Arsenal’s pre-season tour of the USA ended on a disappointing note as Mikel Arteta’s lost 2-1 to Liverpool in Philadelphia.
Having experimented with younger players against Bournemouth and Manchester United, the Gunners fielded a lineup packed with experience including first tour starts for Gabriel Magalhaes, Kai Havertz and Gabriel Martinelli.
Notable by their absence were Jurrien Timber, rested after three games on the trot, and new signing Riccardo Calafiori. The manager later explained the Italian had yet to train properly with his new teammates.
Arsenal made a bright start in front of the 70,000 crowd at Lincoln Financial Field and came close to taking the lead when Gabriel Jesus charged down a clearance by Reds’ keeper Caoimhin Kelleher.
Not long after, Liverpool took the lead. Salah, so often a thorn in our side, raced onto Harvey Elliott’s through ball, cut across Big Gabi and found the bottom corner with a cool finish.
As the game opened up, Jesus had a chance to level but was denied by Jarell Quansah and Jota hit the post. Elliott provided his second assist of the evening five minutes before the break, dinking a ball over a melee of players for Fabio Carvalho to fire home.
The Gunners reduced the deficit just before the break when Kai Havertz tapped home Martin Odegaard’s pass but that was as good as it got for the team in black.
“It was good to see him score a goal,” said Arteta afterwards. “I think, again, he’s had only four training sessions and he then has to play in these conditions, but he’s come again in good shape. He prepared himself before he joined us and he looks good.”
While Arteta’s side dominated proceedings in the second half, the closest they came to an equaliser was on 67 minutes when substitute Fabio Vieira stung the palms of Kelleher with a rasping right foot effort.
Amongst a raft of changes, the fact Myles Lewis-Skelly, Ethan Nwaneri, Josh Nichols and Ayden Heaven were handed minutes suggests they are the youngsters who’ve staked the biggest claim to more involvement back in England.
All in all, the tour has been a positive experience but, such is the nature of his character, Arteta couldn’t hide his frustration at the result.
“Obviously we can improve,” he told his post-game press conference. “The game would have been very different if the first chance that we had, we scored but that’s the goal.
“It makes the difference when you’re in those areas in those spaces in the box, putting the ball in the back of the net and we created a situation, we had another two or three big open situations to go better but we didn’t, so we have to improve.”
Arsenal will fly back to London today and have two more friendlies – versus Bayer Leverkusen and Lyon – before the new campaign starts in 17 days time.
Reflecting on the state of his squad, Arteta added: “I think we are in good condition. I think we played some really competitive matches. Today was a really strong test. I think we started the game fantastically well.
“I think after six or seven minutes we should be 2-0 up. Then we lost control, especially with two things that we didn’t do well enough and we allowed them to run in transition, which is a really dangerous thing to do against them.
“And in the second half we improved a lot and we deserved more. But it was great, really difficult conditions to play. Great crowd and we’ve got a lot out of it so I’m really pleased.”
I thought Hein played really well. I assume Ramsdale will be finding a new club in the next few weeks, I think Hein can fill in well as a back up keeper
The plan is to send him out on loan this season, something already acknowledged by Arteta. He needs to play football for his development. There’s a fairly decent chance Arsenal buy two more keepers before the window closes.
You think one of the additions could be a loan to balance the potential of Hein becoming #2 potentially next season?
Is Emiliano Viviano available?
We’ll get our revenge on Horne Slut in the regular season.
Cancel the season.
Arteta out!
Zinchenko remains terrible at defending
I like him as a man. And it’s never a good look to bag players after pre season. But yeah. If we can use him as a tactical sub this season I’d be happier.
I’d be happier if he was playing for another club
Anyone know why Timber wasn’t even in the squad?
I bet Arteta knows..
He was being rested. They are managing his load as he returns from the ACL injury.
Load*
*snigger
Ah, probably prudent.
I like Zinchenko as a man too, but I like him better as a player when he’s not our first choice LB, maybe not even second. Hopefully Calafiori dreamin’ and Jurrien Timberland can inherent those spots for us this season…
He might even end up leaving this summer.
My bet is that Kiwior leaves and Zinny stays for one more season to provide depth, someone we can reliably start in cup games without changing our system even if one of Timber or Calafiori can’t go.
I didn’t get a chance to watch any of the US matches. Guessing some of the pitches were artificial. Probably for the best Timber didn’t play if so.
Needed a rest, read somewhere he they wanted to protect him due to fatigue
That is exactly why bought Cali to make sure our left side is solid.
I think there’s a clear body of evidence that he’s not a trustworthy defensively at LB against elite opposition. He played there be Bournemouth too and was just fine. He does bring skills we don’t have in abundance in the squad and an area of need, namely a high level of press resistance and passing ball progression. He can do that from LB against teams with lesser threat than Liverpool, or from midfield. I think he remains a very good option for us, just not an everyday starter at LB.
I thought he was good against Bournemouth, not so good yesterday. As has been pointed out before, the big defensive mistakes that Zinchenko has made and that drive people crazy are rarely actually “defensive” mistakes. They are typically momentary losses of concentration (like an underhit backpass) or a kind of overconfidence (a sorta Cruyff turn to beat a man when he is the last one back). He is actually pretty good in duels and one v one defending. The exception to that is when he is too afraid of a fast winger receiving a ball over the top and drops… Read more »
Having watched every minute of the tour I am left thinking. 1) creativity is an issue if Odegaard is injured. There is no suitable back up 2) Nwaneri will be in the squad 3) Marti is still reluctant to shoot 4) Zinchenko is even worse at defending 5) Partey will Be upgraded due to lack of pace 6) Jesus simply cannot be our 9 7) for all his technique how come there is never an end result with Vieira 8) Hein cannot be our back up Yesterday I was struck in the last minute by Nketiah slowly jogging across the… Read more »
Were you grabbing a snack when Vieira scored against Bournemouth?
Good kick up the arse before the season starts 👍
Partey is my biggest worry…..he looks washed, physically.
I thought he was one of the best players last night. His control in the midfield was excellent. What am I missing that you saw differently?
You need to take those rose tinted glasses off, he was awful.
Arteta keeps referring to the conditions. I’m assuming he meant playing jet lagged on a hybrid grass/turf surface without his top 3 best players. Or maybe just the proximity of too many Eagles fans.
Very hot and extremely muggy. Not the sort of conditions that our squad feels comfortable in; especially after a long flight and 3 hours less to acclimatize. Didn’t affect our skipper though!
It was very hot and humid. (Worth pointing out, at the risk of spoiling your joke.)
“Heat Index” temps near 100F (37-38C) in Philly these days. Mid 90F’s, some humidity, thunderstorms. Not your typical English fare, that’s for sure.