Gunners Back With Aubang
Jul 14th, 2018 by 'holic
There is nothing like that apparently meaningless first friendly of pre-season to wake up the ‘Come on The Arsenal’ gene in most of us. The side that started, or indeed finished, the match at Boreham Wood is unlikely to feature in anything other than a Europa League or League cup fixture but we got a first look at the new boss and a couple of his new signings.
Other Premier League managers will surely be taking a look at Unai Emery’s first match in charge looking for clues as to any significant tactical switches, but with a number of the World Cup players still absent maybe the flexible 4-3-3 seemingly employed today was a smokescreen to suit the blend of experience and youth he had available this afternoon.
The player to most catch the eye in the first half, or perhaps I should say the first seventeen minutes, was Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. Seven minutes in he engineered an opening in the inside-left channel on the edge of the box and curled a right foot beauty inside the join of crossbar and far post. Two minutes later he headed home an Ainsley Maitland-Niles cross from close range to double our advantage.
His ten minute hat-trick was completed when the lively Reiss Nelson was brought down in the box. Looking at the screen I would guess that Alexandre Lacazette was the nominated penalty taker, but he appeared to gesture ‘you can have it’ to his strike partner who duly smashed his effort high to the goalkeeper’s left.
Three-nil so early on would suggest a horrible mismatch, but it was anything but. Nobody should judge players on the first pre-season match as part of the reason for it is to shake off the rustiness after a couple of months of inaction. The experienced pairing of Hector Bellerin and new boy Sokratis Papastathopoulos (of course I cut and pasted it!) were caught out more than once and the hosts can feel a little unlucky not to have snatched a goal or two on the break themselves.
As the half wore on though the Gunners really started to click going forward with Emile Smith-Rowe impressing on the left side of midfield. A fourth goal was set up by Lacazette and impressively chested down and volleyed home by Nelson, a young man with great potential entering the final year of his contract. A worry it has to be said.
Lacazette finally he got his reward for a cracking half of intelligent football when set up by Smith-Rowe and Aubameyang to finish calmly and give us a five goal margin at the break. This was obviously the cue for wholesale changes as Emery chose to get a look at those packing the benches before half-time.
Just eight minutes had passed when Eddie N’ketieh served further notice of his potential with a beautiful near post flick from a Lucas Perez (remember him?) cross. Six became seven when another returnee, Jeff Reine-Adalaide hammered home a twenty yard drive with authority. Having made his point the young Frenchman made way for his distinctive fellow countryman, Mattéo Guendouzi.
His arrival heralded the final strike of an eight goal canter when N’ketiah cleverly back-heeled into the path of Henrikh Mkhitaryan who finished with aplomb.
Did we learn a lot from today? Probably not. Stiffer opposition lies in wait in the shape of Atletico Madrid (yes, them again!) and PSG in Singapore. Now those two will give us a clue as to what lies in store for us in the early days of this season.
As all that was going on England’s World Cup ended with a second defeat against a very good Belgium team. I’m sure most England fans would have snatched your hand off for a fourth place finish before the tournament started. In the end that was probably about the best we could have expected, even if briefly hope sprung eternal.
Enjoy the World Cup Final, ‘holics, if you can.
49 Responses to “Gunners Back With Aubang”
Thanks for the blog on the game Holic. I saw extended highlights and it was obviously a stroll. There were two very good things and one worrying one. The two good things were the sharpness of Auba who could be in line for a great season and the emergence of Emile Smith- Rowe, who sounds like a public schoolboy but looks a footballing thoroughbred to me. Interesting he got a start and has been training with the first team. I’m pretty certain he is the real deal and Emery is obviously impressed. On the negative side I thought Sokratis looked terribly slow and had zero understanding with Bellerin. One of those situations can be rectified but not the other. I admit to a concern about Sokratis’ signing and hope I am worrying unduly.
Interesting to see Chambers playing as a DM. Maybe that is where Emery sees him playing this season?
As for England their ending was very Sperzy. Sterling is a complete waste of space and fourth place might be a high water mark. Again I hope I’m wrong
Thanks H! Back from the beach to search for the goals
And we are back!!!
Nice report H. Good to see the Arsenal play today, even if it was a preseason run-out. Bam Bam likes a finish and worked well with Laca. Hope that’s a good sign of things to come. A teenage midfield did well the first half as well.
TTG, I think we all saw that Sokratis looked the shakiest. He appeared casual to me like he was really interested in this game. I hope Emery gives him a few lashings.
Thanks for the review H. You are absolutely right – the Arsenal sap is rising. You are limbering up nicely yourself for the new season.
It’s simply delightful to have the Arsenal back and as TTG observes there were some very promising signs today along with an uninspiring performance or two. However it’s far too early for accurate prognostication. A few more
investigations, rather outings are required. At least most of the squad have begun to shed the cobwebs.Talking of returns, it’s also delightful to welcome two old lags back to the bar tonight – haste ye back. Also good to see the ever acerbic cba emerge from his bog (?) last night. Top the morning’ to ya, Jimmy. Hopefully a few more of the usual suspects will emerge from their summer hibernation as the Arsenal becomes a regular event again.
Every word bath, thank you. Always good to see the important people in the bar. ??
Initially was worried about the difficult start of the season, leading off with Citeh and the Fulham bus stop crowd, but then realized we may catch a break with a load of their main players being on World Cup holiday and/or just returning from their labors. Let’s hope so.
Thanks for the first report of the new season
Guvnor.
I suppose 8-0 must be a record 1st game win for a
new Arsenal manager.
A few of us have speculated on the names of
players on their way out before the start of
the season, but it seems from his comments
that Emery is thinking only one or maybe two
will move on including one keeper.
I guess he wants to have time to make his own
decisions on the fringe / loan players including
Perez who played yesterday.
Just an answer to Ned from yesterday – I’d guess
around 6th,7th,8th for this England squad in the
PL – to me they are overly dependent on Kane
and suspect defensively against quality players.
They’ve been efficient enough against teams at
or below their level but not good enough otherwise.
Their PL record would would be W3, D2,L2
And they did much better than I expected so
well done them!
Nice opening run-out, ‘Holic. Looks as if you are shaping up for another fine season.
What bath@4 said.
TTG@1: AW said Chambers would be a DM. Emery apparently agrees and is doing something about it.
OM@7: I’d put them nearer 8th than 6th but I agree that is about their level.
8-0 every week this season will suit me nicely. Looking forward to Holic Pound predictions accordingly.
Thanks for the report, ‘holic. Based on the speed those goals were going in, Unai Emery would appear not only to have released the handbrake but to have greased the wheels as well. Not difficult, mind you, seeing as there is so much of it in his hair. 😉
Dr. C, Great to see you see you in the drinks.
Thanks for the report ‘holic. I’m very excited for the start of the season and looking forward so much to the City game. I’m not a big betting man but have invested £10 each way on The Arsenal to win the league at 26-1 which I think represents stonking value. Get on while you can!
ah now , baff
and there was me up to tolerance level 1 for yer countrymen
having seen the finest examples
strolling thursday just gone
handsomely sporting the gingham dresses
i believe are woven from the ear hair of their womenfolk
.
.
it costs nothing to be nice
ye’d think a Scot would be all over those prices
.
.
.
ps.
na na
na na na
Tottenham, Tottenham’s No. 1
Happy for Ollie G as World Champion
Did you notice the blank look on Lloris’s face as he was handed the trophy? He was very unfamiliar with holding silverware ( or goldware to be accurate). Most of the French players scattered in case he dropped it on them.
I’m pleased for Olly Giroud but blimey is he a weak link in that side. Yes he holds the ball up and gives a focal point but scarcely a shot and no goals after playing in every game? He is the 2018 Guiv’Arch for those with long memories. But he is filling up his trophy cabinet.
At least we won’t have to hear the words Vedran and Corluks intoned over the airwaves for some considerable time, one would hope.
First Arsenal game under Emery, first report of the season from Holic and the World Cup coming to an end. All signals of normalcy about to be restored for those of us whose lives are punctuated by Arsenal football seasons. Can’t wait for the first game against City, we might just give them a good beating.
As for the World Cup, gotta feel for Lolo Koscielny who missed out on a World Cup win because of that terrible injury. As for the final itself, the penalty given to France was extremely harsh and was a game defining moment. I am pro VAR but there’s a problem if the television footage being shown when the on field referee went over to check the monitor was the one that was used to make the decision. It was almost like three frozen frames – one when the ball is a couple of yards away from Umtiti and Perisic, two when it hits Perisic’s arm and three of the ball going out. The entire play from the point where the corner is taken should be viewed by the referee to understand that it was a completely unintentional handball and if Umtiti does make contact with the ball – Perisic would not even have touched the ball. A freeze frame gives an exaggerated view of things. This is not to say that VAR should not be used but since this is still a new technology/entrant these kind of incidents will only help improve it.
TTG@15: But Guivarc’h won a World Cup, league titles in two leagues, a French and a Scottish Cup, a Scottish League Cup and the French top tier Golden Boot twice (and a second tier Golden Boot). I know the Daily Mail voted him the worst striker ever in the Premiership, but then that was with Newcastle where he played only four games.
THANK GOD FOR THAT!
PROPER FOOTBALL BACK ON PLEASE!!!!!!!!
In all honesty this so called France win didn’t feel like a win all together!
Two factors:
Anti Football…..
Anti football……
I’m sorry but the Brazil vs Belgium game was the game worthy of a final!
This was by all considerations shyte! French defended and showed us why you need to win ugly to become successful!
Summertime soirée selection
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=gNayAdfuWU0
TTG – Following Giroud’s performances in the World Cup, Bendtner has handed over his Greatest Striker Who Ever Lived crown and bent the knee in acknowledgement.
Giroud has reworked the title however and wishes to be known as the Supreme Lord Of No Shots On Target, or SLONSOT for short.
Meanwhile, his awesomeness appears to have earned him an early transfer out of Chelsea, if newspaper tittle tattle is to be believed.
Fine world cup and Russia proved a lot wrong in hosting it really well notwithstanding the umbrella only for Putin and rest left to soak ending.
The honours rolled out for the best players were perfect but for kane but then stats don’t lie so he gets the shoe. If we could have added a couple more awards, Kante and Varane would have won it for the 2 more best players, they were fantastic.
The Arsenal are back and so is the camaraderie. The playing style does not seem to be a lot different to the Arsene days but it is too early to conclude. What is concerning though is Ramsey and whether he will stay or leave. All indications are he will stay but we have been bitten too often to believe. Additionally, is mustafi set to stay? we aint getting pavard after his displays but is Ruggani/Benatia available to price away from their clubs?
Pre Season should really kick off end of the month and it will be interesting to see how Unai keeps Torreira, Xhaka, Ramsey,Ozil all happy playing in the midfield as well as try to fit in Mhki, Auba and Lacazette, welcome to the Arsenal Unai and good luck.
I know I’m probably in the minority but I wouldn’t
be bothered if Ramsey left.
He did do better last season but wasn’t, to me,
player of the season. He isn’t bad and has some
good qualities, but he’s not that great either – if he
doesn’t sign soon then sell and replace.
Well that’s that for another 4 Years, A good World Cup and worthy winners made all the sweeter for the little tickle I had on them at the start.
Now Back to the proper stuff and I must say I’m most excited, probably the most excited I’ve been for a good 4 or 5 years. Should be a fun ride and there’s plenty of goals up top to be enjoyed ! Also found out recently a little Chippy will be entering the world early in the New Year, So looking forward to taking him/her on the same journey I and my dad took on following this great club – Thanks to Grandad Chippy up there for that one 😉 Onwards and upwards
Up The Arse,
Vinay@23: One way to do it would be to play Mkhi, Ozil and Lacazette behind Aubama. The perm two of Torreira, Xhaka, Ramsey and Maitland-Niles ahead of a back four (of which only Bellerin and Nacho pick themselves at the moment).
Emery likes to play four at the back. I can’t find a record of him starting a game with a back three since Oct 2013 and you have to go back to February 2010 for the time before that.
He didn’t play 4-2-3-1 a lot with PSG, but it was his default formation at Sevilla. At PSG his preferred formation was 4-3-3, which, in our terms, would probably mean perming three from Aubama, Lacca, Ozil and Mkhi at the front with Torreira or Maitland-Niles, Xhaka and Ramsey all getting a game behind.
In the 2016 CL games, against us in the group stage you may remember he used an unconventional 4-1-4-1. That, for us, would probably mean Torreira or Maitland-Niles as the 1, two of Ramsey, Xhaka and Ozil (most likely Ozil and one of Ramsey or Xhaka) with Mkhi and another winger either side of them and Aubama or Lacca up front.
None of which leaves a lot of playing time for Elneny, Welbeck, Iwobi or Perez and especially if any of the youngsters start knocking hard on the door.
Congratulations, Chippy. Bring him/her up a proper Gooner.
Thanks Ned, Don’t worry they will know the words to B”Jesus Said Paddy way before twinkle twinkle 😉
Well done Chippy on the multigenerational thingie. 🙂
Warm congratulations Chippy.
If I were you though I’d find out as soon as possible what caused it. It took me years to find out .?
Congratulations Chippy. Good plan – it’s important to maintain family traditions. Start saving now!
Anyone with access to Arsenal Player on the Arse website should have a look at the online video of our new Manager on the touchline during game last Saturday.
Fascinating to watch,and if that is going to be his modus operandi all season,it is going to be fun to watch him.
Sitting down down not seem to be an option.
Well worth a look.
All fine on a sunny preseason afternoon in July, Clive, but how will he deal with the zipper on the long coat on a wet Wednesday in November?
Good advice there Clive @32. A distinct change of style in the dugout, rather beside the dugout, at least. All action.
Thanks Chaps , Indeed Bath I was looking at Buggys the other day and realised my car cost less 🙂 !!
If we look at it then Elneny, Welbeck, Iwobi all set to leave?? considering Lucas Perez was told clearly to come back i see him being a part. Also Ramsey camp making encouraging noises but then we are still looking at another midfielder which contradicts the signs, talking of midfielders why is Andre Gomes linked to us? Makes no sense of a player who was voted barcelona’s worst signing of the season. Is Mustafi pencilled in to stay? if so does that mean we are done with our signings for the season? If we indeed are then let the season begin and city more than chelsea will show us whether we are truly ready or not.
Congratulations to the Chips.
Always thought Fission was a good nerdy name for a kiddie.
Stop right there, Cynic! ?
Congratulations Chippy, good to see. ??
Interestingly iffy “story” on the SSN scrolly bar that Chelsea want Cech if they sell Courtois.
Errrrmmm
I think the Cech story may have legs but I’d really like to see the back of Ospina! We won’t let both go and the papers were briefed yesterday that Welbeck and Ospina are surplus to requirements so I’d not entertain the Cech stories at the moment . Especially as I believe he might be classed as home-grown.
My sense is that we will also part with Jenkinson, Campbell and possibly Perez , but Vinay I’ve not heard that Iwobi or Elneny are for the chop although if we did move for N’zonzi that might change. The key deal for us is Ramsey. If he stays all well and good but if he’s not going to sign we might see something happen soon by way of an exit and this would free up funds for another large purchase. I’m confident this deal team will be on the case .
Holic,
You have mail!
TTG – I’m sad to see Jenkinson go, he probably fits into the category of players AW has regrets about in his RTL interview. Unfulfilled potential.
Of all the names mentioned though, I wouldn’t be sad to see any of them go. I’d be quite happy to see Iwobi leave as I just don’t see the player many others do.
It wouldn’t concern me greatly if Ramsey went, but I’d be interested to see how he gets on under a manager who he might feel he needs to knuckle down around in order to impress him. I always got the impression Ramsey was far too impressed with himself and was too interested in Hollywood football to be as effective as he could be, and he needed to be told.
That paragraph is probably unreadable but hopefully you get what I mean 😀
There was talk at one point about Cech going to Napoli, possibly on loan, although that seems to have come to naught. Cech has one year left on his contract so he may prefer to stick at the Ems on his £100,000 a week as the Cup keeper and move on a free next summer. Ospina has two years left on his contract and may feel he can do better elsewhere than the £40,000 a week he now gets. And at 29 he probably wants to be playing week in week out rather than warning a bench most of the time.
Elneny was one of those given a new shirt number for this season, which suggests he will be staying. Jenks and Campbell have been on loan for so long that you’d think their time was done. Reine-Adelaide and Akpom are two who don’t get mentioned much but are both listed in the first team squad. But for how much longer? Same could be said for Asano, though in his case work-permit considerations will probably count for most. At least one of Perez or Welbeck is needed as cover for Aubama and Lacca, unless Nketieh is promoted from the Academy
If one of Welbeck or Perez stays I hope it is Perez. He showed enough in his all too brief Arsenal career to suggest he is by far the better player.
Welbeck is someone I still can’t quite believe we signed. A Championship standard striker IMO.
Cech to Chavski, Gazidis to AC Milan?
Well, I suppose you never know.
Can’t see much difference in terms of output from
Perez, Danny or Campbell. Danny seems the more
versatile and personally I’d keep him out of the three.
But as he’s the only one we might get any money for
and he has only a year to go on his contract I can see
the temptation to sell now.
I hope Jenks can find somewhere, his career is starting
to drift by now and he really needs a fresh start.
Look out world. After thrashing Borehamwood 8-0 we apparently drubbed Crawley 9-0 at Shenley today. By the time we get to play Citeh we might be looking at bearing them 14-0. Interesting tga5 several of the very bright youngsters featured like Smith-Rowe, Osei-Tutu and Nketiah. Leno appeared for the first time
Everybody straight on how to pronounce Mandzukic yet?
Sadly the Ox will miss virtually the whole of next season. His career must be in doubt. Very tough luck on the lad
It’s book review time. >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>