Okay, so that was fun.
Arsenal hit Bilbao in a dominant game filled with stories that were really difficult not to like.
Gyokees scored his first arsenal goal and it was a header …
Madueke came again as a left -wing player and looked really good …
Our rear four that started with wood and Calafiori, Plus Saliba and Gabriel, and it was very solid.
Zubimendi is real, really, really good and he checked the pace of the game as if he had been to Arsenal for six years.
Our system is formed around having a striker who, you know, want to be a striker … And we now have two.
The game should not be perfect, nor did it come close. You are really looking for improved fitness and for your players to give a deeper insight into the tweaks of the system. We have landed both things. The goal output was where it should have been, the only small concern I had was that it was quite late in a game that we had dominated and we only had eight shots with four on goal.
This is a kind of where I referred to Arsenal. The same functions are present in every game: we dominate, we control spaces, we defend well … but the games still feel like they are a bad passage of catastrophe.
This afternoon looked like this, but the right side of it … We had our chances count in a way that we normally don’t do. The game ended with six shots on goal from 10 shots. Reasonable, but then you see that Liverpool had a tighter score, but 17 shots put on their goal with 10 on goal. That is what Liverpool does throughout the season and it is where we should get next season if we want to kill matches earlier and make more of our attacking players.
But look, that is a small complaint in an afternoon that really found everything about Zubimendi and releases Gyokeres at speed. Have you ever seen one of those videos where they release a tie back in the wild and it has no idea what’s going on and it’s just a kind of meanders? That was the energy of the creative players of Arsenal with Gyokees … they really seemed to struggle with the idea that there would always be a striker to create space for themselves in the box of aggressive runs.
As a fan I felt that energy … Who was this blonde monster that was around the Bulldoz field? He found space in the box earlier, but shot Tamely on the keeper. He was a number of times as the cut. He tried to connect the game in an awkward way. But what we really wanted to see was a goal. Zubimendi recycled a corner with a lus ball in the box, the Swede made some room for itself and turned his header over the keeper. For a player they said, the ball could not lead, that was a first effort.
I thought his party was funny … he was really not dedicated to that piece. He was almost a bit ashamed, as a typecast actor was asked to ‘say the line’ while standing in line for a McChicken sandwich. It was a tame bane is what I say.
Arsenal was clearly work patterns to give the team faster, more direct access to the pace of our attackers. The second goal came shortly thereafter, Martin cut a first ball over the top of the Bilbao High Line, Martinelli hit his defenders with his pace, he took the ball past the oncoming keeper and Saka put the ball in the unguarded net. Ugly, but the kind of goal we don’t really see as Arsenal fans because teams build trenches when they play us. The tweaks that Arteta makes are aimed at more directness and it has worried the Spaniards.
The third goal happened late in the game when Kai had sustained. Can we just talk about this man? He took an injury, clearly came in the Andrew Huberman -Podcast and some Caveman -diet Tiktokers … and he took it all to heart with the ruthless discipline of a high -quality podcast subscriber. He has set up muscle mass, worked on his physique, grown a rangy -beard that makes him look scary, and he is … faster? Saka ran a very non -advanced ball over the top of the Bilbao defense, Kai hit their entire team for pace and then stopped a player trying to move on his shoulder and misunderated a disguised strike over the keeper. A brilliant goal, the kind for which we have signed Gyokeres!
That was the show we needed and the result we were looking for. I have trouble being dragged too much with it, because this season we will just not have too many matches that teams are trying to play against us. It will be middle and deep blocks that we have to deal with all year round and there is more convincing that it must be done that Arsenal has solved those problems, especially if we do not sign.
But … for United. That was a great warming. They simply should not place a suffering Ball -Lockdown on Arsenal, nor do they have the players to deliver that. It will be a weapon fight, and so we want it to be for the opening match of the season.
So what are my most important hot here? I really like what I saw about Gyokees. You know he wasn’t my first choice. But what I like is that the players trust him and he looks ready for the now. He is not the typical type of attacker that you associate with Arsenal. He is not great in tight space, he is not a refined player of playing, he is just a fuking brute who has taken a master in creating space to kill teams. I liked the variety of his runs, the way he changed his movement patterns, and I think his power might have been underestimated by a few of us … he is massive. We have chosen the biggest weapon on the shelf to do very specific work. In gaming terms I think we are overwhelmed. We picked up a player who was perfectly suited for an overwhelming competition. I don’t think we are struggling for goals. His weaknesses are the same as those of Haaland. He will not be deeply involved in complex structure and he will never be a false nine. Gyokees is just raw target score power … and he will open the rest of our front line because he will occupy players. Good luck that Saka Trebulates this season at Saka, knowing that he is lurking in the box.
Then there is Zubimendi. A One-Touch Masterclass from a player who formed a very solid looking partnership with Declan. The two in -depth midfielders took turns to build from behind. They played a pivot from possession and took turns the more advanced player who was dependent on what happened in the attack. Both have different skills and Zubimendi seems to have some of the CESCs about his game. The way in which he can hide is very 10-like, and his first delivery is exceptional. He was really nice to watch. I did not expect that his defensive reading of the game would be so good, but he is like a rat a drain pipe on loose balls, and his positioning is great for interceptions and blocks.
Mosquera also gave me a lot of hope. He came up with part of the time to impact. He is huge, his shoulders are wide and his game looks expensive. He is an extremely powerful runner, his death is there with Big Gabi and Saliba. He looks more than ready to get meaningful minutes this season. That is an absolute necessity when you consider how important it will be to let Saliba and Gabriel fit at the end of the following season. We now have a feasible rotation option.
I don’t want to drag too much with Madueke. He is a good player, we know this, his problems have to do with output. In that sense I just felt that I was looking at the same performance that I watched with Martinelli. That is why it is the key that we don’t get too much on the Brazilian. He is a good player, we just didn’t see him go on … but he could continue. The danger is that Madueke is the same as Martinelli this season and we have the same output problems. The Alt that is that this new faster / direct system unlock both Martinelli and Madueke. So it’s a real role of the dice, but is Madueke an upgrade on Raheem? Yes. Yes he is.
Was it remarkable that all our salable assets were on the couch? No travel, zincenko, kiwior or lokonga. Let’s see what is happening there this week. Those four must go out when we bring in Eze.
So, a decent preseason, not a big one … but there is nothing important. It’s all about a week without injuries and an explosive start of next season. I still can’t do how bad our early luminaires are again. The ‘random’ luminaire generator really seems to do his best to make life difficult for Arsenal. It is also strange that Premier League reviews fell last season, and Richard Masters did not come up with a PGMOL Reforming Act that we can see. They are just … Get rid of a one -year disaster?
Ok, it’s a good day. I’m going to get a beer later. Then get very excited for the coming week.
There is an offer for immersing Le Grove that runs until next Monday. If you want to sign up for Primo writing, all bonus podcasts, the disagreement, advertising-free content and the whistles live, get the deal now. On the podcast front I locked Matt, Johnny and Jacob for the season. It will be a fun year, can’t wait to talk about it regularly.
#Root #brute