After Arsenal battered the MLS All-Stars 5-0 at Audi Field, the manager and several players faced questions from assembled media.
Here are a few interesting bits and bobs
Martin Odegaard on how the new players are settling in…
Yeah brilliant, all of them. They are already a part of the team, already a part of the family and you saw on the pitch today the quality they have so it’s a pleasure to have them here and a joy to play with them. We still have so many things to improve, we can get a lot better so it’s very early. We are getting more and more fit, I think the rhythm will come, so it’s good so far.
Source: Arsenal.com
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Folarin Balogun on how seriously Arteta took this match:
Deadly serious, I won’t even lie. He’s a relentless man, as you’ve seen. What you see with him is what you get, he’s very demanding and of course, that’s a good mentality for us. When we’re coming out here, we want to take every game seriously and play the right way.
Source: Apple TV
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Man of the Match Bukayo Saka on the 5-0 win over the MLS All-Stars…
I think we showed in glimpses how well we can play. I’m really happy with the new signings and how they got on and gelled with the team. In the second half, we finished strongly.
Source: Apple TV
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Mikel Arteta on what he wants from the absent Matt Turner…
First of all, the same as last year which is a great contribution to the squad and a great contribution to the goalkeeping unit as well because he’s so competitive and keeps everyone at their best level every single day. Then when he played he’s been great with us and with the national team he’s been superb, so I think he’s on a great trajectory. Obviously, he needed some holiday because it’s been a long, long year for him, I don’t know how many competitions he’s played in, but it was so many and so he needed a break. When it’s after his break he will be back with us.
Source: Arsenal.com
More from the boss 👉 here
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Jurrien Timber on his move to Arsenal…
It’s a dream come true, to be honest. My patience has paid off, yeah. I just followed my feelings, I was patient. It paid off, it paid off. I’m at one of the most beautiful clubs in the world. They had a great season last year and now they bought some players so the expectations are really high but it’s nice to see that they are building and building, so let’s see what this year will bring. The first moment, you’re a bit nervous [walking into the dressing room], but I was also calm, I’m a calm guy. The guys were so welcoming, so it was very easy to come into the group and feel like one of them.
Source: Sky Sports
Will be happy with the points total from last season. It’s going to be a much tougher season so if we replicate, we might just win it. Up the Arse
I’ll go even a step for and say that replicating twice the first half of last season sounds absolutely fine by me.
I think our European adventures will affect our league performances this year. The Champions League will require our first team rather than playing the second string as we did in the early Europa games last season. I’m hoping the team get the balance right so we can start well like we did last season.
I will go even a step further, not replicating performances in the last 8 games of last season sounds absolutely fine by me.
If you look back at last season closely, we could have comfortably made 94 points. Southampton and West Ham away should have been 6 points each. We had 2. Brentford and Newcastle home, with good refereeing/VAR should have been 6 points. We got 2.
The team will even be stronger than last season by my reckoning; add the frustration and anger at missing the title as extra motivation; this is our year. I have no doubts in my mind.
“Add the frustration and anger at missing the title as extra motivation” is called winning mentality, a taboo for the majority of fans on this forum.
Doesn’t matter how much winning mentality you have, if your squad doesn’t have sufficient depth it will eventually succumb to injuries and consequently suffer from a lack of top quality (Holding) and tire, both mentally and physically (Saka, Partey).
Injuries to Saliba and Tommi plus a lack of sufficient quality on the bench cost us the title; not a lack of winning mentality. Had we lacked winning mentality, we’d have been mid table all season, not top for most of it.
We pushed to the wire a team that was already the best in the country and had added a player who looks like he will conformably become the all-time top goalscorer in the premier league, a team dripping with world class players who are both bedded in and at an age profile where they are mostly at their absolute prime. Given our teams age profile, the youngest team in the league with one of the least experienced managers (in terms of season as a manager), we had no business doing that. Indisputably a big part of the motivation for the… Read more »
Really enjoyed this game. Some great passing and finishing. Odegard, Trossard, Saliba, Kiwior,Saka, Martinelli I could go on they were all great. Still a bit worried about Viera, he goes missing in games and not sure he will get much game time the quality ahead of him. Next up Man Utd and i am feeling another 5-0 coming up with a Balogun goal.
Did Kiwior play left back again?
Definitely want to see some Balogun goals in this preseason, otherwise I fear neither he nor Arteta would feel he’s impressed enough to feel like he can compete with Jesus this season, which would probably mean him leaving.
Nominally. As inverted LB, he was inside Gabriel most of the time. He plays that position deeper and keeping more central than Zinchenko does. Often the middle of a back three.
I love Kiwior’s passing range. Very impressive.
Super intrigued by that, yes his passing range is supposedly his greatest strength, we didn’t really get to see it last season in the very little he did play. Quite excited by the possibilities he and Timber bring to our build up this season…
Similar to John Stones at Manchester City, right? That’s what I was reminded of.
If balogun stays he will get a chance. When Jesus got injured nketia got his chance. He did ok at first and scored massive winner against United. His last 5 consecutive premiership games he scored none, assisted none and created only one chance for a teammate which I think was against villa away which odegarrd missed. Nketia chance came and went. Balogun will get a chance.Pinot convinced about his attitude but that could be media.
As expected was a sloppy game on both sides, the All-Stars obviously hadn’t played together before and were not a cohesive unit while were in early pre-season form with lots of bad turnovers, poor passes, etc., especially in the first half. To me players like Viera, Jorginho and Nketiah showed just how big of a drop off there is from the starters they were replacing (Odegaard, Rice and Martinelli) in the first half and we were a different team for sure once they went out and the three of those starters came in along with Havertz. Jorginho had a nice… Read more »
Just an obvious point: If you have just bought a player you think is one of the best in the league, maybe the world, at his position (Rice), then his replacement will inevitably involve a big drop in quality. I think you can say the same about Odegaard, Saka, and Saliba. Unless you are Guardiola or Deschamps, you simply cannot rotate one world-class player with another. But we now have a greater number of quality replacements than before and that makes a difference.
‘Replicate what Rice does better’? So like a £200million player!🤷🤣
WE, Jurrien. We
I just watched the replay. Brilliant performances across the old and the new boys. But Jurien Timber! OMG! We got ourselves a bargain there! So cool on the ball and on 1/1. The aggression on his press! Exquisite passes too! That baller is getting straight into the first team based on that performance. Also Saliba re-emphasized why our title charge collapsed after his injury at the back end of last season:(. So excited about the new season. COYG!!
Compare the starting lineup from the last match vs MLS, it’s a hilarious difference.
Off topic, but I just want to congratulate Robbie Lyle at AFTV – whom I have always had a lot of time for – for turning things around on his channel, getting rid of one or two trouble makers (I am not btw referring to Claude, who sadly passed away) and now employing a team of balanced informed and entertaining co presenters – Turkish, Lee Judges, etc. I have tried in vain to watch poor old Charlie Watts, but haven’t been able to get through any episode without the missus and my daughters complaining about his voice – sorry Charles,… Read more »