Good Thursday morning, TSFers. Arsenal played a preseason match yesterday! Well, a bunch of kids played and then some senior players got 30 minute run-outs or so. I watched the first half last night and am watching the second half as I write this. I have thoughts:
- Ethan Nwaneri is among the headlines. He looked really good. He’s dynamic and doesn’t look out of place or his element playing with older players. He impresses in a different way from other young players. To my eye, it wasn’t a “you can see the potential” that needs more seasoning. It was “he’s ready.” I’d expect he’ll see plenty more minutes in the preseason and will be given every chance to earn real minutes.
- Myles Lewis-Skelly looked good, too. He’s calm and composed on the ball in a way you don’t see from many 17-year olds. He’s one to keep a close eye on.
- Ayden Heaven had a solid outing at CB. He made a few mistakes, but nothing you wouldn’t expect from a 17-year old CB playing against a striker that scored 19 Premier League goals last season in Dominic Solanke. The youngster definitely showed why he’s so highly regarded by folks in the Arsenal academy.
- Fabio Vieira played well, especially considering that he shared most of his minutes with the younger players and came off when the majority of the first-teamers came on. Vieira made a difficult volley look incredibly easy for Arsenal’s goal and was solid defensively, which isn’t an aspect of his game we’ve seen much of.
- Jurrien Timber is a really good player. Mikel Arteta was raving about his leadership the other day, too. He’s going to be an important addition to this Arsenal squad. Like a new signing.
- Reiss Nelson played like a young man with a point to prove. Whether that’s to potential suitors that he’s worth buying or to his manager that he should stick around and get more minutes remains to be seen (the former is more likely than the latter). He was quick and lively out wide, getting past his man and serving it into the box a couple of times, including on the Arsenal goal.
- Eddie Nketiah played well. He’s a really good preseason player. At this point, he’s a known quantity. The question is whether that quantity is good enough for Arsenal or appealing enough to a suitor to command a decent fee. He’s been most prominently linked with Marseille this summer.
- Thomas Partey did little to assuage my concerns about his level heading into the season. He looks a half-step (or more) slow.
- Karl Hein looked pretty good in goal. He had some moments where he got lost on balls into the area in the air, but he also made a couple of really good saves, including two in the penalty shootout. He’s expected to head out on-loan this season.
- Omar Rekik, the 22-year old Tunisian international, had a poor showing. He nearly cost Arsenal a goal against with a slip and was partially to blame for the goal, which to be fair, took a massive deflection. He’s the type of player that, while probably not good enough for Arsenal, will likely be good enough to command a decent (but not spectacular) fee.
- Martin Ødegaard is so good. He looked to be in midseason form.
The Gunners won the penalty shootout 5-4 on 6 shooters. Kai Havertz, Gabriel Magalhaes, and Gabriel Martinelli are all expected to join preseason today. The club are next in action on Saturday against Manchester United at SoFi Stadium. Riccardo Calafiori likely won’t be with the team in time for Saturday, but I’d expect to see him next Wednesday in Philadelphia against Liverpool.