Among the many things Arsenal were accused of not being last season was that they needed to be more aggressive and ruthless to show the fight in them, especially towards the end of the season. Next season, if there’s one thing Gooners expect their team to be, it’s that they will be aggressive.
Fortunately, there’s every indication they will be that. After clashing with Arsenal in a pre-season match that his Barcelona side lost 5-3, Xavi admitted that the Arsenal he faced surprised him. The Spaniard felt the intensity the Gunners played in that game wasn’t normal; it made him feel like he was facing a Champions League side.
“I said to Mikel at the end of the game that it felt like a Champions League game because the intensity that they put was not normal for a friendly game,” said Xavi after the friendly loss to Arsenal.
“Our intensity didn’t surprise me; their intensity did.
“It’s not normal for a friendly game to be so intense or to have so many injuries or yellow cards and all that.
“They were at a very high level of intensity and rhythm that we weren’t expecting. The second half of the game meant we had a lot of things that worked well.
Although they grew into the game, Barca struggled in the earlier stages to cope with the game’s tempo, and they made lots of mistakes defensively and in possession.
If Arteta and the boys can sustain such ruthlessness in games next season, tell me why they won’t be the most challenging and most feared side in the League?
No quarter to be given!
COYG!
Sam P
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If Arsenal continues to play Odegaard and Havertz together in a deep laying midfield, they will be bullied and slice open just as it was against Man United.
I think Havertz will thrive in that role when Zinchenko is inverting on the left hand side because Zinny will be able to cover for havertz defensively….
Alternatively
Having Tierney at left back ESR in that left midfield and Trossard at left wing is too spicy… As we saw against Barca
Cowwal
Yes Havertz could thrive there with Partey and Rice on either side in a deep laying midfield.
Asking Zinchenko to provide defensive cover is asking for trouble, remember it’s as a direct result of the Ukrainian at left back why Gabriel Magalhaes has been exposed repeatedly.
I strongly believe Havertz will be a massive player for Arsenal as soon as the chemistry is sorted.
I think it was Barca’s first game of the season and they were quite rusty. Let’s not get carried away my friends
ClassyGunner
I think Barcelona played Arsenal at the wrong time it is as simple as that.
Having out played in midfield by Man United, the reaction was always coming.
I happen to be observing the gaffer, he really hate loosing, Am not sure if its myself alone notice Arteta when he lost the title to the Citizens, he hardly could hold back the tears.
I think Arteta determined to entertain the Kroenkes after our disappointing display against Man United. I was surprised when he didn’t replace most of our main players at the beginning of the second half
What do you mean by your first sentence?
We lost against Man United in the US without scoring and I believe the Kroenkes were disappointed to see no goal from their expensive team, hence the goal galore
I don’t know if y’all have noticed luckily I have
Isn’t it funny how we instantly concede goals everytime Ødegaard loses possession even in the attacking third..
This is the third time since April..
Southampton home
Nottingham away
And now in the Barcelona friendly.
It just shows how the team has so much trust in him since they are all caught when it happens..
I thing Arteta have to be aware of this problem.Needs a remedy.
Have we conceded every time he lost possession or in just three instances? So have Ode lost possession in all games since April only three times or has he lost more?
Its interesting.
Sorry I didn’t mean to say everytime…but don’t you see that pattern and it’s not normal isn’t it….
for a defender to lose possession then conceding (Holdini-esque) that is normal but for an attacking midfielder it almost makes the game look scripted
How did you catch that along so different games? Went back and watched them they are very similar 😄
I just love watching this beautiful game and the biggest team in the world…I even notice the tiniest details
Agree with the author – that’s why the Invincible were so duffu to play against… they protected each other for free were never bullied.
It takes time to get to that level, but there isn’t ine current player, apart from Viera and Odegaard (just my opinion) that will be bullied this coming season.
Some of our football against Barca was scintillating, but we have to keep the match in perspective. Barca were cold coming into the game and we were mentally tuned to be more aggressive than our performance against Man U. That said, there were some great signs of what may follow. I thought both Timber and Havertz showed well. However, I am still not convinced we have enough strong personalities in the team yet to say we will have the instinctive mental strength for every tough opponent. It’s one thing to psyche the players up for a game, but it’s another thing when you have the personalities who naturally and instinctively hold their mettle. Some teams will set up to bully, intimidate and be first and hard to every ball, we need to be able to win over that. Is that a change in players, formation and tactics from time to time? You would think so.
Havertz is a MISTAKE Buy.
If Rice, Partey and Odegaard take up the 3 midfield places, where will he play?🤨
If Saka, Martinelli, Gabriel Jesus and Trossard are our Attackers, where will he play?
Will Arteta bench G. Jesus for him to be our Number 9?
Will Arteta bench him who is a 65million pounds singing?😕
I see this Guy Disrupting our Season, honestly. 😒
Havertz Haveztz Havertz is scoring goals and yet we keep on doubting him. Let’s just trust the process, we need numbers, quality and versatility in our squad.
I consider Havertz a (bonus) the guy can play anywhere except defensive duties.
He might have scored less goals for Chelsea but his stats for Arsenal so far is something else.
Let’s wait and see.
We are up for 4 trophies next season (EPL, Champions league, FA Cup and Carabao) and we need a pool of quality players to pick from.
We also need to rotate players.
Seems most arsenal fans are envying Havertz transfer just for one simple question, what could have been having Rice and Party in midfield, two police men?
In my opinion, Arsenal disrespected Man Utd. The gunners were not mentally tuned to face man utd. That match was a good wake up call.
I also noticed that the arsenal Midfield was not functioning as a unit. This was due to our recruits having not played together and this affected their chemistry. Against Barca, we played partey, odegaard and herverts and saw glimpses of team cohesion. WHEN the midfield plays together by slowly intergrating our new players, i believe they will gel and be devastating.
Against bigger teams, this team is full of mentally and physically strong characters. COYG.