Kevin Whitcher
I used to attend the pre-season match against Barnet sometimes. This in the day when there would be some first team players that you could watch at uncustomary close quarters. Arsenal’s arrangement with Barnet ceased at some point before they vacated Underhill and switched to Borehamwood. I am not certain Arsene Wenger himself ever managed the side that played there every pre-season. It was generally the under-23s and I wasn’t tempted to spend a July afternoon (or occasionally evening from memory) watching players that invariably wouldn’t be retained by the club.
However, on Thursday, I read that Unai Emery was going to take a strong team to play in the fixture, so snapped up the final remaining seat on the phone from Borehamwood’s ticket office.
Saturday at 3pm saw England face Belgium in St Petersburg (I’ll conclude my World Cup diary tomorrow by the way) at the same time that Arsenal kicked off in north west London. Both, in their own way were meaningless games. I’d venture the weather in London was hotter than St Petersburg, and felt a little sympathy for those who had to stand in the uncovered ends.
However, the most significant thing about the afternoon for me were the roster of attendees in the section of seating given over to visiting directors and guests. Now, remember, at Brighton away last season, the only attendee with any connection to the board was secretary David Miles. It really came home to me seeing the names stuck on the seats in the stand at Borehamwood the amount of disconnect between Arsene and the directors at the end of his tenure. This was a pre-season kickabout. But in attendance were… Ivan Gazidis and family, Chips Keswick and wife, Ken Friar, Raul Sanllehi, Richard Carr, Freddie Ljungerg, David Miles and family, Huss Fahmy, not forgetting the ever-loyal Pat Rice. Granted, the Kroenkes were not there and Lord Harris presumably had better things to do but even so… it seemed like most of the club’s senior people wanted to be there. Perhaps they were all curious, but what Lady Sarah Keswick made of the facilities at Meadow Park… well, let’s just focus on the football and assume they make a quality cucumber sandwich.
As is often the case pre-season we saw two totally different elevens start the two halves for the Gunners. Emery brought a squad of 24 players according to the teamsheet. The first half team was: Cech, Bellerin, Sokratis, Mavropanos, Osei-Tutu, Maitland-Niles, Willock, Smith Rowe, Nelson, Aubameyang, Lacazette. After the interval it was: Martinez, Jenkinson, Mustafi, Holding, Kolasinac, Chambers, Ramsey, Mkhitaryan, Reine-Adelaide, Nketiah, Perez. New signing Guendouzi replaced Reine-Adelaide with about 15 minutes left. If Chuba Akpom got any playing time, I missed it.
These games don’t bear a great deal of analysis. The hosts were despatched as they should have been given the gulf in quality, with some of the goals particularly eye-catching. Regarding the two new signings, Sokratis looks a bit of a lump frankly, and Barnet certainly had a couple of chances in the opening 45 minutes. I’d call him a solid centre back, certainly physically, although pace could be a concern. It seems his primary role will be to bring more defensive knowhow to the team, remembering that Per Mertesacker is now retired. It was interesting that he was paired with Mavropanos, no communication problems there.
Guendenzi looked tidy, but nothing remarkable. I am sure he will see some action in the lesser competitions over the coming season, but at the moment, there’s nothing to report. On his entrance, the PA announcer was fumbling with his notes to find his name on the squad list and I thought, let’s lighten things up and just tell the crowd that Jeff Reine-Adelaide is being replaced by Sideshow Bob.
Of more interest was to watch what was happening with the head coach. Emery and his Spanish number 2 Juan Carlos Carcedo took it in turns to bark at the players, with Emery doing some specific individual instruction during the water break in each half. Steve Bould was chatted to on occasion by Emery, but by and large did what he did when Arsene was in charge… i.e. nothing. One gets the feeling he has been kept on simply to inform Emery how things were before, but of course, we do not know what goes on at the training ground. Spanish was often used rather than English by Carcedo, presumably on the basis the players concerned could understand it.
As for the tactics, we had 4-2-1-3 in the first half, although in the second it became a bit more 4-1-2-3 if only because Aaron Ramsey had no requirement to play deep. Calum Chambers played the holding midfield role, but of course, when everyone is back from their post World Cup holidays, Lucas Torreira will be the first choice for that position, with Elneny and Maitland-Niles the reserve options. Do not be completely surprised if the regular midfield pairing becomes Torreira and Maitland-Niles, depending on the fate of Aaron Ramsey (who could play in front of such a pair if he stays and Ozil is pushed out wide). Only other thing that really struck me was how vocal Shkodran Mustafi was in organizing the backline.
At the game’s conclusion, Arsenal head of PR Mark Gonella wanted Emery to do an interview for the club’s in-house media channel on the pitch, but the head coach was having none of it. Reportedly, those who had played in the first half went back to London Colney to do a light training session after their stint, so maybe Emery wanted to make a quick getaway and catch the end of that. Who knows? A sign perhaps that he is more concerned with his pre-season preparations than pleasing the media team.
So, four more pre-season matches and some filtering in of those who were on duty in Russia. The only conclusion we can really make from this run out is that the head coach and his bona fide assistant are going to be more proactive during matches, but let’s be honest, it would have been a challenge not to be given the amount of in-game instruction we have seen from the dugout in recent years.
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