Arsenal finalised their pre-season preparations by lifting the prestigious Emirates cup, beating French outfit Monaco 5-4 on penalties following a 1-1 draw in N5.
Arteta named a strong side ahead of Sunday’s community shield showdown with Manchester City on Sunday. Jurrien Timber and Declan Rice both made their home debuts, with the likes of Saliba, Partey and Martinelli all starting. Arsenal began the game dominating possession whilst playing at a somewhat laboured pace. Pre-season is always the time to experiment and there were a couple of notable positional tweaks. The versatile Timber began at left back and Emile Smith Rowe played in the right half space we have become accustomed to seeing Ødegaard thrive in. It was Monaco who had the first real chance through Golovin, who saw his left footed drive from range well beaten away by Ramsdale. You may remember his superb free kick against us whilst playing CSKA Moscow back in 2018. Golovin went on to star for Russia as they hosted that summer’s World Cup and he was tipped for big things however his career has plateaued somewhat in the intervening years. That said, Golovin does get to live in Monaco and Erling Haaland has to live in the Northwest of England. I’m sure he has no regrets about his life choices. We continued to dominate possession, but the intensity was lacking. It may be worth noting that we have not looked as sharp as we did in pre-season last term. Is this a symptom of an elongated campaign last year? Only time will tell.
Monaco took the lead on the half hour with a Fofana header following some neat build up. It wasn’t great defending with Martinelli getting too easily bypassed but I’m sure no one is going to throw their toys out of the pram over it. We upped the tempo a notch in response. Declan Rice surely would’ve opened his Arsenal account if it weren’t for a fantastic block. Tomiyasu forced a good save from the resulting corner and Nketiah equalised from the consequential corner. Our number fourteen slipped away from his man and tapped home in typical poacher’s fashion. He looked very good physically and his link up play seems to have improved again. Hopefully Jesus’ knock is nothing serious but as Nketiah demonstrated last season, and the season before, he is more than capable of filling the void.
Surprisingly there were no changes from us at the break. We continued to amble through the game. There was a scare when Ben Yedder hit the post on a breakaway but he looked to be offside. On the hour mark Arteta finally made wholesale changes. Off came Partey, Smith Rowe, Timber, Rice, Tomiyasu and Martinelli and on came Jorginho, Odegaard, Ben White, Havertz, Tierney and Trossard. The latter nearly made an immediate impact, firing at the keeper after Jorginho had sent him clean through. Vieira saw his volley tipped over the bar and off to penalties we went.
The first six penalties were all converted with aplomb. Henrique, Fofana and Diatta dispatched their spot kicks, Odegaard, Jorginho and Havertz responded for The Arsenal. It was the former Liverpool man, Takumi Minamino who blinked first as Ramsdale stood tall to palm his spot kick away. Fabio Vieira consequently put Arsenal in the ascendency meaning Kevin Volland had to score which he did with distinction. but Gabriel had the chance to win it for the Gunners, this to join Yaya Sanogo and Joel Campbell in the Emirates Cup Hall of Fame, an opportunity he duly took. And there we have it. Your 2023 Emirates Cup Champions of the Universe, for a record extending seventh time, The Arsenal! A statement win that will send shivers down the spine of Pep Guardiola and his (allegedly) illegally assembled billion pound squad.
So, what’s next? A trip to Wembley Car Park where we will do battle with the FFP compliant oil riggers of Middle East Manchester. Is it a friendly? I don’t know. But what I do know is it would be nice to lay down a marker by putting our title rivals to the sword ahead of the big kick off in ten days’ time. We will likely see a performance featuring a far greater level of intensity than we’ve seen over the last few weeks. In my personal view Arteta is sacrificing the use of certain key players and pre-season results for the sake of building B team cohesion. Don’t be surprised if we see a slightly slower start to the season compared to last year. Instead, what Arteta is targeting is a greater level of cohesion throughout the squad in preparation for what we all hope will be a 55-60 game campaign. More games will be played, more players will be used. And if we are to go one better than last year and lift the title in May, we will need all twenty five or so players to slot straight in when needed. In Declan Rice we have potentially found the final piece of the jigsaw and in Havertz and Timber we have significantly reduced the drop off from the starting eleven to the number twos. So perhaps what we will see is a marginally slower start but there will be no seismic April-May collapse as we have seen in each of the last two seasons in our pursuits of the top four and the title. And if we do indeed continue on our trajectory of failing upwards then I expect no less than the Premier League Title and a Champions League Final loss to Union Berlin. And we shall fail until we have no room for anything but serial success.
Onwards.
GoonerHolicsForever prediction contest in aid of Willow Foundation
Can you harness your inner Mystic Meg and see the final Premier League table for the upcoming season? Who is going to win the FA Cup? Or the League Cup? And what’s your bet on the first manager to get the tin tack this season? You can do all of this by entering the GHF Prediction Contest for 23-24.
The purpose of the contest is twofold. Firstly, it is to increase your enjoyment of the upcoming season by providing a degree of light-hearted competitive rivalry as the season progresses. Secondly, it will enable us to support the Willow Foundation with a further source of charitable funding.
Check out the “GHF Contests” tab at the top of the page for The Rules, the entry blank and information about how to enter the contest, and how the contest will be scored.
Good luck!
An excellent report Nic. I saw the game on the club stream and the extra depth we now have was evident by the quality of the subs. Now Arteta has work to do on the training field to integrate the newbies.
Our goalkeeper last night was Aaron Ramsdale of course, perhaps facing some competition if we buy Raya. I was at at his first game against WBA away that he refers to in this really good piece.
https://www.theplayerstribune.com/posts/aaron-ramsdale-premier-league-arsenal-soccer-england
Thanks 21CG, agree we do seem to have been a bit slower this pre-season. As MA plans absolutely everything I think it is likely deliberate as he talked at the end of the season about getting more use out of the squad. Let’s see what team starts against Shitteh.
Thanks for the link C100, I’m very impressed by Aaron’s honesty and openness. He says some difficult things very well and also has a realistic view about what to expect from some of our fellow human beings.
Nice work, 21CG. Captured it pretty well, I thought.
C100, thanks for the link to Ramsdale’s piece. Very interesting and thought provoking.
As always, interesting analysis following last night’s game by Mike McDonald on Gunnerstown.
Just fascinated by Aaron Ramsdale’s article. Bravo. Not that i know much but over the years i have seen many of our Keepers and i know he has critics and probably justified but he is (in my opinion) up there with the best. I started at the Arsenal with George Swindin but being a lad, do not really recall him, but then there was the legendary Jack Kelsey…and just over my shoulder is ‘Over the bar” . I am in total admiration of anyone who kept for AFC…ian Mckechnie, Jack McLelland, Jim Furnell …come to mind…then the venerable Bob Wilson, Jimmy Rimmer, Pat Jennings, Geoff Barnett…tried but not a favourite…a few ive missed no doubt but not David Seaman or John Lukic… Jens Lehmann, Alex Manninger…must be my age but others slip away…Ospina…but they all got to pull on the jersey…Some may recall the late 50s perhaps….Percy Dalton’s peanuts…’Tanner a bag” Metropolitan Police Band and PC Alex Morgan….and for a while a lad would come out from the terraces, stand in the goal and perform “outlandish saves’ with no ball..at the clock End. Wouldn’t happen these days of course…
Personal view…i’d rather have Aaron than Raya (in fact almost anyone if i’m honest)
Anyway…just saying
Good stuff, 21CG!
I’m sure no one is going to throw their toys out of the pram over it.
Are you sure you’ve heard of those things called ‘the Internet’ and ‘Twitter’ perchance?
That Ramsdale article is most excellent.
Nice report, 21CG.
Serial success would indeed be very nice.
I’ve made my entry for our new competition – have you?
it was an interesting game, though it lagged in the second half before the subs. you captured it well, nick. i can’t wait for the dvd.
in on the contest. well done ttg and north bank ned. be sure and give generously as you can to willow.
i’m a bit hesitant to put any stock in even the community shield. i remember a time when every year we seemed to be in it, and when we won it we’d lose the league. or maybe we didn’t EVERY year, but it was often enough to make me sceptical about its value in prognostication. maybe we need to get TTG out with a towel around his head to look into his crystal football.
Some thoughtful insights there, 21CG, as ever.
The Ramsdale link was a terrific read. A lot more raw honesty from Aaron than is typical of a Players Tribune piece. It shows a lot of the true character he brings to the team.
MMTWP@5: A great shout-out for Jack Kelsey. Truly a wonderful keeper who probably played just a bit too long ago to be remembered by many in his pomp and thus, to get the recognition he deserves.
I’ve sent out the entry blanks for the GHF 2023-24 PL Predictions contest to all those who indicated their interest in playing this season. Thanks to those who have already completed and returned theirs. But the more, the merrier. Details, rules, deadlines, a downloadable entry blank and how to donate to Willow can all be found under the new GHF Contests tab at the top of this page.
I don’t take much notice of pre-season especially this season where the squad is way bigger than it will ultimately be. I can’t help thinking you can have too many options sometimes and we are approaching tgat. Whilst I want us to trim the squad tge candidates for sale who might bring in serious money- Tierney, Partey and Balogun, I’d like to keep this season . We won’t raise much from the other players who are surplus to requirements. Xhaka has gone and we might raise £50 m if we don’t sell the Crown Jewels but part company with Sambi, Holding, Tavares, Pepe , Turner and Cedric .
I liked Timber and Rice and I thought Eddie did well but Vieira isn’t a wide player especially on the right and Saliba had a pretty poor match. I’m also not convinced by Kiwior
I know Kiwior is Polish but with a name like that shouldn’t he really represent New Zealand or would I be out of line?
If you want a good Kiwi defender by the way look no further than Michael Boxall. Not sure if he is Premier League quality but he has anchored the Minnesota United defence for years.
Auston Trusty sold to Sheffield United for what the Blades say is a ‘significant undisclosed fee’.
https://www.sufc.co.uk/news/2023/august/03/auston-trusty-signs/
Have to check who the 20 PL Managers are. I mean I could nominate the Chelski manager, but I doubt they’ll get rid of Pochettino that quickly….
Ned, could you please confirm my entry was ok as I am all Apple and don’t have Excel.
I think it worked with help from scruz …? Many thanks !
Spreadsheet tick
Donation tick
Hodgson sacked first tentative.
Haha, I went for the same, SP 😀
I went for Lopategui to be first out – think he’ll get pissed off and leave
Thanks for your entertaining write-up 21cg. As I didn’t see the game yoursvis my report of record. On to the parking lot.
Read Mike McDonald’s stuff. Some great insights but he gets a bit weird sometime eg subbing keepers to play out. Ain’t gonna happen Mike .
At first I thought the t in his surname is silent but then realized it is completely missing:
“Wolves chairman Jeff Shi says Chinese owners Fosun are committed to club”
With all this talk of the predictathon, folks have been distracted from the HolicsRopeyLeague! There are only 6 teams registered to date with just a week to go before entries are closed. Come on Holics, sharpen your pencils, choose your squads and get in there. It’s a real dog-eat-dog contest.
HOLICSROPEYLEAGUE!!
Thanks Bath!
Anyone needing the entry code for the HolicsRopeyLLeague please just post and I will send it over by e-mail immediately.
If you were in the league last season you will be automatically put back in once you log on to the Fantasy League site. The more the merrier!!
Mikel Arteta: Arsenal manager considered his Premier League future after missing out on title
https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/66409342
A panel of pandits at the Guardian picked Arsenal to finish second again, but this article conveys the sense that we’re in with a shot.
https://www.theguardian.com/football/2023/jul/31/arsenal-premier-league-2023-24-preview
A glorious sunny morning heralds the new season’s curtain raiser against Abu Dhabi. We really must arrest the run of recent defeats to this shower and not only impose ourselves on them but also win the damn game. Without doubt will be fired up to maintain their psychological hold over us. We must break that mould.
Wembley bound. Might see some of you there.
Interested to see whether Havertz starts today – quite possibly not – and how he fits when he comes on (more likely but only imo)
Chelsea fans still don’t rate him but Chelsea couldn’t get anything like the best out of Salah and de Bruyne. Hopefully Havertz will prove to have been similarly under utilised once Mikel slots him into the plan.
What bath said @27.
Looking forward to C100’s first awayday report of the new season.
Lina Hurtig scores the winning penalty to put Sweden through to the quarter-finals and the USA out of the Women’s World Cup after a VAR review.
The USA were the better team and dominated the match but didn’t turn that into goals and the win—a lesson there for us for the coming season.
Wise words Ned @31.
Hurtig has been very underwhelming in her performances for us and her penalty was excruciatingly bad but it just got the job done . Another obstacle cleared for England .
Best wishes to all Holics at Wembley today . Enjoy !
Have a great day all!
Havertz starting….up front it seems like. Rice / Partey in the middle.
Timber on the left. Lots of new boys to see and hopefully a win too
Well, we won on penalties but I couldn’t see the game here. Hope it was a decent warm-up and no injuries.
Never in doubt.
First silverware of the season secured. Four pots to go.
Very even game, Matt, with both sides looking not at their best. Pep’s subs, unanswered by Arteta, led to the goal. Last minute equaliser from Akanji via a Trossard shot into the crowded area. Then 4 excellent pens for us with De Bruyne hitting the bar and Ramsdale saving from Rodri.
trophy.
OM@34: As cagey and even-Stephen game as a 0-0 scoreline until the 77th minute would suggest. They got the rub of the green in the build-up for their goal; we got the rub of the green for Trossard’s 101st-minute equaliser.
Our penalties win was surprisingly routine. DeBruyne hit the bar with City’s first take. Saka scuffed his penalty, but it went in as Ortega had gone the wrong way; Rhodi scuffed his, but Ramsdale had gone the right way and saved it. The rest of our penalties were pretty impressive, especially Vieira’s winner into the roof of the net.
Barely a sheet of Rizzla paper between the two sides if you are looking for portents for the season, although, worryingly, City moved up a gear when De Bruyne came on as a second-half sub.
Looking forward to the in-stadium dispatches from C100 and others in attendance.
Thanks for the info CER, Ned! Leo keeps on being useful.
Wouldn’t mind beating them on pens again in the last game of
season.
Pretty much what Ned said. Felt like this was being played at one-third of a normal PL match.
And very evenly matched. We were also indebted to a couple of Ramsdale saved to stop the 2-0.
Weirdly, or not, near the end, I felt like OK if we lose in disappointed but meh.
Howver6 much I despite Citeh for what they stand for, I never feel the same visceral reactions I feel like when we play Spurs, Man U, Liverpool or Chelsea.
Also.. Wembley is still a pain to get back from.
Also looks like penalty practice in pre season matches paid off. I was completely confident, especially after Saka scored his.
We went toe to toe with Shitteh and matched them.
Our players now KNOW that they can do that.
No heads dropped when they got their goal – as Ned said, through the rub of the green, in fact through two rubs of the green – we stepped up and worked to get the equaliser which finally came and required another rub of the green. We thoroughly deserved that equaliser as we had created and spurned the two best chances in the first half for Havertz and another for Saka in the second half but had Ramsdale to thank for keeping us in the match with two excellent saves late on. Our pens were excellent particularly the sumptious clincher from Vieira.
We are competitors.
>>>>>>>