Initial thoughts - not too keen on the players playing in these positions. Havertz seems like he's playing LCM, Jorginho also playing as lone 6, Zinchenko at LB, Trossard LW and Vieira RW. This isn't going to work. It's only pre-season, but, fringe players or not, I am hoping that he doesn't plan on playing these players in these positions when the season actually starts - even if it's a cup game or against lower-league opposition. It would be madness.
2-0 - Trossard. Really good counter pressing high up the pitch to force the turnover and good passage of play leading to Trossard doubling the lead:
Gabriel Jesus makes it 3 - really nice solo goal, although I think the goalkeeper should do a bit better.
4-0. Havertz. Good driving run by Nwaneri into Saka, who fizzes a cross across the box. Defender messes up the clearance into Havertz's path and Havertz smashes it home from close range.
Obviously you can't draw too much from pre-season friendlies, as it's mostly a fitness exercise and a chance for experimentation, but Lewis-Skelly and Nwaneri look very capable of playing for the first team.
4-1. Leverkusen pull one back. Hlozek. Tapsoba nutmegged Trossard which opened up space in midfield and Lewis-Skelly got caught ball watching a bit. Good finish. But need to close the gaps between midfield and defence. There's a lot of youngsters on the pitch who need guidance.
Game finished 4-1 to Arsenal. Like I said, you can't read too much into it, but was nice to see us play some lovely football, nice rotations between attacking players, fluid football and good pressing off the ball. We looked defensively solid too prior to all the changes. Wasn't expecting to see the likes of MLS, Nwaneri, Nichols or Heaven to feature, so was a pleasant surprise to see them get minutes and feel relatively unphased by the occasion. Saka looked extremely sharp when he came on, he's clearly looking forward to the season starting. Let's hope we can play like this (and score like this) during the season too. I still believe we need another pacy attacker, but I'm not sure if we're going to.
Wonder if Jesus will be the reason we don't sign a striker this Summer. Ornstein was saying he was unfit (played with pain in his ankle) all last Season but right now he's in the best shape he's been at Arsenal.
I think that'd be a mistake personally. I love Jesus but he's been here for 2 seasons and both seasons, he's had 2 fairly lengthy injuries. We can't rely on him for the entire season. Likewise with Nketiah, who just isn't at the level required. Even when he came on yesterday, I just didn't see anything from him that shows me he's adding something to this team. In my opinion, we need 2 more additions for me to be truly confident of winning the league - a midfielder (Merino maybe?) and a versatile forward with pace that's a transitional threat. I only see us getting 1 between now and the end of the window, though.
Finishes 2-0 at FT. Dominant performance. Pretty comfortable truth be told. We were pretty much in cruise control. The subs probably made the game a bit flat, but doesn't really matter as it's nice to see other players get some minutes. Good to see Calafiori make his unofficial debut. Also good to see Nwaneri and Lewis-Skelly get more minutes too. Not sure if I should be too concerned about the lack of chance creation from open play considering our dominance. But I suppose we'll have to see what happens when the season starts. We are Emirates Cup Champions
