Arsenal had a very tough game against Man United just a few days ago, with both sides being extremely aggressive as if they were trying to injure each other ahead of the new season, and the Gunners had to endure another 90 minutes against Barcelona last night.
To be fair this was Barca’s first game of preseason as the first one was cancelled after sickness spread through the squad, and both teams still looked very uncoordinated, but they certainly put on a feisty show for the over 70,000 crowd in California.
Mikel Arteta felt that he had to point out that the “friendly” was a a bit overly physical. he said on Arsenal.com: “It got really competitive for a friendly match – after the first tackle, after the first goal. Obviously, in front of 70,000 fans it helps to create an atmosphere. They are elite players, and all want to win, and at the end it got a bit too much at times for a friendly to be fair. But I think we showed all the people that came to watch the game that it was really good.”
“At the end of the day, football belongs to the players. We’re playing in front of 70,000 people, and when it comes down to it, as soon as the game starts, they’ll rebel against the coaches and do what they want as soon as there’s the first foul, as soon as there’s the first goal, they’ll start getting intense and they’ll start playing.”
And the Barca boss Xavi was very quick to agree with Arteta, and echoed: “Our intensity didn’t surprise me, theirs did,” Xavi said. “It’s normal for it to be so intense and for there to be so many injuries and yellow cards.
“They were at a very high level of intensity and rhythm that we weren’t expecting.”
I guess it is only right that the Gunners have to be prepared for the unforgiving nature of the Premier League very shortly, so maybe it is a good sign after all. This triumph served as the ideal response after their recent loss to Manchester United in New Jersey on Saturday.
Following this, Arsenal is set to participate in the midweek Emirates Cup match against Monaco on Wednesday. Subsequently, they will face Manchester City in the Community Shield at Wembley next weekend, leading up to their Premier League opener at home against Nottingham Forest, so we will have to get up to speed very quickly….
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Nice work out lads. Saw some strong tackles against us in this match and the previous. MA should begin introducing our main starters after 20mins, which is long enough to determine how aggressive our ‘friendly’ opponents are setting up to play.
We need to avoid major injury disasters that could derail our upcoming season.
Well done boys!
And worse is that MA kept our players for 70 or 80 mins before substitute which might have been quite a risk, given the intensity. Clearly he wanted to win this match at any cost after our below par preseason to boast the morale of players and getting back to winning mentality. So basically we won against barcelona b team in 2nd half. Only the competitive match would reflect our preparation for the upcoming season.
They need minutes for fitness and sharpness. If they only played 45 minutes now they how would they be ready for the full 90 in competitive games?
Barca started it first with tackles and then a goal came after. So arsenal hav to respond to avoid the repeat of what happened against United
Me thinks a few of the Barca players watched what Manure had been up to & tried some of the same.Notably Arujo & Alonso ( usually dirty anyway) & thought they’d get away with it.Mistake with this Arsenal outfit.A bit rich from Xavi.But then he’s a moany c** t anyway.This lot & their arrogant fans are in the same bracket as Manure.So any win is an absolute pleasure.
So far, this year’s preseason matches amongst the top teams have been war and not friendly,
Manchester United had a red card against Wrexham, Lisandro has had alot of fights,
Arsenal players must brace up, we can’t be caught sleeping,
I’m concerned for Ramsdale, Turner needs to be given room to push Ramsdale.
This game tells you why the gaffer is so obsessed with Raphinha.
I would say the opposite personally. I thought Timber dealt with him really well- the two goals were from a rebound and a huge deflection on the free kick, apart from that he didn’t do much.
Yep
Arsenal usually score in the first 20mins so expecting most teams to go physical and crazy against them early on. I hope Arteta has a way to manage this to avoid injuries or red cards.