Details of today’s behind closed doors friendly against Aston Villa are thin on the ground right now, but here’s what we do know.
We lost 3-2, and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang scored twice for us.
Thanks for the run-out, @AVFCOfficial ?
? Arsenal 2-3 Aston Villa
⚽️ @Aubameyang7 (2) pic.twitter.com/vZ1hONRRgR— Arsenal (@Arsenal) September 5, 2020
Willian made his first appearance in an Arsenal shirt. Similarly, Alexandre Lacazette and Nicolas Pepe played some pre-season minutes for the first time.
Mesut Ozil made his first appearance since before the lockdown.
Dani Ceballos played, which means he hasn’t had to quarantine for 14 days. That also means that he will be available for selection for next weekend’s Premier League opener against Fulham at Craven Cottage – which is good news.
Rob Holding and Hector Bellerin both played – suggesting that potential departures are still some way from being completed, if they are to be completed at all.
Beyond that, we don’t know a great deal yet. There may be more on the official site later – but right now it’s time to massively overreact to a result that doesn’t mean anything in a game none of have seen.
I AM HERE TO OVERREACT!!!!!!!!!!!
Conceded three in a friendly versus QPR a few days ago and now another three against Villa.
Friendlies, so I’m not getting excited, but seems a lot of goals against lowly opposition. Who was in defence?
WE’RE OBVIOUSLY GOING TO GET RELEGATED NOW LMAO FML SMH ROFL
So, professor, would you say it’s time for everyone to panic? Yes I would, Kent.
And professor, without knowing exactly what the danger is, would you say it’s time for our viewers to crack each other’s heads open and feast on the goo inside?
We’re going to win the league!
Doom
#ArtetaOut
I have the plane ready.
Be careful what you wish for.
This just confirms what I’ve been suspecting for some time and what I’ve been worried about since Arteta took over, whenever we play after around about 90 mins the ref blows the whistle for full time and there is some sort of a result, very often either a win, loss or draw.
Sickening!
Yeah somebody always wins. Except when nobody does.
Micheal Owen is that you
Sometimes at the end of 90 minutes they give the players a cup.
Sometimes it happens 2 times in a row.
#WengerOut
Yeah, Arsene, spend some fucking money.
Oh. Wait….
Good news is Dani boy is available for selection. We need to get as many points as we can while most teams are still unsettled with transfer ins/outs, fitness issues, quarantines and interlull.
I don’t see Chelsea being very unsettled. I see them heading north of spending £200m and counting.
Has someone told Abramovich there’s a pandemic on and the whole world is plotless…?
*potless
*Potty
Ramsey played shit today. Can’t wait to see Blogs give him an 8 in the ratings
Completely anonymous
Always disappears in these kinds of games. Get rid.
9
The matador evades, then strikes. Ole.
What..??did Ramsey play???
Yeah, he went 20 over par. Shit. We need to move him on for free.
He did. For Villa and scored twice. The traitor.
No, he got pissed off with the cretins that kept booing him and left to earn some decent money.
Last few seasons we have always done well in friendlies and our season used to be in toilet. It’s going to be reverse this time.
I mean we defeated Bayern last preseason. Maybe we get a European trophy this time?
Think I’ll go with – Arteta has lost the plot, it’s time for Silent Stan to step in and appoint Ozil as the new manager.
Ozil as player-manager with Guendouzi and Gunnersaurus as his assistants?
Might as well bin BFG too.
Don’t be absurd. When Flamini is appointed as the new Director of Football, BFG will be needed to act as his personal valet.
What are you talking about. Who do you think it is inside of the dinosaur costume?
I always thought it was Perry Groves.
Dang. What did Gunnersaurus do to deserve such treatment?
Seems like Ozil was left out on Raul’s orders, as soon as he’s gone Ozil is back in contention. I think the club might have realised, while we are paying 350k a week why not get some return for it. Let’s hope Ozil does some good stuff and redeems his legacy a bit
I think the club finally realised that Raul was a Barca spy, sent to destabilise Oezil so that Barcelona could eventually sign Oezil on a cheap.
Does that mean the swap deal Özil vs Messi is off now?
Damn, didn’t Messi already tell Berca that he wanted to leave … to join us I assume.
Bollocks to Raul. I never did like the fat useless little turd.
Arteta out
Villa. Our new bogey team.
Well, that’s another season down the tubes
*In George Carlin’s voice*: What tubes?
*In George Carlin’s voice*: Why more than one tube?
Gunnersaurus out
Arsenal played with 10 men + Ozil. This can happen…
The mindless hate continues…..
We’ll still get top four, but clearly Villa is a favorite for winning the whole thing.
This could be it, in which case we’re not in bad shape.
Still hoping for more, but right now we have no idea how close or how likely anything else is (apart from Auba renewing).
Ozil=defeat
Arsenal didn’t need Özil to lose against Aston Villa last season.
We didn’t need him to win the F.A. Cup either.
So what did you do at full time in the 2014, 2015 and 2017 finals…? Moan that Ozil was in the side? ?
Or Brighton. Or Sp*rs.
The rotten apple in the barrel
And STILL our best attacking midfielder.
Said Hull City, Aston Villa and Chelsea. ???
If Aubameyang can only score two in a game we should sell him and buy Bitcoins instead
If we play our 9 central defenders and Aubameyang we should be alright
Bring back Emery now!
I’ve had it with all of those losers.
Yeah it’s time to bring in the real losers, show them how its done
Its better to have loved and lost than never to lose at all
I think Arsenal have resigned to the fact that Ozil is not going to leave this season and we are not in a position at least financially to sign a new number 10.
I think both the parties involved have decided to let of their egos and have decided to work together for the common good.
Good move I would say.
I think you are being optimistic. But I hope I am wrong.
There a lot of that going around.
I’m not sure Ozil ever wanted anything but to stay and play, to be fair to him.
If he does stay Arteta is smart and I expect he will use him if he can be made to fit
like someone said on twitter – “Ozil is in his final year of his contract.21 assist season incoming since he play’s best for contracts”
Ozil in his prime years had to play with a bearded donkey upfront and finally when we managed to get Auba, Emery came in. Ozil thrives with good players playing around him. The problem is you can’t build a team around him as he is much more like a final piece in the puzzle.
We have now got a decent defence. A solid front line led by Auba. Buy Partey, pair him with Ceballos and we have got a good central midfield. All wisely managed by Arteta.
Now I think is the time to play Ozil.
On paper some combination of Auba, Laca, Pepe, Willian and Ozil is not a bad thing to have in your team at all …
As long as that paper isn’t your weekly payroll.
Top post, well said. It won’t happen, of course.
Too much like common sense for this club.
Not a bad shout yellow ribbon. No coincidence ozil’s best returns came when he had santi, Sanchez n Ramsey around him. It’s funny but also sad that people feel the team needs a creative PLAYER.. wrong!! A team needs at least 2 creative players in the same side. They feed of each other..simples
I am, comparatively, a big Ozil supporter, but this is just wrong. In his prime years with Arsenal, Ozil played with a brilliant, though often maddeningly erratic, attacking player. And yes, it is clear that both Alexis and Ozil liked playing together.
This is Kroenke’s Arsenal – we sell players like Alexis, Ramsey, Santi all and waste money on dross like Cedric and Luiz.
All those down votes. Some people must love watching our midfield struggle to create anything in the final third. You know what say. Ignorance is bliss.
Twitter is never short of a cunt or two…,
Ozil wants to cash those paychecks more then anything. But he probably realises that he will need game time for his negotiating position with his next club
Such bitterness! ?
Indeed. I think Ozil could be a big help to the oft-discussed Plan A (when we hope to dominate the opposition and create chance after chance), but it is very clear that he should nowhere near the team for any Plan B games (when we have to defend resolutely and counter-attack against teams that are, arguably, better than us).
Let’s hope the team is united this year, and the fanbase fully behind them, as Arteta can get us results and the competition is going to be something for those top four spots.
And people still down vote this.
Thick. As. Shit.
Playing a pre season friendly is just treating him equally and being fair. He has demonstrated no intensity previously in how he defends. If that doesn’t change then neither will arteta’s reluctance to play him (which is absolutely correct). The ball has always been in ozil’s court just like every other player in that squad. Do what the manager asks and you’ll be given a chance. It’s that simple. None of this has anything to do with contracts or past performance. It’s about attitude and application in the here and now. There’s plenty of examples already of that with arteta… Read more »
Well said, I completely trust Arteta to pick his teams based solely on merit and whether the player meets his “non-negotiables”. So happy to have a manager who is strong willed, but also fair. Like you say, it’s down to Ozil now.
Even if Ozil isn’t starting PL games this season I’d like to see him at least play some Europe and cup games
He should start as many games as possible. Our midfield has been an absolute joke without him.
What was odd about the game?
Ozil played.
Özil played friendlies before the season started again.
What?! 3-2 loss to Villa? Aaaaaahhhh!!!!… I mean… meh.
Wenger out! top 4 is not a trophy!!
Should have hired Lampard instead.
We didn’t lose to villa under Emery! Why did they sack him!!!!!!!!1111!
In all seriousness I hope Josh or kse don’t read arseblog I doubt they’d get the sarcasm rampant in these comments!
Auba scores again… let’s hope he doesn’t get injured or the goals could dry up.
Oh did I miss Özil’s testimonial? Shame.
Haha. Can you imagine if that was actually his final game??
I can hope!
Oh dear, lads….
Not quite what you’d hoped for…..
Amen
Where was Goonasaurus when this was all going on Hes nicking a living according to pundits
Goonersaurus lives in a non-existent universe. Now,GUNNERSAURUS on the other hand has probably been furloughed.
Bloody John terry
Whose wife is he after this time?
I’d like to see him go after Kolasinac’s wifey.
Or Özil’s. Doesn’t change much, she is also defended by Kolasinac.
Is Villa going to become Arterta’d bogey team?
This abaumeyang bloke is a joke, scores 2 goals and then nicks off for the rest of the match….. every bloody match lately!
Gabriel Out
Whenever ozil starts we seem to loose
Definitely reading way too into it and I’m only half serious, but the fact these were closed door friendlies and we conceded a bit more than usual might suggest we tried a back four or some tactical shift vis a vis defence? Should be interesting.
Loosing or winning a secret friendly don
t bother me, the absolute silence of new Auba contract does. Reports from mid August said IT was almost completed, now were son mid September. This is scary..My team:
Martinez
Saliba Gabriel Tierney
AMN Ceballos Xhaka Willian Saka
Pepe Aubamayang
Bench:
Leno Cedric Luiz Willock Nelson Martinelli Nketiah
Rest of squad:
Macey Mari Ballard Cottrell Elneny Smith-Rowe
John-Jules
Sell:
Kolasinac Bellerin Özil Guendouzi Torreira
Mkhitaryan (gone) Papastathopoulos
Mustafi Holding Chambers Lacazette = £180m
If we could get 180million for those players I’d be more agreeable
?
This club is in a shambles. At this rate, we’ll be lucky to avoid relegation next season and I’m beginning to doubt if Arteta is the right man to take us forward. What was Willians contribution today? The board is a complete mess. By the way, what business did Oezil have participating? He should be relegated to the reserves if he doesn’t want to leave. Every time he plays, we lose. Just look at the half-arsed effort to track his man, that led to their winning goal. I’m done with this club!!!
You watched the game?
You James Bond or something…
Get well soon, mate.
Pretty obvious this game comes in-between very hard pre season training sessions and is there for that reason only. If you look at other clubs they all have a result like this within the same week of other clubs as im sure its the same scenario and plan.
Arteta out!
Arteta special instructions, make sure we lose but close…so we can push the board to get Aouar… Ozil “Hold my Pilsner” Seriously, people give Ozil too much stick. We need to move on from him but he is still a very useful asset (in certain situations…cough) But his salary and then Willian simply highlights poor policy in recent years with Sanlehi/Mslintat… I’m not convinced extending on Auba from business point given these two are on books is a good idea. BUT much dependent on suitors for high ticket potential sale players. Laca won’t garner as much and Juve now in… Read more »
Come back Mustafi.
?