba that will be so hard to replace.
RIP Jimmy Rimmer, who succeeded Bob Wilson in goal for three seasons in the mid-70s until Pat Jennings arrived.
CER@13: It may all change by the end of the window, but, so far, it seems you are right.
This is the activity of a selection of PL clubs to date:
Ned @16
Thanks for the note on Jimmy
I’ve prepared this obituary for the Gooner
Jimmy Rimmer was an important player for us
The sad news of Jimmy Rimmer’s death has been reported . Jimmy is one of those players who was nowhere near as well known as his performances suggested he should be . He gave Sterling service to Arsenal at a very difficult time.
When Bob Wilson announced the shock news of his retirement at the end of the 73/74 season , it left a big hole in what was becoming an increasingly porous defence. When Arsenal announced Jimmy Rimmer as his successor , it would be fair to say that a lot of Arsenal fans were a little underwhelmed . Three seasons on I doubt if one of those fans harboured any doubts about Jimmy . He was a huge success at a time when Arsenal were frankly struggling and it is not an exaggeration to say that had we not had such a fine keeper during those first two seasons we might have been relegated . He was our player of the season in 1974-75
Jimmy joined us from Manchester United where he had never broken through fully and had understudied Alex Stepney for many years. He produced some terrific performances from the moment he made his debut at Anfield in an Arsenal victory that handed the league title to Leeds United. He kept a clean sheet then in an outstanding performance and went on to keep 59 clean sheets over three seasons in 124 League games ( a clean sheet rate of 48% ) . That is incredibly impressive when you look at the team he was playing in! Arsenal were struggling defensively and finished just above the relegation zone in his first two seasons . He was so impressive he came to the attention of the England selectors and got his only cap in a tournament in America although he only played half the match .
He was brave and athletic with excellent hands and a cool temperament and after performing so well for Arsenal he moved to Aston Villa where he went on to win a league title and a European Cup although he was injured ( and substituted ) in Villa’s 1-0 win ds over Bayern Munich in the Final. He was succeeded at Arsenal by the great Pat Jennings which meant that Arsenal were served by three magnificent goalkeepers between 1968 and 1986.
Rest in Peace Jimmy. Our condolences go to Jimmy’s family and frien
A lovely piece, TTG.
I remember him well. Class act!
RIP, Jimmy.
TTG@18. Thanks for that. I was only young, but I remember Jimmy Rimmer clearly. In a time if some quite excellent goalkeepers – Clemence, Corrigan, Jennings- he was right up there. Rest in peace, Jim.
Liverpool’s owners FSG has agreed to sell a minority stake to a consortium which includes billionaire Amazon founder Jeff Bezos.
Now they’ve got to deliver.
It’s so hot that I don’t think I need my coat.
Lovely piece on Jimmy Rimmer TTG.
TTG@18: Very eloquently expressed.
It is a fair shout to say that in his first full season, Jimmy Rimmer was the difference between us staying up and being relegated — a fate we avoided by a mere four points. We won only 13 games, and he kept a clean sheet in 10 of them, including four in the final seven games, when we clawed out seven precious points despite scoring only six goals.
C100@20: No need to drone on…
Spot on Ned
We had Mancini as one centre back , but Ball and Brady were in midfield and Brian Kidd who had a great first season upfront . Many of our stars were ageing and Charlie couldn’t stand Bertie Mee and went off to Derby . The word shite sums up our overall performances that season .
Rimmer was that important to us
We are being strongly linked with Osimhen who gives me Auba vibes . If he does join
may I suggest that he immediately goes on an intensive course of road routes into the Emirates and above all how to avoid Muswell Hill Broadway
I guess the key points about the Amit Bhatia-led consortium buying a stake in ‘Pool are that it signals the eventual exit of Fenway Sports Group (the deal puts a £5.5 billion valuation on a club FSG bought for £300 million in 2010) and the involvement of K5 Global, the tech VC firm with deep connections in Hollywood, and the Clinton corner of the Democratic Party.
K5 Global is the Bezos connection; it has partnered with Bezos’s investment vehicle, Bezos Expeditions, on several tech investments. However, it is K5’s cofounder, Bryan Baum, who will be taking one of the Bhatia consortium’s board seats at ‘Pool’s holding company, not Bezos. Bhatia will have one as a new vice-chairman. A third will be held by Elaine Saverin, chair of the Singapore family office/investment firm EE Capital, and wife of Eduardo Saverin, the co-founder of Facebook. Bezos will get the headlines, but his involvement will be at arm’s length.
As FSG was in the vanguard of US private capital investment in European football, it will be among the first to exit and, to some extent, set the model for doing so. This is how private equity works: buy an asset, improve it over time, then sell it for much more than you paid for it.
TTG@25: That mid-70s team was on its last knockings. Not as bad as some of the ’60s sides, but not terribly better either.
Ned@27- a fair bit of that uplift looks, to my simple mind, largely a case of a rising tide lifting all boats. Pure market timing rather than them adding value. Thoughts?
I neglected to say that Osimhen , should he come will need to be debriefed by our own C100 who was so frustrated by the navigational sloppiness of Auba . I hear C100’s rates are reasonable .
CER@29: The trend is indeed your friend, as the old investing adage has it.
These are Forbes magazine’s valuations for the PL clubs that made its list of the world’s 25 most valuable soccer clubs in 2009, so the season before FSG bought Liverpool, and the valuations from Forbes’s 2026 list of the same. Forbes ranks based on enterprise value, so equity plus debt, not just equity. Liverpool’s increase has been above average, if not tops. That honour goes to Man City’s owners, who have made out like bandits.
Ned@31- Great stuff. Thanks vm. One thing I’m not is an actual evidence denier.
I’ll climb back into my box…!
Just to add, along with the $477 million FSG paid to buy Liverpool, which came with debt of around $550 million accumulated during the train wreck that was the Tom Hicks and George Gillett ownership, FSG also put in a further $320 million of capital in the form of loans.
Cheers Ned. Of course the real outlier is C130y. Those owners really are business geniuses. Well done, them. Two-Bob, tin-pot, won-nothing, done-nothing club now worth nearly 18 times what they paid for it. If only we knew the recipe.
Thanks, CER for another pre-season match report. Much appreciated as were your other pre-season reports. You and Bath with the previews have done a great job on our warm up games.
Just heard about Jimmy Rimmer, that is sad news.
Thanks for your obituary TTG, very nicely written
and I completely agree with you and Ned about his
importance to us in the grim mid-70s.
>>>>>>>>>>>>