Mikel's Existential Crisis

Bit of a delayed post. Sorry; was away for a couple of days.

Plus I've been thinking. A lot. About Arsenal. As you do. Sort of a stream of consciousness. Anyway...

Arsenal 2 Fulham 2. One of those days, I guess. So much went wrong; and at the wrong time. Although plenty went right as well. But there is quite a bit to be disappointed - even angry - about, Because if that's going to be a microcosm of Arsenal's season then it's going to be one of underachievement.

I want to talk about team selection, about formation, and about mentality - both strength and frailty. Because all of these had a bearing on the result. Less about the timeline - we know what happened, and when - but I guess it all links in.

It's impossible to get inside Mikel Arteta's head, and to work out what he's trying to do with his squad. But I'm going to have a go. 

He appears sold on the inverted full back system that enables an extra body in midfield. It worked well in the main with Zinchenko off the left throughout last season, and in the Ukrainian's absence so far Arteta has looked to do the same with the right hand side. For me, this really hasn't worked (you just have to look at the first goal on Saturday), as it has unbalanced the vastly influential White - Odegaard - Saka triangle that terrorised left backs all last season. The sooner that Zinny is back and ready to start, the sooner Arteta should, for me, look to revert to last year's back 4. And especially with it being Manchester United next up.

It feels to me that Gabriel has been a victim of Arteta's fixation with inverting a full back, as the entire back 4 has been moved around as a result. Granted, Big Gabby is perhaps less gifted with the ball at his feet than others, but wastes very few touches of the ball. 

Arsenal have started with a different left back in the three games (down to Timber's injury, for sure; but there's been an element of over-compensation for that), and two of them are simply not left backs. Arteta has moved Saliba over one spot to left centre back, and Ben White to right centre back. 

Just to get Partey into the side? No; I feel it's to ensure that he can get Havertz into the side. But it has meant that the German has had to try to get to grips with a complicated and unfamiliar system with zero continuity behind him.

Was Havertz somebody the Manager really wanted, or was he more of an opportunistic purchase? Certainly, his suitability for the 'left 8' role is not obvious, and he's something of a hybrid forward - in positions in which Arsenal have plenty of cover. I'm prepared to give him time - it took the likes of Bergkamp, Henry and Pires time to bed in, I recall - but I am still to be convinced. As are many others - the applause when his name was called out to be substituted wasn't pleasant. He has that Chelsea stigma hanging over him. And as a Chelsea-supporting friend of mine said to me on Sunday: 'If it walks like a duck, and talks like a duck, then it's probably a duck'. 

One thing Arteta must NOT do, however, is persevere with Havertz just to try to prove that he was right. Points are the most important currency. He must not lose sight of that. And whilst I'd prefer to see Partey at 6 and Rice at left 8, that's not sustainable for 55 games. So alternative personnel must be sought. And until Havertz hopefully proves us wrong I'd question what any combination of Trossard, Vieira and ESR cannot do compared to Havertz.

Of course, all the new players will need time to bed in, but for me Arteta should have stuck more rigidly to what worked last year in order to ensure that this was the case. All these positional changes have done is create uncertainty - especially in transition and out of possession. Yes, Arsenal have dominated the ball almost throughout all three games. But there's been far too little of the fluency we've been hoping to see. How much of that is down to bedding the new guys in, and how much is a result of - for what of a better word - tinkering from the Manager is open to debate. And, for me, he's over-thinking it.

Look; I may not be saying this at all had we held on to win this game. But we didn't; and to be honest I'd been thinking about writing a post about Partey and (mainly) Havertz last week. It's a fact that lack of cohesion has a lot to do with the dropped points. Along with individual errors - and a bizarre change in mindset as soon as they took the lead. I can understand that Arteta had looked at the first three matches, deemed them all very winnable, and decided to take the chance to experiment. But there have been injuries to cope with - the loss of Timber after half a game was a crushing blow, but that of Zinchenko has perhaps been the most significant (and yes, I am including the temporary loss of Jesus).

I believe that Fulham's first goal was as much down to a discrepancy between the 'automatisms' that Arteta talks about and drills into his players, and the reality of what the players have been asked to do differently now. Last year, everybody knew where White, Saliba and Gabriel were likely to be when Arsenal had the ball. On Saturday, Thomas Partey - nominal right back - couldn't wait to get into central midfield and had vacated his post within 30 seconds of kick-off. Suddenly, the spaces normally occupied by White, Saliba and Gabriel were not occupied, and Saka's pass went to precisely where he should have expected Saliba to be. But White was wide to cover the space vacated by Partey, and Saliba hadn't moved over. In fact, there was as much space between Saliba and Kivior (a bizarre choice at left back) on the other side as there was between Saliba and White. Cue misplaced pass, and Pereira was clean through.

Now, there was a massive element of luck to the goal; even after that. Ramsdale was caught a long way off of his line - playing, as instructed, high up to make the extra man. Pereira, looking to lob him, completely - I mean utterly - missed his attempted lob and gave Ramsdale no chance with the miskick. 

A series of unfortunate events...

A shock, but it was only the first minute. Plenty of time to sort things out. But, you will recall, this was the third time in less than a year (third in 9, in fact) that Arsenal had let in a goal in minute one of a home Premier League game. Bournemouth required the Reiss Nelson Miracle, the two points ultimately dropped at home to Southampton were the beginning of the end for the title challenge... and now this. Once is unfortunate. Twice is perhaps an unfortunate coincidence. Three times... unforgivable, frankly.

Arsenal were soon into rhythm following the setback. And the stats say that they were ultimately unfortunate not to have won the game. 71% possession, an xG of over 3, and a massive 'field tilt' advantage. All as would be expected. Not that I'm knocking Fulham. They were strong and disciplined, and deserved whatever good fortune went their way. But no team can win a title performing below xG themselves, whilst at the same time allowing the opposition to outperform its own xG.

It took a while - and the introduction of last season's fall guy, Fabio Vieira - to make the crucial difference. The half time appearance of Nketiah in place of Trossard (who had uncharacteristically struggled; but perhaps in a game that didn't quite suit his abilities), had helped. But this was spectacular!  I'm not sure how high your expectations were when he took to the field (perhaps you, like me, would have preferred to see Smith Rowe), but there can be no denying the impact he made. Suddenly he was finding space that others had struggled to identify, the penalty was as 'stone bonk' as any penalty can be (as an aside, it was interesting that this time it was Saka who took it), and the movement and cross for Eddie's goal were of the highest quality. Way to go, Fabio. Kudos to Zinchenko, too; his reappearance had also contributed to creating huge problems for Fulham.

2-1. Finally! And then... who can tell me what switch went off in the players' collective minds? Suddenly, they were on the back foot; but why. They had dominated. They had finally taken the lead. There was nothing to suggest that they couldn't go ahead and score more. The change in attitude was inexplicable, and I never want to see it again. They suddenly made Fulham look like Real Madrid (even when they went down to 10 men; there can be no doubt about the second yellow card, by the way) and backed further and further off. 

And then the final series of errors. A corner uneccesarily conceded. Some horrendous defending, with no less than three players doing a fair impersonation of trees as Palinha stole in and shot (slightly fortuitously) past a partially unsighted Ramsdale. A collective brain freeze meant that suddenly the previous 70+ minutes of straining every sinew had gone to waste. Forget the chances that Arsenal then still had time to make after that. The damage had been done. Stupid. Stupid. Stupid!

Two completely unnecessary dropped points. Arsenal simply cannot afford to be doing this. There really is no need to take a backward step against that calibre of opposition. Arteta and his team ought to have dealt with it at the time, and had better be dealing with it now.

We're coming to the end of the Transfer Window now. There are still players to ship out, and perhaps another purchase in the offing. Does the loan of Tierney leave Arsenal light in defence? Perhaps. What else do Arsenal need? Maybe we'll see a surprise or two yet.

But more importantly, as you all know, it's United next. In truth, they've looked very uninspiring so far. But Arsenal need to start sensibly, dominate them as they look to dominate all opposition, and keep up the tempo throughout. 

In truth, it's hard to like this United side. Their goalkeeper, interestingly, is very good with the ball at his feet, but appears to have neglected the shot-stopping side of his game and looks like a mistake is just round the corner.. Lisandro Martinez is a nasty little piece of work. And with the weasel-faced Bruno Fernandes now captain, and Antony on the right wing, it'd be easy to wish to don a pair of boxing gloves and punch them both hard in the face for 90 minutes at a time. I'd settle for putting them away in the traditional manner, I guess.

See what I mean?!? 🥊

We'll have to wait to see precisely what lessons Arteta has taken from this disappointing result. For me, I'd go back to the tried and trusted. Last year's back 4. Partey at the base of midfield. Rice at left 8 where he can do a similar job to the one Xhaka did last season. And the only question after that is whether to start Jesus over the in-form Nketiah. Havertz on the bench, please; the time for experimentation is over.

Come on Arsenal. Get back on the case. ATID!

All The Defenders!

It's always hard to have to wait for Arsenal to play until Monday evening. Especially so early in the season, We've had to sit and watch everyone else get on with it. Whilst it's been amusing to see such an abject performance from Manchester United, and Chelsea struggle once more (plus ca change), Manchester City look ominously solid and powerful, Brighton continue to make progress despite once more have sold most of their best players, and even Tottenham looked... well, adequate... with the proviso that United are an absolute sh*tshow.

And so to Selhurst Park on a Monday evening. Never an easy place to visit (at least it wasn't the proverbial 'rainy night in February'), and Arsenal's recent record on Monday evenings has not been good. Nonetheless, memories of the first game of last season - when we realised that the Arteta Revolution was for real - remained fairly fresh in the memory, so there was plenty of hope for a good result.

I had been expecting something a little more pragmatic, but Arteta went with the same formation as in the previous game; Tomiyasu the replacement for the injured Timber. So essentially it was a three man defence when in possession - clearly, this is the style he is going for this season. And, whilst chances were few and far between, Arsenal largely dominated, without making too many clear cut chances. This could be a theme running throughout the season - something that Arteta needs to solve against the constant low blocks against we he is likely to come up week after week. Indeed, I can only think of one side who won't use that tactic. Yes; seriously - one!

An early chance for Martinelli, left unmarked in the penalty area. He dwelt momentarily, and the chance was gone. Excellent football leading to a chance for Eddie; he was unlucky to merely hit the post. And another opportunity for Eddie which he scooped over Johnstone - but also the bar - from a difficult angle and distance. An Odegaard snap shot straight at the keeper. Martinelli volleyed a Partey cross over the bar following a free kick. Half chances in the main; nothing much else was fashioned in the first half despite the clear dominance, with all the play being channelled inside by Palace, and Arsenal finding it difficult to keep their width - such is how it is with inverted wingers.

At the other end, the only things to note were a fantastic recovery tackle from Saliba - making amends for his own mistake to be fair - and the amount of work that Declan Rice was putting in. Palace were feeding on quick breakaways and scraps.

One thing I noted during the Sky commentary was that in his desperation not to show any Arsenal bias, Alan Smith was leaning somewhat the other way. Be more 'Wrighty', Smudge!

Same again as the second half commenced. But finally the breakthrough. A quick free kick taken by Martinelli on the right hand side of the penalty area, a smart run into the channel from Eddie, a clever/sneaky little block off from Partey to prevent a defender from going with Eddie, and Johnstone fell for it; rushing at Eddie's feet and bringing him down. Clear penalty - the only chance of it being over-ruled was if Partey's block had been called a foul.

As we had suspected, however, Arsenal have a new penalty taker. Saka held the ball during the VAR delay, but handed it to Odegaard to take the kick. A little stutter and shimmy, and Johnstone went the wrong way as the skipper rolled it home. A well deserved lead; and also justification for me captaining the Norwegian in my Fantasy team!

But now Palace started to play a little more. Eze and Ayew looking the most effective. And this pushed Arsenal back a little. It's as if the strengths that the new formation give when in possession become weaknesses when out of it. A balance that Arteta must address. And whilst Arsenal continued to make chances; a mistimed volley from Havertz and a trademark sweeping effort from Partey the most notable - the tide had somewhat turned. As I mentioned in my preamble, Selhurst Park is never an easy place to visit...

Soon after the goal, Tomiyasu was booked for time-wasting- harshly in my opinion as most of the time wasting belonged to Havertz - and this almost changed the destination of the points. Because not long after he was adjudged to have brought Ayew down near the half way line - he didn't half make a meal of what was a tiny touch! - and the Japanese defender was given his marching orders by referee Coote (Coote by name...). And suddenly Arsenal were completely on the back foot.

Neither Hodgson nor Arteta gave a ringing endorsement of the new directives after the game, I thought. For me, adding on the time is sufficient - a card on top of that is 'double jeopardy'. Perhaps this will be addressed as the season progresses.

Eze dived looking for a penalty, and Palace forced Arsenal further and further back. 

Arteta made his intention perfectly clear from then on, bringing on Jorginho and every single defender he had on the bench. It was a 9-0-1 formation in the final few minutes, but by injury time Palace had essentially shot their bolt and the last few chances were fashioned by Arsenal. What had looked like a relatively comfortable three points turned into a rearguard action; marshalled by Saliba and substitute Gabriel, and particularly by Declan Rice, by the end it was 'never in doubt'.

A particular word for two of our new signings here. Firstly Declan Rice. The guy was everywhere; a human dynamo. Even at £100m, he looks like a 'bargain'! A great addition to the squad; with the character to match his ability.

And also some defence of Kai Havertz. Give the guy time. This is a complicated role he's been thrust into, and for all the comments about low touch counts and lack of involvement, he creates space for others with his movement. A goal will do him a lot of good, but it's important to note that for the second game in a row he led Arsenal in duels won. Lay off him!

And so Arsenal move on. Early days, and two tight scorelines, but that's 6 points out of 6 - one of only three clubs with that record. Keeping pace is key whilst the new system beds in - and they can only get better.

Next is Fulham at home. All expectations point to three points from that. COYG!!!

He's Going Down. He's Jurrien Timber 😟

This post should have been out earlier in the week. Apologies; I was away over the weekend, and have had some catching up to do. Anyway...

A review of the Forest game can start in only one place; the injury to new signing Jurrien Timber which looks like keeping him out for the bulk of the season. I'd like to wish him a swift and full recovery from what has unfortunately been identified as a torn ACL - that's 6-8 months, guys, and probably the end of his season before it's even started... 

And whilst Arsenal look well enough covered at left back on paper - Zinchenko, Kivior, Tomiyasu, Tierney, and not forgetting Nuno Tavares! - it's really not as clear cut as that. Zinchenko's injury record is not good (he's currently unfit), Kivior is a rookie in that position, Tomiyasu is barely back from serious injury himself, and it looks like Tierney, whose style of play appears at odds with Arteta's, may well be on his way out of the club in the next couple of weeks. 

But most importantly of all it affects how Arteta wants his team to play. Inverting full backs, and fluidity in the back 4 that effectively makes it just three or even two when Arsenal are attacking, will be affected by the loss of the Dutchman. I'm pretty sure that Arteta will revert to White, Saliba, Gabriel (although quite why he was left out of the starting XI on Saturday, and questions on rumours about Saudi Arabian interest need to be resolved), and then who starts if Zinchenko remains out. Certainly, Tomiyasu was far less effective when he came on; but that may be a function of the 'chalk and cheese' difference between Arsenal's first and second half performances in general.

Arteta's first team selection of the season was therefore something of a surprise. No Gabriel, and Nketiah preferred to Trossard up front. From the (delayed) start, it was clear that Partey was right back merely in name, as he spent much of his time at 6, allowing Rice to push further forward and removing some defensive duties from Havertz. But it was, in truth, a fairly quiet start, with Arsenal having loads of possession whilst faced with the predicted 'low block'. Indeed, Forest had the best early chance, when Boly's hopeful header forward freed Johnson between White and Saliba, only for him to rush his shot as Ramsdale advanced.

An illustration of why Arsenal found it difficult to break Forest down can be seen from this screenshot, which shows Odegaard and Saka in acres of space, the ball on the other side of the field, and nobody looking to switch play rapidly as Arsenal sides were doing for much of last season. Hopefully that will come:

But in truth it was all Arsenal early on, and there was a great familiarity to the play as the ball was perhaps not being shifted quickly enough to create the space required to test Matt Turner (for whom, despite his year at Arsenal, this was a Premier League debut). That was until some trickery from Martinelli on the left, which left both Aurier and Danilo 'on toast' (in truth, he had the measure of both of them throughout), led to an opportunity for Nketiah as the ball broke. A swift turn, a powerful and slightly deflected shot, and it was 1-0. By the way - clever trickery from Martinelli (if I tried it, I'd do myself a mischief!), but he'd lost control and there was, for me, an element of fortune that the ball broke to Eddie. Oh, I'm going to be in trouble for suggesting that!!!

Minutes later and it was 2-0, as Saka cut inside in trademark fashion and, to cries of 'Shoooooot!', unleashed an unstoppable thunderbolt into the side netting. No 'keeper is saving that! The collective 'Oooooh!' from the crowd as the replay came up on the screens said it all. 

Arsenal were in complete control. Declan Rice was 'everywhere', and Partey also roamed where he wished. White made a number of overlapping runs as Arsenal, in contrast to last season, mainly concentrated on attacking down their right hand side. Where last year I was often heard complaining that Saka wasn't seeing enough of the ball, in this match it was Martinelli who was somewhat isolated for much of the first half. But everything looked comfortable.

Then, close to half time, came the injury to Timber, It didn't look good at the time, but at least the medical team would have 15 minutes to assess him. Nonetheless, it was something of a surprise to see him reappear for the second half, and distressing to see him hop unpleasantly and then sink to the turf just three minutes after the break. 

The next 30 minutes or so were something of an anti-climax, in truth. Much of the zip had seemed to have gone out of Arsenal's play during the interval, and there was much less dynamic movement taking place. Slightly disappointing - boring, even - despite a couple of decent shots from distance from Rice.

And then... disaster. Forest substitutes Awoniyi and Elanga - I cannot fathom why Manchester United have let the latter go - combining in a swift break down their left following an Arsenal corner, Rice for one unable to keep up with the speed of the break, and Awoniyi's clever movement taking him in front of White to stab home. In truth, a really nice goal; and at the same time something with an air of familiarity about it for Arsenal. And so, instead of cruising, Arsenal were up against it and hanging on for dear life in a game in which they ought to have been out of sight.

Arteta finally made the necessary substitution, bringing on Gabriel to shore things up, and it was pretty comfortable from then on. But there are concerns. About not finishing Forest off when they had the chance. About a certain physical vulnerability that reminded me of the end of last season. And about mental fragility. But the three points are in the bag, and at the end of the day that's all that matters, I guess.

Other matters; one involving Arsenal and then a couple of other things that I spotted over the weekend.

Firstly, turnstile mayhem at the stadium. Arsenal need to get to the bottom of what went wrong just 45 minutes before kick-off as soon as possible. My family - including my disabled son - were caught up in it - and things were a little hairy for a while. Eventually, they just opened the gates and let everyone in. Unsatisfactory to say the least.

I just want to cover a couple of things that have bothered me over the past few days. Firstly, Chelsea's spending. It seems inconceivable that they are not breaking FFP regulations in spending the amount of money that they have. I think that they're up to almost one billion pounds in just three transfer windows, and they don't even have the income from European competition to help them. Surely the authorities need to intervene (unless their willingness to tie themselves and the players down to 7/8 year contracts mitigates against it?) - that's point 1 - and the other point is that with that sort of spending why shouldn't everybody be expecting them to be challenging for the title?

Secondly, the injury that looks like keeping Kevin De Bruyne out until the New Year. Good news for City's challengers, one would suspect - especially with Gundogan having departed over the summer - but I suspect that City will be into the market quickly; and possibly for bigger fish than Lucas Paqueta.

And finally, Manchester United being once more favoured by some terrible refereeing/VAR decision-making. Nothing has changed, has it? The last minute incident involving their goalkeeper flapping at a corner and taking out a Wolves attacker was a stone bonk penalty in the eyes of everybody - except for referee Hooper (who had already allowed both Wan-Bissaka and Antony to get away with earlier asssaults) and a VAR who - in his infinite wisdom - decided that it wasn't a 'clear and obvious error' not to award a penalty. Favouring Manchester United has started again, nice and early. I am pleased that this has at least been ackowledged by PGMOL with the officials being releived of their duties for next weekend - but that, and an apology, don't help Wolves.

Anyway, rant over. We move on to Monday night at Selhurst Park. Tricky. Let's see the fruits of Arteta's work with his squad - both on a physical and mental level - next week. COYG! 

Round Up And Season Preview

Lots to cover here. So much going on. If you're an Arsenal fan and not very excited at the prospects for 2023/24, there must be something wrong with you!

But before I start on a preview, I'm still finding it hard to let go of some of the stuff that went on last season; a season that frankly defied our wildest expectations. Yes, I know that it ended in massive disappointment, but if football is as much about moments as anything else then please relive for a moment that awesome 'statement' start at Selhurst Park; Saliba's brilliant goal - and constant serenading - at Bournemouth; beating - nay, humiliating - Spurs and Chelsea home and away (Conte's 4-man substitution surrender move will live long in my memory); two electrifying matches with Liverpool; Eddie's last minute winner against Manchester United; Emi Martinez's freak - and highly amusing - own goal; Reiss Nelson's explosive 97th minute winner at home to Bournemouth; and Granit Xhaka's emotional farewell against Wolves. And so much else. Plus the great atmosphere that it all generated at a vibrant and expectant Emirates Stadium. And 'North London Forever'... 

Done that? Ok - now we can move on.

Mikel Arteta made it very clear over the summer who he wanted in order to move the squad up a notch. And he's been well and truly backed by the Board. Seriously, if there's anybody who's still 'Kroenke Out', I despair. £100m+ on Declan Rice - crazy money, but what can one do? £65m on what on the face of it appeared to be the left field choice of Kai Havertz - but who are we to argue with Arteta's talent identification at the moment? What looks like an absolute 'steal' in Jurrien Timber for a 'mere' £35m. And now David Raya; creating a fascinating dynamic at goalkeeper. 

Add those to the long-term contract signings, and this young group of players can grow together for maybe 3-4 years from here. With the odd premium addition each season, this group can take Arsenal precisely where we want to see them go. Are there any more attractive destinations than London N5 for any ambitious young player? I don't think so. And whilst there are sure to be outgoings later in the month, the only notable departures thus far have been Granit Xhaka and - this week - Matt Turner.

Suddenly, a squad that looked thin by the end of last season looks packed to the rafters! Personally, I'd like to see a goal scorer signed as the final piece of the jigsaw, but Arteta must feel that he has enough versatility in the squad now to cover most eventualities. Of course, with Champions League football back, there is little room for experimentation. But he does need to learn to 'rotate' - something that he's not demonstrated being too good at so far in my humble opinion.

There are so many fine players in the squad now that it's difficult to know what the best starting XI is. Clearly, with Zinchenko and Jesus both sidelined at the moment, there are decisions to be made. And it's in midfield and at centre forward where there are the biggest questions to answer. 

My big concern is if Arteta is set on selecting a forward thinking player at 'left 8'. Because that player will not be able to replicate the defensive qualities and discipline of Granit Xhaka, and will likely leave whoever plays at the base of midfield somewhat exposed. Exposed in the same way as Partey was when William Saliba got injured last season - suddenly, he had far too much ground to cover, and was made to look second-rate as a result. That cannot be allowed to happen again - especially when there's not just Champions League to consider, but just as importantly with PL opposition looking more and more to hit us on the break. Although... the full backs rotating inside will add numbers to midfield. 

I simply cannot envisage what he's got planned (and the absence of Zinchenko won't help early on), so I guess that we'll have to wait and see.

The dynamic is fascinating. And to me it's a big dilemma. In the Community Shield there was little sign of 'inverting' full backs - they had their hands full, let's face it - but Arsenal looked most threatening when either Partey or Rice dropped back between the centre halves to pick up the ball and instigate attacks. But for this unique opposition Arsenal had to stay extremely compact and disciplined.

Partey and Rice have different strengths. The former has quick feet to help him worm his way out of tight spots, and can also find ridiculous passing angles. The latter is more about power and directness - that surging run to dispossess Bernardo Silva on Sunday was trademark Rice. But if, for the biggest games, Arteta feels that he needs to play both of them (I'd very much agree with that), then how does he choose between them in the more run-of-the-mill games if he wants extra fire power? And whilst Rice appears to be extremely robust, Partey will need to be protected from overuse. That's what this big squad is for.

Before I start predicting what may happen this season, I think I'd better review the Community Shield; a match that I found totally absorbing from start to finish. Normally, I'm in the lower tier, but my vantage point from block 501 granted me a completely different view; something that I was grateful for in such a tactical affair. Individual battles were there to be won and lost all over the pitch, and to a great extent Arsenal held their own against probably the greatest club side there has ever been. And, by the way, don't be taken in by any nonsense about City not caring about the result. Did you see how hard Guardiola celebrated Palmer's goal? Or how miserable he looked afterwards?

But it's difficult to read too much into a game like this, with City probably a week behind Arsenal in their preparation, having finished their season so much later that everyone else. So I suspect that Arsenal were firing on more cylinders than City were. Nonetheless it was more or less 50/50 all over the pitch. White dealt well with Grealish (I suspect that they don't like each other much; White had a snidey White-like off the ball dig at the winger early on that the latter couldn't wait to return!), and Timber had quite a bit of space in which to operate with Bernardo Silva operating more infield than out. The two sets of midfield dynamos also matched up well, but it wasn't until Arsenal settled into the match and started to play their own football - possession in the first 15 minutes was dominated by City - that we got to see what they are going to be made of this season.

At the top end of the pitch both Saka and Martinelli were quiet by their own standards, but Odegaard looks ready to roll, and the choice and role of Havertz were very interesting. He's tall and strong, links play well, and is closer to Jesus in the way he plays than Trossard. 'False 9' sums up the role well; capable of going up against City's huge back line, but also dropping short and spinning into space at times, as well as leading the 'press'. Yes, he missed two decent chances (Saka also had a very presentable opportunity, I should add) - but the first was all of his own making, and frankly unlucky not to end up in the back of the net. For the second, I will acknowledge that he should have done better - something he can improve on, I'm sure. Chances were, of course, at a premium at both ends; Ramsdale saved Arsenal on two occasions, and had no chance with the goal.

At the defensive end of the pitch, we finally got to see a bit of the heavyweight battle that is Haaland vs Saliba. Quite possibly the best in their position in not only the Premier League, but perhaps the world. Haaland has been variously described as a 'beast', and a 'cheat code'. But the description we most see for our boy is 'Rolls-Royce'. I cannot argue with that. He is also freakishly good at what he does. And he certainly had Haaland's attention in this one.

Haaland was kept very quiet - although we know that he only needs a split second - but Saliba also managed to do plenty in possession, whereas the Norwegian had a grand total of 13 touches in the hour he was on the field, and had an xG of 0.0000! This has the makings of a long-running and crucial saga when these two sides meet for real in the Premier League; perhaps for many seasons to come.

Noticeably, Pep did not allow a single moment of Haaland and KDB on the pitch together at the same time. I believe that was deliberate. And it was also interesting to note how De Bruyne changed the dynamic of the game as soon as he entered the field of play. Where Kovacic was unable to play 'between the lines', this is where the Belgian excels. He sped up the play, and his assist for Palmer's goal was as brilliant as it was instinctive. He and Foden made a huge difference when they got on the field. I'm expecting Pep to spend money in the next three weeks; losing Gundogan and Mahrez without properly replacing them may be a big mistake.

Arsenal's substitutes - with perhaps the exception of poor Kieran Tierney; wrong-footed by a slight deflection in the build-up to the City goal and unable to clear the ball properly - did well when they came on. Trossard was busy on the left, and whilst his goal was fortunate he at least tried something different to just lobbing the ball back into the mix. ESR and Vieira both looked motivated. And Nketiah made a number of clever runs in behind the City defence in order to put presuure on their tired legs. 

Great to see some redemption for Vieira for his penalty miss in New York with a decisive winning spot kick. Totally unsavable (by the way, this reminds me to ask you if you saw Chloe Kelly's penalty that sent the Lionesses through against Nigeria the other day. Absolute perfection!).

Anyway, that's Arsenal's second trophy of the year in the bag. The Emirates Cup and now The Community Shield. Tongue firmly in cheek here; it's pre-season and largely irrelevant. Especially in the context of Tottenham's recent clinching of the highly prestigious Tiger Cup!!! But more to the point it's clear to me that a) Arsenal are ready for the season, and b) are going to be going toe to toe with City again. Bring it on!

Just a quick aside here before I continue with predictions. It's on refereeing. 

Firstly, the yellow card thing on Sunday. Partey and Alvarez both got their cards for kicking the ball away to waste time. As per a new directive. Arteta's yellow was for waving an imaginary yellow card at the referee following a foul by Rodri. Similar directive. However... how Rodri wasn't booked for that blatant shirt pull which prevented an Arsenal break I do not know (and this is a recurring theme with Rodri, who gets away with this sort of behaviour consistently). Plus the knock-on effect of this is that Rodri could foul with impunity late on when City were protecting their lead, whereas Partey - already booked - had to tread cautiously in the moments leading up to Palmer's goal. All we want to see is a level playing field, please.

Secondly, the news that Lee Mason has been re-employed by PGMOL - and as a Trainer of Referees! This of course is the guy who when VAR for the Arsenal vs Brentford game last season 'forgot' to draw the lines on the screen, leading to Brentford's equalising goal being allowed to stand despite their player being offside. Sacked one moment; reinstated AND PROMOTED the next? Great work, Mr Webb!!! 

As for predictions, I need to be careful as opposed to bullish. Yes, Arsenal could win the Premier League. But City are the ultimate opposition. I'm hoping to see Arsenal run them close at the very least. A run deep into the knockout stages of the Champions League would be great. As regards the cups; well, the squad is now of sufficient quality to be able to give them both a real go too. 

The football world is Arsenal's oyster. Not long until Saturday. COYG!