This is not the pre-season we wanted: but there is one great shining light

 

 

• Fifa, Uefa and FA are not above the law after all.
• Pre-season is about tactics, and liaison with foreign fans, not about winning

By Tony Attwood

Clearly, the first part of the headline is true, since Arsenal have been losing games, and have not shown us the stunning football that we had hoped for.   But then we have six permanent new members of the squad from five different clubs and all of them a) want to play and b) are trying to fit in with the club and its existing team.   Three of them are trying to fit into the routines of a new country as well.

The simple fact is that if these have been the right transfers, they will not only be improving the team on the opening day of the season, but also improving the chances of the squad coping with the inevitable injuries.   

But of course it is not only about the players as individuals being the right ones for Arsenal; they have to learn to play together.   Whether that can happen by the opening league game is looking slightly doubtful but we shall see.

It can be argued that after the defeats Arsenal are in a far worse place than Manchester United who of course we play in our first game of the season, given that Manchester United have had three wins (against West Ham United, Bournemouth and Everton) and a draw (with Leeds) and none of these games were played at Old Trafford.

Or it could also be argued that, according to the Premier League’s table of changes, they are a more stable club than Arsenal, having released just three players, brought in three new players on transfers, and loaned out eight players.

Arsenal on the other hand, released four players (Jorginho, Butler-Oyedeji, Quesada-Thorn,  Tierney), ended the loan of Sterling, and Neto, transfered out   Tavares, Marquinhos and Tomiyasu, and bought in Kepa Arrizabalaga, Martin Zubimendi, Christian Norgaard, Noni Madueke, Cristhian Mosquera, and Viktor Gyokeres.  A complete revolution.

Of course, this is the sort of wholesale change to the squad that many people were demanding, and I don’t think it is realistic to see these new players all working together immediately.  But those who demanded the change won’t care about that.

But this is the great danger with multiple changes to a squad a once given the international nature of football, not all of them will have perfect English to begin with, and all of them will be learning a different tactical approach, living in a new home, probably separated from friends and family.   Even more challenging will be the fact that hopefully somewhere, someone, will be talking to the new players not only about the unique approach to football adopted by PGMO officials, but also what we might call their interesting unique approach to Arsenal.

For these various reasons, it is quite possible that come the start of the season against Manchester United, only a limited number of our new players will be in the starting XI, which might well lead to media questioning of what on earth was the point of buying in these players if we are not going to play them?

So it is a damned if you do (play the new men) and damned if you don’t (because they are clearly not yet fully practised in how to work together, and the unique approach of PGMO to football.

But perhaps we should also keep in mind that there is one more match to go – the so-called “Emirates Cup” game on Saturday against Athletic Club, kick off 5pm.  Maybe for that game, we will see what Arteta currently feels is the first team – or maybe it will be more experimentation with some of the newcomers.

What I wouldn’t be surprised to see would be complaints either way: too many new players being tried at once, or not giving everyone a chance.  Damned if you do….

The current attitude toward Arsenal can probably be best summed up in the Telegraph headline “Sloppy Arsenal lose to Villarreal but Max Dowman impresses”.   The one player Arsenal didn’t pay anything for is the success.  All the ones that they spent so much money are proving to be a waste of the cash..  (They could also celebrate the fact that Arsenal now have three home-grown teens in the first team squad, but that might be too much to celebrate all at once).

But there is a really positive note in all of this, and that is also in the Telegraph’s report.  It reads

‘Asked how Dowman’s older team-mates have responded to him being in the squad, Mikel Arteta said: “The reaction is very clear. They have the ball and they give it to him…There can be nothing more than that”.’

Amidst the gloom of defeats, that is rather good.