Losing to Tottenham during a pre-season fixture in Asia was a disappointment, but a greater concern for Arsenal supporters is the defeat to Villarreal at the Emirates just days before the new campaign begins. While some argue that pre-season matches should not be judged too harshly, and others point to the absence of key players, the reality is that Arsenal did not show visible improvement in their latest outing.
The Gunners once again dominated possession and pushed Villarreal into defensive positions for long periods. Yet, for all their control and attacking intent, they failed to translate pressure into a positive result. Villarreal were able to withstand the waves of attack and ultimately left with a win that may well serve as a tactical blueprint for Arsenal’s Premier League opponents.
Same Problems, Different Opposition
With just one match remaining before their league opener against Manchester United, Arsenal find themselves needing answers. The back-to-back losses to Tottenham and Villarreal highlight an issue that has plagued the side in recent times. In both matches, Arsenal struggled to break down defences when it mattered most.
Importantly, these were not games decided by late drama. Arsenal had ample time to recover in both fixtures but failed to find the solutions required. It raises questions about the side’s ability to respond under pressure, especially against teams who are disciplined and compact.
There is growing concern among the fanbase about whether the team is truly ready for the competitive challenges ahead. Possession and build-up play are not enough unless they are accompanied by cutting edge in the final third.
Attacking Concerns Before Season Opener
While Arsenal have welcomed a new striker into the squad, he is still adapting and appears to need more time before making a consistent impact. This leaves Arsenal in a position where they may be forced to play catch-up if early results do not go their way. There is a growing sense that these defeats have exposed issues that must be addressed urgently if the club is to meet its ambitions.
With just one pre-season fixture remaining, the pressure is mounting on Mikel Arteta to fine-tune his squad and find solutions that will translate promising possession into meaningful results once the Premier League season gets underway.
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Worried? Of what? We never had anything that we could lose, so of what to be worried?
Palace have to defend the FA cup, Liverpool the EPL and Newcastle the Carabao Cup.
If anybody thinks we are winning the league, happy dreams. No club can win with this boring waltz football. Bring in any player you wish, as long as he is coached for side/back passes based possession football, we will never win anything.
Our plan B are Stoke styled long throw ins, corners etc. Next job for Berta is to identify a good football coach.
We have not yet played our first game of the season and here you are, already thrown your toys outa prams.
Indeed a reality show is that, just a show, but stop turning us into your toys! How dare you say that people who are looking to the season with optimism are dreaming? It is a very arrogant way to conduct yourself! If you are an Arsenal fan and you behave like that, how will a Man U fan, whose team ended a few places above the drop zone, behave. If you dislike the coach, don’t force everyone to do the same! This was just a friendly game where our regular starters didn’t feature at the same time. There was bound to be some gaps in our game. Besides, some of our players are very cautious not to get injured pre-season, bearing in mind last season’s injuries to key players. I don’t read too much into this game. Just last week Liverpool was defeated by AC Milan. What would you rather have, a good preseason and a bad season or the reverse?
There are lessons to be learned from the pre-season so far and it depends if they are learned or not.
We’ll all get a better, if incomplete, picture of how things are really shaping up after say a couple of months of the new season. Even then it’s only a snapshot as things change for good or bad throughout the season (as we know).
Its a continuation of everything we saw last Season.Made worse by Arteta’s knack of choosing the wrong player combinations.
More than anything though it’s our continued inability to move the ball forward at pace and break through the opposition lines.Instead we pass the ball to death in a far too methodical way until suddenly attempting to burst through the flanks….which is difficult at best as things stand…With Saka having to get past two defenders and Martinelli largely unable to do anything with the ball…when he does!!
Arteta should have realised that a Plan B is required and that involves bringing in another “ball player”.Someone capable of passing through the lines…Someone proven in the Premier League…Someone who’s available if we just took our hands out of our pockets and paid the 1st instalment of his release fee…How utterly ridiculous it was to purchase Madueke before Eze…given the squad’s immediate need and the non-availability of M adueke given his involvement in the Club World Cup.
Our incredibly difficult fixtures are the start of the on coming season required the team & squad to be made ready.But once again we have been left wanting…This really could be a worry!!
I was surprised at the line up for the start. After all the money spent, why is Arteta still trying to make last season’s formation work using some of his old players when it clearly is not going to happen. Martinelli? Zinchenko? Merino who admitted he is not a striker, Kiwior who has repeatedly said he wants to move on. Let’s get on with selling the players Berta wants to sell and bring in Eze and now possibly Lookman.
Yesterday Arteta should have played from the start Zubimendi, Madueke, Mosquera and left Gyokeres to play the full 90 mins.
The Board and Berta must be wondering what the hell is going on!
Some supporters think Arteta is doing this as a red herring. If this is true, I hope for Arteta’s sake it’s going to work.
Not looking good at the moment and if we carry on like this Arsenal could end up being a laughing stock especially after spending so much time / hassle and money in securing Gyokeres.
Move on Arteta. You’ve got good new fresh young blood to support your other great players. USE THEM! Don’t make them wonder why they came to Arsenal and why they are sitting on the bench when they could be out there winning games!
It truly makes me laugh when ever I read that we struggle against the low block, and that it’s treated like it’s something new to them.
They’ve played against the low block more than enough now to have come up with a better solution to combat it.
Here’s what I think will help. Firstly, play the ball quicker. 1 and 2 touch football. Midfielder’s running from deep late into the box, therefore making it harder for the opposition to pick up their player. Plenty of movement is also needed, a well organized team will just sit tight and be quite happy watching us play the ball from side to side, because it’s not going to hurt them.
And then the opposition win the ball and hit us on the counter. It never fails to surprise me that it takes us a complete half to work out that we need to be playing at a faster tempo versus the low block.
Come on Arsenal, it’s not rocket science. 🤷♂️🤦♂️
We really don’t need “fans” that spit the dummy over friendlies where we don’t even play our strongest side for a full match and make 7+ substitutions a game.
Grow tf up.
Chico Guerrera,
Pre-season friendly or not, Issues need to be addressed in these games. The fact that 7 substitutions were made, doesn’t change the need for these issues to be addressed no matter the starting 11.
I have have a different take on it Derek.
The only player not subbed was Merino so that makes 10 The team that Arteta started with were not remotely like a typical Arsenal team The 6 new signings all got to play so there is obviously room for improvement there or a settling in period (you know the one, it lasts all season), plus the frequency of the changes will have have been unsettling. I am not putting too much store on what happened last night. It was pretty clear that it wasn’t a fully fledged league match and I don’t expect that to carry forward into the new season. If it does, then there will be issues and I will be right behind you with my pov.
SueP,
Your points have been noted. 👍
You are right in many things Sue but in general play we are seeing the same buuld up and shape as last season. The dead balls are the same, we are not doing anything different, thats a worry.
Reggie
Do you think Heinze will make a difference or is he following Arteta’s instructions?
I had to check the auto correct. Heinze became Heinz ….. where are you Derek? A pithy remark please
Sue, I hope he does bring something different to the table. And we change a lot.
Reggie,
How about he brings some Spaghetti Hoops to the table. See how versatile I am. I don’t just make bean jokes. With my versatility, I could fit right in Arteta’s squad. Then again maybe not. 😂👍
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
I read where he is working with MLS on his LB skills hoping to develop at least 57 of them.
I’m not sure Derek could better that🤣
👌Thanks SueP, I believe that there are many of us (including Derek thankfully) who appreciate a little levity when it comes to the Arsenal and the game that most of us care so seriously for.
Good evening Bruised Banana,
Apologies for copying part of your joke with SueP.
I responded to her with out looking at your funny post.
I apologize 57 times for that one.😂👍
Evening Derek 🍺There’s plenty of room for multiple commodians.👍
Bruised Banana,
You say there’s plenty of room for commodians.
I know some of my jokes are s#it, but that’s a bit harsh. 🤣😂👍
Derek, don’t mind me, I’m just full of it.😂😂😂
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
Now, Now, SueP,
I’ve Bean there and done that, 57 at the last count.😂
It’s Friday evening again, you know what you’ve got to do don’t you?🍷🍷🍷🍷🍷 cheers.
Just a footnote to my other post to you Chico Guerrera,
I no longer spit out my dummy. I stopped sucking them a week ago. Now I’m in my 50’s, I thought it time to go back to sucking my thumb instead. 😂🤣👍
I think we should be worried, especially those fans who expect us to finally win the league. I fear we will be in a top four race. Not because of the two losses, but because we have not strengthened the team enough, while our rivals seem to catch up. Liverpool and City have the best squads and are favourites. Both Man U and Chelsea have been spending big for many years and underperformed a lot. So they have big room for improvement and are signing good players and will be competing. I hope I’m wrong, but I think it will be a lot tougher this season. I think we are having a 6/10 window right now, haven’t improved the starting 11 enough. We badly need both Rodrygo and Eze to sharpen the team and our attack, not just the squad.
“We badly need both Rodrygo and Eze …”, I’m not sure that Arsenal will be able to get both though.
The latest report regarding Rodrygo is that, apparently, Real Madrid is happy to let him join Arsenal providing Saliba goes in the opposite direction. Make of that what you will.
As for Eze, according to reports on this site yesterday he almost certainly wasn’t coming, today he could be. Who knows?
I agree with you about the coming season being potentially the most competitive for several years. I can see a four-horse race developing (Liverpool, Arsenal, City and Chelsea) with, possibly, Utd – perhaps not challenging, but playing a far more significant role than recently.
Go and support those teams you just mentioned since they have the best squad and are favorite to win the league.
Nonsense!
Some of you Arsenal fans are pathetic to say the least. Always undermining the progess of this club and talking trash about our players. You guys are insatiable.
Come on now Henry,
Don’t hold back, say what you really think. 🤣😂👍
Yes, go Henry, give us a full shot of that old fashioned positivity.
Mark my words we are going to struggle when the league starts expect we do something about the assembly of rigid and not creative midfielders we have and we need to drop martinelli ASAP like a bad habit else we will struggle, football is not rocket science , the preseason is showing us wot may likely come
Worried about what? We had 4 games. Won 2 by 1 goal and lost 2 by 1 goal. None of the results mattered whatsoever its about fitness
Revilo,
While I agree about pre-season being about fitness, it’s not the only thing it’s for. It’s also for putting right some of the issues of previous season’s.
But if you think that pre-season is for fitness only, then that’s up to you. And who knows, you keep telling yourself that, and you might even start to believe it yourself. 🤦♂️🤷♂️
You have done it again Derek. We obviously have a sensible head on our shoulders.😁
Reggie,
There are times the word sensible and head on my shoulders can’t be said in the same sentence. But I’ll take it anyway. 😂👍
I
I am not too concerned about the pre-season results. Yes, it was disappointing to lose to that lot down the road (you all know what we think about them); and then to VR on Wednesday, but neither game was particularly competitive and neither game started or ended with our first team.
The goals conceded were poor from a defensive point of view. Individuals played well but not as a unit: at least not as the unit we have come to rely upon. Mosquera looks a classy addition to a strong group. Especially as Califiori seems prone to injury every other game.
In midfield we still play the Ray Wilkins crab style of football: side to side to side to side ad nauseam and then a pass to Saka to try and break through three defenders and either shoot or cross to an empty box.
We could pass down the left flank but frankly, Martinelli just isn’t cutting it right now. Most of the time he cuts inside and runs into a defender and loses the ball. He doesn’t own or protect the ball like Saka on the right. So, in the absence of an Eze, that leaves Trossard and (perhaps) Madueke. I think, once fit Madueke should get the nod.
It is the transition from defence to attack which needs the most work. It was noticeable in the VR game we did try a few more long balls and byline crosses in an attempt to feed Gyökeres. He isn’t match fit yet and it did not work. That left much of the heavy lifting in attack to Saka and Nwaneri.
I wonder what our first eleven is. Personally, I would like to see a solid back four with one in front. Perhaps: White, Saliba, Gabby, Timber protected by Nørgaard (who imho has been own standout player of the friendlies). You might go for MLS over Timber but I think the latter is a much more solid defender.
Nörgaard to sit behind three in midfield: Rice, Ödegaard/Nwaneri, Zubimendi. Then up top: Saka, Gyökeres, Madueke.
It will take time for them to gel and our start to the new Premier League campaign could hardly be more difficult but we have a stronger squad than last season. We also have the prospect of some dynamic cameo appearances from Dowman – what a talent. We can also hope for Eze.
Let’s face it, who expects anything other than a fight between Liverpool, Manchester City, Chelsea and The Arsenal? Perhaps Newcastle will flatter and ManUre may surprise, but my top four are all strong and it will be these head-to-heads that determine which club gets the Crown.
COYG!
Arsenal played beautiful football at the start of 22-23 season, after that all gone downhill. Teams just defend with 10 men and Arsenal play through wings and cross and nothing happens. This is boring football. We dont want Stoke ver. 2 football
All the tantrums are uncalled for. These games are for: players to gel, keeping match fit, identifying weaknesses and correcting them, and acclimatising new players to the team. There should, therefore, be no bad blood among us on this platform!
Unfortunately, there will be conflict amongst Arsenal fans. There has been an unnecessary overreaction to the preseason friendly results.
There is a lot of this negativity online now which adds undue pressure.
Results don’t matter, rinsed and repeat tactics that fail do.
Arsenal have to change the way they play. They have become so predictable leaving other teams knowing exactly what they are trying to do resulting in the opposition striking at the right time and hurting us, like last night. Too many passes. They need to play longer balls keeping the pace on.
Perhaps Arteta needs to get some new Trainers in with new ideas.
If Arteta and Berta can sort out the left wing then things will change. We need new fresh players with consistency and the ability not to be bullied / lose the ball once at the end of the pitch which Martinelli and Trossard don’t have the ability to do every game. No good being great one game and then not the next. You could clearly see last night that Martinelli could not keep possession 90% of the time thus losing out on valuable passes across the goal to waiting Midfielders and Striker.
Arteta likes his players to play from side to side and backwards to retain position which should translate to opposition having less of the ball and thus lesser opportunities for opposition teams to hurt Arsenal. Unfortunately, for all Arsenal’s possession, they consistently lack the cutting edge in the final third.
Arteta could instruct his players to be a bit more daring and play more forward passes as this unsettles the opposition and opens the game, however there is that risk of being put under immediate pressure if the ball is lost and a counter attack is started by the opposition. This is something Arteta would like to avoid.
Teams like Liverpool (the defending EPL champions) don’t bother too much about possession but they are great at transitions and always seem to find those spaces in the oppositions third ( it appears low blocks does not affect them), perhaps its because they play at a faster tempo or maybe its because they pick their moments on when to attack, so it is more efficient and ruthless or maybe its because they just have better attacking players???
Arteta needs to sort out our attacking play before the season starts because we will definitely face lots of low blocks this season which has proved effective (14 draws last season, over one third of the season!!) and is fast becoming the antithesis to Arteta ball.
I want to ask a few questions to those who say Arsenal has become too predictable: How many teams finished above Arsenal last season? How many games did Arsenal lose last season? How many players were injured? How many refereeing decisions were biased against Arsenal? How was Arsenal’s performance in Champions league? After answering these questions, someone will be in position to make an objective comment.
The only and important objective comment is that our trophy cabinet is empty, dusty and is losing its purpose because of this toxic positivity and acceptance of mediocrity because some have put a substandard and checkbook manager before the club.
We are The Arsenal not Stoke City man!
David Rusa,
How many refereeing decisions were biased against Arsenal?. OH my days.🥱🥱🥱🥱🥱
Why don’t you try to answer any of the questions? Or is it only snarky remarks that you are capable of using to engage in discussion and debate?
David,
You’d know all about being snarky. I’ve read some of your previous posts, where you’ve not been obverse to belittling some of the posts you’ve read.
Are you going to join Arteta again next season, blaming the ball, or defending Arteta with several different posts by spinning certain things that he says. Your pretty good at that.
I hope I’ve not been to snarky for you.
👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍
I think the problem still lies with proper creativity. Apart from Odegaard, we have no proper creator and although we have signed Gyokeres, we need creativity. I think Arteta should either fast track Dowman into the squad or sign Eze.
gunnerforlife,
This is a big season for Odegaard in my opinion. You say he’s the only creator we have. Well he needs to start proving that early in the season, or Captain or no Captain should be dropped.
Being Captain shouldn’t guarantee you a place in the starting line-up regardless of your form. For me Nwaneri is worth a go.
Dowman to, but more likely in the cups if I’m honest. And the need to bring in more competition for Odegaard is needed, whether that be Eze or whoever. But something needs to be done, you can’t keep giving the likes of Odegaard a free pass, when his performance’s clearly don’t merit it.
I did think it was too soon for Dowman BUT he could be a huge impact sub for us. He is more intelligent than a lot of our first team players. He paints pictures with his feet.
Reggie,
It’s a tough one regards Dowman. I’ve said in more than one post that we need to be careful not to overplay or rush him, as he’s still developing physically. And he’s a 15 year old kid after all.
But when you see him play, the temptation to play him is obvious to see. But I still believe that slowly, slowly wins the race as the saying goes.
Maybe a few from the bench appearances, along with a runout in the domestic cups would be an idea. But this talent must be handled with care.
We don’t want another Wilshire on our hands. 🤷♂️
Your views on Dowman being carefully managed are important.
I’d like to think that the coaches and medical staff know their stuff. He’s still not fully grown at 15/16 so occasional outings make sense in every way
I only watched one of the tour matches on my laptop but did go to the Villarreal game with my family and he was playing on our side of the pitch so I got a good view. He was excellent and not only that, is well formed physically. Other posters pointed out that Odegaard linked very well with him. No problem passing to Dowman which showed confidence by MO and confidence by MD in himself. Very impressive indeed
I knew a bird like that once….never mind.
Now, Now Bruised Banana,
Behave yourself. 😂🤣👍
@Derric, I feel Odegaard is by far our best creator at this point in time and one cannot undermine his contribution to the Arsenal cause. He has done pretty well in the preseason games and all our creativity goes through him. I agree though that Nwaneri should be given more responsibility of creating and hopefully we sign Eze.
gunnerforlife,
I’m afraid regards Odegaard, we’re going to have to agree to disagree on this occasion.
We’re clearly seeing different Odegaard’s. While he’s been good in two of the three second place finishes’, last season was at best underwhelming.
Injury and becoming a Dad are not an excuse that can be constantly used for his performances as far as I’m concerned. And I read countless post’s on here last season using that very excuse constantly.
He needs to shape up this season, or Arteta needs to grow a back bone and play some one who will shape up. Just my opinion though. 🤷♂️
Derek he needs to improve immensely.
I would hope that your last sentence can be agreed to by most if not all. I do give him a pass for much of last season but he must turn it back around and quickly.
I hope Madueke settles in well, especially now that Martinelli needs to drop to the bench. Iweneri doesn’t seem ready yet, in my opinion. We still need someone who can genuinely compete with Ødegaard from the start of the new season.
Arteta also needs to address the lack of cohesion in our attack. He should look to recapture the early momentum we had when Jesus and Zinchenko first arrived back when we used to score early, often within the first 15 minutes. That kind of intensity set the tone, and we’ve been missing it lately.
These are good observations. They are more pertinent than the issues of trophy cabinet being empty. I am at pains to understand what some of our fans want, is it a trophy for its own sake or a meaningful trophy? I was amused when some members praised Spurs for winning Europa trophy as a way of attacking Arteta forgetting that Arteta had already bypassed that trophy because he was in Champions league and even reached the semi-finals of the competition. What would you prefer: Europa Cup or Champions league semi final? This is an issue of conceptualisation of what is more important. It is not just winning any trophy. It would be good to win Carabao cup but would you sacrifice Champions league for it? We need to put things in a proper context. Having an empty cabinet is not good of course but how many clubs have trophy laden cabins? Let us continue to support our team and trophies will come in a big way!
There is no doubt that the approach of 22/23 was very effective and gave Arsenal superb momentum. There have been attempts to regain the effectiveness of that year but it’s worthwhile noting that Arsenal have struggled to bring in attacking quality that could raise the ceiling since then.
One consideration is that squad strengthening has been required right across the whole squad within a relatively limited budget. This limits what you can spend in attacking areas and attackers generally cost more.
Understandably, many fans are frustrated with the lack of trophies but some of the narratives have become quite ludicrous.
Issue is in 22/23 we are not expected to compete and hence took everyone by surprise
Since then all middle and lower teams do a low block which is always hard to break down yet we still finished 2nd and beat a lot of teams. Last season our injury toll and lack of.squad depth hurt our chances and contributed to so.many draws
Hopefully with a much bigger and stronger squud this season …and different type of players in Gyokeres Madueke Zubamendi and especially Dowman we should be able to get back to beating those lower teams. It’s the top 4 that are now stronger though that also means they should be beating each other or drawing those games which hasn’t happened for some years
COYG