Tottenham claimed bragging rights with a 1–0 victory over Arsenal in Hong Kong, as the two North London rivals met outside the UK in a competitive pre-season encounter.
Despite all the anticipation surrounding Viktor Gyökeres’ debut, it was Spurs who made the decisive impact in a closely fought match. Arsenal had the better of the early exchanges, yet it was Tottenham who struck at the perfect moment to seal the result.
Arsenal Dominate Early But Fail to Convert
Mikel Arteta’s side started brightly, showing attacking intent and enjoying long spells of possession. They created several openings, but lacked a clinical edge in front of goal. With Gyökeres starting on the bench, the Gunners missed the kind of cutting presence he is expected to provide this season.
Spurs were largely on the back foot in the opening stages but remained threatening on the break. They hit the post three times as Arsenal continued to press forward, and their resilience was eventually rewarded.
Just before the interval, Pape Sarr spotted David Raya off his line and produced a stunning long-range effort that flew into the net, giving Tottenham the lead against the run of play.
Gyokeres Makes Debut but Cannot Rescue Result
Arsenal re-emerged after the break determined to restore parity. They controlled possession for large periods of the second half and worked hard to create clear-cut chances. However, a breakthrough never came.
Late in the match, Arteta introduced Viktor Gyokeres for his first appearance in an Arsenal shirt. The Swede, who scored nearly 100 goals over two seasons at Sporting Club, was brought on to make an impact, but Spurs stood firm defensively.
Arsenal’s frustrations were compounded by several knocks picked up during the match, and despite their dominance in many areas of the pitch, it was Tottenham who held on for the win.
While Gyokeres did not find the net on his debut, his minutes on the pitch offered a glimpse of what he may bring. For now, however, it is Spurs who return home with the pre-season bragging rights.
Didn’t see the goal but to get caught out like that for Raya is a bit poor. Still, it’s just about fitness still so no biggie.
What was he doing near the middle of the pitch? What is worrying is that this has already become a habit.
@David please come out with yet another comical excuse about Raya getting caught again and brighten my day.
🤣🤣🤣🤣he will.
Calafiori wasn’t even on the bench
If he became unfit again, it’s time to sell him while his value is still high
@Gai,
Calafiori would have helped out when MLS was replaced with Zichenko. Arsenal will do well not to sell Kiwior Calafiori too injury prone.
Gyokeres didn’t have supply from midfielders just like Havertz but his pass to Zubimendi is tight spaces shows he isn’t all about goals alone.
Hope Kepa can challenge Raya who is becoming erratic with leaving his lines.
He made same mistake last season when we draw with Brentford allowing Mateta to score.
Sylva,
I believe you meant to say Crystal Palace. That’s who Mateta plays for. Although I’m Shaw Brentford would like to have him on their books.👍
Yea Derek thanks Bro👍
Sylva,
No problem.👍
Is his value high? 😆. It’s more about selling before it drops lower. He’s need to be fit for a season at least to become sellable
gai, he trained yesterday, so I would imagine he missed the game as a not to make any niggle worse. Let’s see what happens in our next two friendlies at the Emirates.
Arteta stated yesterday that he wouldn’t play due to a minor injury. Nothing major.
Dominated! Guess I was watching a different game! We created absolutely nothing for 96 minutes. Things need to change and fast. Yes it is a friendly but then the decisions not even to try something different, just a little bit shake up because that’s even what preseason is for! And Arteta not doing that is what I am more concerned about. Martinelli had the worst half yet and he plays almost 70 minutes, midfield was overrun and no changes half time in a friendly! That worries me
After spending a billion this is what Mikel serves us! Put the man on a notice period and start looking for alternatives. He has taken us from point A to point B. Does he have the winner’s mentality, sadly “NO”. Will he rotate? I doubt, if did not in friendly, nor will he do it in the league.
Oh wait, we have the prestigious Emirates Cup, the first of the cups which we actually win!
Good. Not because Tottenham won but because Arsenal lost. I’ve noticed over the years that winning all the pre-season games seems to give teams a sense that everything is sorted and they go into the season over-confident, and then things being to unravel. Pre-season lessons are important to expose areas to work on, and comfortable wins when nothing is at stake don’t achieve that. Given that some of the criticisms, along the lines of “Lack of cutting edge” “Not clinical” “Lots of possession and no end product” “Caught out leading to a goal” …are painfully familiar, this is probably a good way to get them to address those areas properly in training before it starts costing points. I think with Zubimendi + Gyokeres, + the other players when they’re not injured = A proper top quality team that can challenge for anything. On paper. Have to go do it now.
This is how I feel about it too. A loss in a pre-season friendly reminds the players that they are not invincible, and to keep their heads about them when it actually counts. It can also expose vulnerabilities to be worked on.
Raya Raya Raya. Will i ever get to like this guy? From day one! Possession Possession Possession. Hmm.
Caught last 10 minutes or so to see Gyo’s debut. His agility will be a nightmare to EPL defenders.
Martinelli must be the luckiest person I know or he’s using voodoo power Coz how on earth did he make it as a footballer let alone plating for arsenal and what is more crazy is that arteta and arsenal seem fine his shiny display, I once said striker is not our main problem but the RW and midfield, today our midfield was overrun and created nothing coz apart from odegaard, all our midfielders(rice,zubimendi, nooirgard, merino ti some extent) are DM. A balling midfielder was what we needed but arteta went for steel as usual, he even managed to sign a defender, what’s their problem with buying defensive players anyway
All players regress under Mikel. A few years back Klopp called him “talent of a generation” Mikel was quick to undo the praise of Klopp, and today we are nowhere near Liverpool level after investing a billion in talent. Talent is not the problem, the manager is. Xhaka went to win the league with BL, Mika Biereth is banging goals and having fun.
I’d like to think this has taught Reya a lesson, but I doubt it. He’s always way too far outside his box and has nearly been caught so many times, he needs a slap from Arteta, or conversely, Arteta needs one for telling him to push up.
Perhaps Kepa needs to be given the opportunity that Raya was handed.
Well at least it happened in a match that didn’t count for anything except ego! Good that they got a reminder of the potential risk of playing like that now and not during the season.
Why are you all blaming the player when the manager has put the player there and told him to take big risks with passing as part of getting the 2 7 1 system to work? Can’t you see that?
His shity display*
The match clearly showed that nothing has changed from how we played last season.
There was a heavy focus on the right flank, with barely any activity on the left. Honestly, when you assess Martinelli purely from an attacking standpoint, it’s hard to see what he really offers this Arsenal side moving forward.
As for Ødegaard, today’s display only reinforces the need for someone like Eze in our midfield, someone with more dynamism.
Then there’s Arteta’s choices regarding substitutions. The timing and players he brings on continue to be questionable.
I’ve been vocal for a while now about our lack of fluid, attacking football. It looks like Arteta has fully embraced this slow, cautious passing style that lacks creativity and edge (it’s all about playing it safe now).
But hey, like some have already said above; it’s just a friendly, right? So maybe there’s no need to panic… yet.
People need to understand preseason. Its preseason. They do different stages of fitness at different times. Sometimes teams will do a half training session before games, some teams have regimes, that are designed to give them short burst fitness, stamina fitness and weight training. Unlike normal games, teams don’t train before a game. Different players are at different levels of fitness. Different players have done different regimes and are not obviously fully fit. The performance and the result are NOT important. What you can look at is style and shape, thats what will be obvious. For me not a lot has changed there. Shape and build up pretty much standard. As much as we think certain players are not performing, there may or may not be physical reasons for that. The start of the season is the ONLY time to judge.
You’re right, but the only thing I am worried about is that this is not the first time Raya has been caught out like that, yes this time it was only a friendly but will he cost us points doing the same during the season.
He’d better not openly admit to any faults or he may meet the same fate as Ramsdale did.
Things like that are relevant and worrying.
Donnarumma is leaving PSG. Just saying…🤔
So NY, why did we not go for him. An upgrade on Raya.
It’s not at all clear that he will leave PSG.
Well that is true but he isn’t close to signing an extension and PSG are trying to sign a replacement.
He is not Spanish, right? Neither is he a CFC flop.
Sensible comments Reggie.What concerns me is the number of injuries we appear to have before we kick off the season.
Thats THE most important thing about preseason, getting people FIT.
@Reggie
I’m still wondering about that myself. I guess Arteta thought Kepa was/is a much better option. 😆
What really worried me is how so much quicker the spurs players were than ours, we looked very languid compared to them.
But we don’t know what our players had done before the game, what the spuds had done before the game and it is a warm up match, with no meaning at all. Its a friendly a meaningless friendly.
GB, I think that’s something most people missed all last season. We lacked pace across the pitch.
The left side of the attack is totally ineffective. Need a real big improvement; how? that it is the big job of Arteta.
In general the whole team looked bad and not motivated, and lacking of ideas with a few exceptions.
Hopefully still they have 15 days to improve things enormously.
To think we let the best (or top 3 at minimum) keeper go becasue we couldn’t promose him a fair shot at the opportunity to be no.1
And spent a fortune trying to put that wrong right.
That Keeper is overrated just like Martinelli
I’ve been one of Martinelli’s fan for a while now but with the first 3 preseason games, it’s still same old Martinelli. My younger brother told me of his decline two seasons ago but I told him that it was down to confidence and form. That has gone on for too long now to either. He no longer deserves to be a starter in this team as his offers little or no creativity, he’s at best a squad player. His strengths (pressing/marking) are secondary to what he is primarily paid to do
The same with Kai Harverzt
I agree Solwills as I’ve felt the same way. Martinelli has obvious skills but they haven’t been used consistently in his play for a very long time. At the same time, I’ve deferred to MA’s judgment on Martinelli’s difficulties and whether they could be rectified as he should know the player better than anyone else. It’s time to s#.t or get off the pot (i.e. sale).
Interestingly, I believe Martinelli will thrive in a team that plays fluid fast paced football—something we’ve stopped playing for two seasons now.
He shines when there’s huge space in front of him to attack at high speed. More like counter attacking style of play.
For me the multitude of the fault lies with the coach and his preferred slow build up and passing based football.
A talent like Martinelli needs a true coach to develop not a checkbook one. The one we have prefer to spend on the fruits of other coaches labor. And most of the time he turns those fruits sour anyway.
Yeah he’s really turned Gabriel, Saka, Saliva, White etc sour 🙄
👍 HD
Yeah because he has signed only 2 players 🙄🙄🙄
Saka was already a rising star long before Arteta was even considered for the job. He casted Saliba away and that Nice coach made him the beast we know today in just a single season.
🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄
Saka was playing on the left before Mikel took over. Mikel then changed his position to the right wing, which has seen Saka progress to play international football.
As for Saliba, yes he sent him on loan, but he got to play in European competitions, which in turn helped make Saliba a better player. Good thinking by Mikel imo.
Please remind me of all the players that came all the way through our academy under the previous manager that weren’t bought ?
“Please remind me of all the players that came all the way through our academy under the previous manager that weren’t bought?”
I will not lower myself that much to consider that a point of debate.
Of course you won’t answer my question, because you know that it was very, very few.
The vast majority that came through the finishing school of our academy were bought.
It is not the question it is the ridiculousness of it. I am so disappointed you think you have said something worthwhile there.
Remember when you said something in the lines of Wenger and the academy does not get credit for Wilshere because we bought him when he was 4 years old?
That is the ridiculousness I am talking about. How sad of you that you can never concede and would rather continue a thread even if it reaches 1000 posts?
I have never seen you since you started posting here conceding a debate even once even though you are always wrong in most of them.
Well you must have been away when I conceded to Durand that I had made a mistake of what position the club was in when Mikel took over from Emery 😁.
The fact of the matter is that you haven’t got the minerals to admit when you’re wrong, just like you are in this thread. Try it sometime.
That was a factual mistake you cannot deny it without looking a fool. What you are not strong enough to do is concede when someone has a more sensible point than yours.
You will drag it on and on, twisting and changing it however you want until they give up debating.
If someone does have a more sensible point then I will concede to that point, but you don’t have any !
Just admit the the previous manager was a cheque book manager, just like the vast majority of PL managers were/are.
That is the problem HD. I have never seen you concede any debate so in your eyes no one you debate with has more sensible point than yours.
You will just drag it on and on and when you have nothing else to say you will just twist the topic to another direction and drag it on and on.
Perhaps its your main technique to bore the other into leaving the debate?
” He casted Saliba away and that Nice coach made him the best we know today in just a single season” 😁😃 complete joke
It was a very comical post 😂
I feel like the experiment of long direct balls to Saka and Martinelli aren’t working. We need to get the ball around quickly and get it to Gyokeres. Look at Spain in the women’s euros for an example.
Quick passing, switching of play, and running at the defense are integral to an effective attack. Hopefully we will not fall short in these areas this season.
BB, this is where we are falling short. Our build up has been far too slow, especially to get the best out of Martinelli. Also he doesn’t seem to have the link up that Saka has on the right wing. The other year when we came closest to winning the PL we played much quicker, and we need to get back to that way of playing, especially to get the best out of Gyokeres.
Unnecessary passes, especially back passes just for the sake of possession do not win matches. Its shooting on goal that win matches. Arsenal must change their playing philosophy, otherwise they’ll not win anything!
I think Arteta and the players would learn something from watching Hansi Flick’s F C Barcelona side. They were the top scoring team in Europe last season, and they also played a friendly game today, away in South Korea (against F C Seoul). Flick’s team won 7:3 in an attacking masterclass. That’s the way to do it (if you can).
That Yamal is something else. Impressive.
Yes, he is and at just 18 as well (almost unbelievable).
It can’t/won’t be the same, but I think that there are lessons for Arteta from the Flick playbook.
Yes it is preseason and most fans are ok with what they see but it looks not much is changing in terms
of how we play or creating better chances. As a matter of fact even set plays which was Spuds achilles last season seemed to be non-factor any longer. I watched Pool play and the way that team
transitions defense to attack is superior to our slow
methodical build up. I would be surprised to see that we are creating and scoring more goals this season with the players we got. Whether it Martinelli or Madueke the right side will suffer again and Odegaard will struggle as he did today.
We need an option for him (Morgan Rodgers) or Eze and certainly an upgrade on the right wing also. Hopefully we get another creative player because looking a Liverpool and possibly Chelsea I think finishing second maybe a tall task.
At this point, when we are debating whether we get rid of Trossard to get Eze in, alongside all other outgoings, I think we should get rid of Martinelli and Trossard to get Eze and Rodrygo.
Trossard – 20m , 100k salary Euros
Martinelli – 55m , 200k salary Euros
Lokonga – 8m Euros
Vieira – 25m Euros
Hein – 2m Euros
Jesus – 20m Euros, 150k salary Euros (50% covered)
Gives us 130m, frees 450k salary, add 40m in transfer and it should cover both Eze and Rodrygo
Now all Arsenal (Berta) needs to do is actually find the clubs who will pay that money for those players and sell the lot over the final next month of the window so they can bring in other players (and also get contracts for some key players sorted out as well). Easy-peasy.
Contract only Saliba is pending, Trossard and Martinelli have 2 years and should be sold. Saka will stay, or else already there must be mumbling
Sell wise, Martinelli is the only one which is hard to get rid off.
But there have got to be clubs willing to take the players aonthe terms Arsenal wants – and, just as importantly – hey have got to want to go to the clubs as well (or, with those years on their contracts, they won’t go).
Just saying, for example, “Trossard and Martinelli have 2 years and should be sold” isn’t the same as actually selling them. That goes for all the others listed in your earlier post.
Now I’ve read all the post’s, some negative and some with a semi-positive slant. While I agree with some of the negative’s and positives, I’m going to refrain from actually giving my verdict on this occasion.
It’s pre-season, and these games are to get players match-fit and try different formations, and try different players etc.
For me, I’m going to wait until the season starts before I give any kind of assessment regarding performance and playing styles. I’m actually going to try and keep an open mind for the first 6 games. A very tricky start for our team, after those games we’ll have an idea about how good or bad we are.
Then and only then will I give a proper opinion. Pre-season is not the time to do it really, because the players are just hitting their straps so to speak.
I’m going to try and show a bit of patience, something I’ve got a bad relationship with, but here goes. 😂👍
Sounds almost like a new year’s resolution 🤣. Good luck.
I’m glad we have MU and LP away early in the season. Either win and gain confidence or lose and know you have to pull your collective heads out of your a…
Blimey Derek!
I agree with you. I’m off for a lie down
Good evening SueP,
You agree with me, I knew I’d get you to agree with me one day, and todays the day. 😂👍
Correct Derek. As has been said by Reggie, these games are to get the players match fit, and imo, to get the new players used to our way of playing.
What I would say is that Mikel needs to find a way to beat teams that play with a low block.
Don’t understand the knee jerk reaction against Raya. His tactical role requires he play a sweeping role which he did and laid ball of to Skelly who decided to run at the opposition from deep with options around and lost it, hence the chip. No matter how good a team is, it will concede one or two goals like this as long as players play out from the back. What worries me is the seeming lack of ideas or coherent systems going the other way. I also noticed he was not protected at all on corners. Most times he was grappling with Tottenham players without assistance. An issue I observed is the complete lack of progression through the middle for most of the match. The team needs to learn how to play combinations that take them to the edge of the opposition box to maybe take a shot or slip it through. Almost all our play goes down the wing, so once teams figure out a way to shut down Saka it becomes difficult to score.
Good observations.
Your third point about progression through the middle is really important – we still seem utterly reliant on the right side! I suspect the purchase of Noni and particularly Gyokeres is partially intended to address that, as Noni provides a left-footed left wing option, and Gyok is a proper centre forward that likes to attack via the central left channel. Perhaps we get Eze, and that would help too. But it remains a major issue and something we need to see them trying out once Gyok is fully integrated. I still think ultimately that we need a dedicated left wing upgrade and probably a left back upgrade too.
I have seen Raya do that so many times, that it was inevitable he would be beaten like that. So many times he ends up halfway to the centre and you scream ‘get back!’. Arteta should tell him that’s the last time.
He must do it under instructions from Arteta. He does train and coach them. And it isn’t the first time he has been caught up field.
I agree. I understand the idea of having an outfield player and although I haven’t seen the match, Raya has been too far forward on occasions and it has come back to bite him
I’ve read in articles etc that it’s a favoured tactic but a mistake by a teammate or a piece of awareness by the opposition can be costly. Am I wrong in thinking that apparently the pros of doing this outweigh the cons?
Agree Biscuitbum and that’s why I don’t understand fans trying to defend him.
It wouldn’t surprise me in the least to see Arizabalaga between the sticks come the start of the season if Raya carries on as if he’s an outfield player.
And for thise who say he’s only doing what Arteta tells him to, why do you think the club made another keeper one of their top priorities?
Because they swapped a second choice keeper for another second choice keeper. Ken Raya is playing to instructions, he is not playing his own ideas. Its been like that all last season. Kepa, will not replace Raya. He hasn’t been bought for that.
Let’s wait and see Reggie – I remember fans saying the same thing when Raya was brought in and Ramsdale was out No.1
Are you telling me that Raya has been instructed to take chances, roam around the middle of the park and allow himself to be open for a chip shot every game?
That’s MA allowing him to be himself and decide what he wants to do.
I’ve watched him gradually go further into no man’s land during each game and leave
himself open to the kind of goal we saw against the spuds.
Time will tell, but if he keeps making these bloomers, it won’t be long before he’s out in the cold, just as Leno, Ramsdale and Martinez were…. in my opinion.
If Arteta wasn’t allowing him to do it, he would stop him. Of Arteta has been part of allowing Raya to play like that. Pep used to like a sweeper keeper.
Of course Arteta
Ken Raya plays sweeper keeper under instructions from the coach. It is an advantage because he gives us an extra option to pass to; he’s like the 11th outfield player when we have the ball which gives us an advantage in possession. Thing is,people don’t remember the tens of times in a game it works but remember the one time it goes wrong.
Now,it’s inevitable that we will concede some goals because of this instruction, but the benefits outweigh the risks. If you watch the goalkeepers of teams that play out from the back like City or Liverpool, you’ll find that they occasionally concede goals from this tactic just like Raya. But they don’t stop because of the advantage it brings. As they say, no risk no reward.
I really don’t care about the goal we conceded to be honest, it’s after all a pre-season game. All that bothers me is our gameplay, there just don’t seem to be enough bodies committed forward for the style we are trying to execute, neither are the few in opposition’s area technical or cohesive enough to get in goalscoring situations. Our wide forward who are key to this style of play would rather dribble towards the byline aiming to square the ball into a crowded box which leads nowhere, when in fact they should pass or cut inside. For some reason chemistry is also lacking among the players, and we tend to camp them into their area like they intend to do so. I hope this doesn’t roll into next campaign because it’s not sufficient for any ambitious side
Bit early to worry about chemistry. Plenty of change to sort through and bed in. Been good transfer window. Be great one if land Eze (or more).
The starting lineup majorly consist of players who already been playing alongside each other for the past three seasons, so yeah chemistry between them should be a worry at any given time. They are not in sync with each other in any way effective.
If I were to summarize the issues you speak of, I’d say we don’t progress the ball enough through the centre of the pitch,preferring to go wide and secondly, we don’t shoot enough.
Interestingly, these are the two issues that are solved by our new recruits. Zubimendi can play line breaking passes from deep and will allow Odegaard to be further forward. Eze,if we get him,can pass or shoot from the area just outside the box.
Now to the issue of shots. Statistically,Saka attempted the most shots of the players we had last season. Well,Gyokeres, Madueke and Eze all averaged more shots than Saka last season. With these players,we should see a rise in the number of shots taken. Unfortunately, one just arrived and isn’t fit yet, one is still on holiday and the other hasn’t been signed yet.
It seems to me that we signed/targeted players specifically to address the issues you speak of . I would hold back on judgement until I see the new guys fit and adjusted.
But for us to aim successfully more often than not at goal we have to first of all get into good situations in opposition’s area, which is my point exactly and I will outline what I think we need to achieve that and its got nothing to do with the players we currently have nor our new recruits.
*Commit enough players in their area, in excess of eight.
*Technical ability to take care of the ball in tight spaces, while looking out for teammates.
*Wide forward cutting in more often or work in sync with their respective 8 and full backs.
*Lastly chemistry, which is most important playing with each other to overcome opposition’s press.
Of course trigger happy when the occasion arises, which most probably will if we stick to our guns.
Hopefully we can rotate Saka a bit more this season. Other teams seem to target him, and he gets a lot of knocks, it must be taking its toll.
Mikel is short of ideas in attack, but all is forgiven if we
beat manutd. in our first game.. Kai bulking up does
nothing for him. He cant get past his man one on one
It’s too early to call, but I’m sticking by my prediction that we will be in a dog fight for fourth. The manager, his tactics and inability to scout talent are a deep concern. Everyone goes on about our abundance of left backs, but seriously are the likes of Skelly, Califiori, Zivchenko or Kiwior really wing backs. Arteta clearly doesn’t rate fast overlapping full backs, so we are stuck with the lumbering likes of White, Timber on the right and that other mishmash of inverteds on the left . No sign of change there Still I’d like to think that the Spuds game was a training session and he can be more flexible with his tactics. Otherwise we are really going to have fun this season.
I think it’s about time Madueke joined up with his teammates so that we can find out early enough whether that left wing will be a problem going foward.
Most of our players looked off the pace. This is why I’m not worried about the performance or outcome of the Tottenham game. That all our players were struggling a bit tells me it was probably an issue of fatigue after all the traveling,not to mention the humidity. With further preparations in England, the boys should be fit and ready for the season.
I’ve seen some say there’s nothing new. I disagree because I saw a few changes. In the first half,we were more direct and going long a lot more with switches of play than I’ve witnessed in recent seasons.There’s less emphasis on possession control for more directness. Our forwards just weren’t sharp enough on the day which is okay for reasons I’ve stated.
In addition,some of the changes I anticipate revolve around the new recruits(Zubimendi,Gyokeres and Madueke) . What these players all have in common is their directness and their ability to up the tempo of a game. These changes will become more apparent once these new guys are bedded in. I believe the new coach (Gabriel Heinze) is behind some of these tactical changes.
The absence of Zubimendi played a role in that first half. I imagine he would have been the one receiving the ball from Raya that lead to the goal, and not Myles. He’s a lot more adept at receiving the ball,turning and facing play. Perhaps it wasn’t the best pass from Raya but I believe a more experienced player would have made a better decision after receiving the pass.
Finally, I think Mosquera to be a brilliant player from the little I saw.