Arsenal began a new era without Granit Xhaka and it began with a very low key match against the Bundesliga second tier side FC Nurnberg. Mikel Arteta picked a very strong starting XI and it looked like it should be a walkover when Bukayo Saka put us into an early lead with a typically brilliant shot from outside the box that avoided defenders and strikers alike before nesting in the bottom corner.
But the Gunners could not build on that and looked sluggish up front so the score remained the same until the break.
There were wholesale changes in the second half, and although we had more of the chances the Germans equalized through a crazy backpass from Jorginho wiped out our lead and it was Nurnberg who seemed more likely to score the winner, at one point hitting the bar.
Our strikers, as in Jesus, Nketiah and Balogun all had great chances but every chance went begging. A draw was not the end of the world and every member of the squad got a game except our captain Martin Odegaard who mysteriously didn’t arrive on the pitch after getting injured in the warm up. Let’s hope it is not too serious…
Enjoy!
Very underwhelming performance and yes, I know it’s still early in preseason training but I say it as I saw it. Good goal by Saka but not much else, best player in the first half for me was White with a decent performance from Vieira for once. Jorginho was solid too, barring his quite strange own goal. Tierney man of the match overall when he played in second half but I was really impressed with Ethan Nwaneri when he came on and it’s hard to believe he’s only 16, definitely one to watch. Havertz was very disappointing. The defence changed to a back three of Tierney, White and Gabriel later in the second half which worked well. Balogun looked lively but missed a sitter. As I said, overall disappointing.
Nwaneri is the one to look out for. The boy is special. Viera coming to form, he needs this preseason badly imo. Saka and Saliba quite solid. And how good was Ben white, he’s tough to replace. Timber better be up for competition there. Balogun was sharp and I think he’s a kind of striker profile we don’t have yet? He’s different. Havertz will gel in
I guess slowly. Rest was just a rust up usual display. Players coming to gel together. And regarding Saka, White and Saliba, I think they are class, unaffected by form.
Viera was not very good in my opinion! Couple of bad free kicks, gave the ball away and not very strong in the midfield. Not sure what the manager is seeing in him. The sooner we realize he’s not for arsenal the better. Does he start ahead of esr or even the electric 16 year old we saw yesterday. That’s a no for me! Think about it you need a goal in the champions league knockout stage and you turn to the bench, are you gonna bring him on to change/impact the game?
Balogum should be kept and get rid of Nkieta;White and Saliba excelent.Viera did well but in a limited space,needs more mobility to cover more terrain.