Morning everyone.
Well, here we go again. The new season starts later this afternoon with a trip to Old Trafford, and Mikel Arteta has one or two decisions when it comes to his starting XI. The obvious is that starts at the front between Kai Havertz and Viktor Gyokees. The responsibility of a manager is clear to choose a team that, according to him, has the best chance of winning the game and not listening to too much external noise.
In this case, after such a shouting for Arsenal to buy a striker, it feels that there would be way too much story if the arrival in the summer from sport would not start. I think it is probably a good conversation between the two in Arteta’s spirit. Havertz had a bit of an injury in the preseason, but Gyokees arrived late and had only done individual training for a few weeks. We know he loves the German, but I think today it should be the new man with insurance/reassurance that he has someone outside the bank who can really help the team.
Furthermore, the only other selection problem I can think of left back. In our Example podcast on PatreonWe chose the team and the bank, and in the end we left two from Jakub Kiwior, Crithian Mosquera and Leandro Trossard – reportedly suitable again. I have seen video that shows that Max Dowman has also traveled with the team, something that we did not consider in our conversation. It is possible that he is there as the reserve man (boy) and this is part of giving the senior match-day experience, but regardless of there there will be a number of players who have been omitted.
I had a very small preference for Riccardo Calafiori to start it, but if it is Myles Lewis-Skelly, I would be good, and it might be logical to have the Italian as a defensive depth. I assume that Gabriel starts, but after a big injury and not much playing time in the preseason, Arteta may have to take into account the possibility that the full 90 can be a challenge for him. Hence Calafiori on the couch. I saw Mosquera in the video and did not see Gabriel (which is not convincing VAT), so maybe it’s Saliba/Calafiori on the back, but otherwise I would predict this:
Ray, White, Salba, Gabriel, Lewis-Skelly, Zubimeddi, Odegaard, Martinelli, Saka, Gyokers.
Subs: Kepa, Timber, Calafiori, Norgaard, Merino, Nwaneri, Hikeke, Havertz, Trossard/Dowman
Wood gives you a defensive coverage over the back line, and Calafiori can enter within the left back or the center of half. Then I want to see a bank with players who can make a difference. Last season was the ongoing joke that we had an abundance of left backs at our disposal, but it wasn’t really that funny when you needed a goal and saw very few offensive options. Arteta has it at his disposal today and I really have to see the bank stacked that way.
Midfield will be really important, and it is a whole place for Martin Zubimendi to make his competitive debut. However, I do not think that he will be stunned, and hopefully we will see more of that promising combination game from the Athletic Bilbao game, which made him change quite a bit with Declan Rice and allowed Martin Odegaard to play higher in the field. Moving the ball faster from deep areas to our forward line will be one of the developments we see this season of the team, and hopefully that will start seriously today.
As for United, they clearly invested heavily in their forward line, which was a failure point last season. There is no doubt that Bryan Mbeumo, Mattheus Cunha and Benjamin Sesko improve them in that respect, but I wonder if they might have been better off to invest some of that money in midfield, the center of their defense and in a goalkeeper. So in that sense you hope that an improved Arsenal can find joy against a team struggling in those areas last season, while knowing the reliability of our defense to compensate for their greater power in advance.
Old Trafford has not been a happy hunting ground for us over the years. Some incidental victories, but too many games where it felt like we played the history of Man Utd instead of the 11 men on the field. It is a difficult start to the season, but Arteta says:
We have to play at one point and we start in an incredible stadium with so much history and a great way to start the season. We go for game for the game and make the best preparations and then perform to earn the right to win the game.
The effort feels high, not only because of today’s opposition, but because of what is expected from Arsenal this season. We did solid business this summer, the team and the team we needed where we needed, and if there were some understandable reasons for our football to be less exciting and pleasant last season, this time is not the case. I don’t really care how we win today, once we do that, but in the course of the campaign I hope that we can coordinate results and performances in a way that people remind us of a very good team and one that needs everything that is needed to challenge the title.
So there you go. A new season starts, and like ever we will have it Live blog reporting of the game for you, and all things after the match-included players’ reviews and reaction-on Arseblog News.
For now, a good Sunday, and come on your Gunners!
#Selection #decisions #season #starts