AVL 0-2 ARS: Anything But Routine, But I'll Take It

 Wow, what a wild ride.  Ollie Watkins of all people missed two sitters.  Villa had more quality chances than we did, but failed to capitalize.  We made two of our chances count, via Trossard and Partey.  Martinez should have kept Partey's shot out but his wrist was not up to the task.  Villa was very good and launched some superb counters, to no avail.  This ought to do wonders for our belief and confidence.

Timber did well at left back.  He asn't as smooth in possession as Zinchenko but he did his part, and he was an upgrade on Zinny in defense.  Calafiori came in for him and looked really good.  If we had a midfield injury crisis, I can see either of them doing a job as a holding midfielder.  Raya made a great save (to be fair, so did Martinez), the back four was solid for the most part, and we did enough in midfield to maintain most of the possession.  It wasn't a game for strikers.

Man U lost to Brighton due to a couple of terrible defensive mistakes, leaving Seagulls wide open at the far post.  It was a great day for former Gunners Welbeck, who scored for Brighton, and for Smith-Rowe and Iwobi, who powered Fulham to a 2-1 victory over Leicester.  Good for them.

No Goal, No Justice

 My blogmate must still be seething over the gross injustice done to Crystal Palace and Eberechi Eze in Week 1 of the Premier League.  Eze took an audacious free kick direct at goal from a long way (38 yds?) which beat the Brentford keeper, who was expecting a cross into the box.  But the referee blew the whistle because of a tie-up in the group awaiting the free kick.  In my view, it was not a foul in the first place, and it had nothing to do with the free kick.  This would have been the opening goal.  Palace eventually lost the game 2-1.  It was a very entertaining contest, but it was annoying in the extreme to see the game's best play chalked off for a stupid officiating error.

ARS 2-0 WOL: One Down, 37 to Go

 The score was about right.  The Gunners deserved to win comfortably, which is not to say that it was easy or that we didn't male mistakes.  A couple of those mistakes probably should have been punished, but weren't.  We gave the ball away cheaply several times; Partey was particularly loose.  Our goals were magisterial, Havertz expertly heading a perfect cross from Saka past Jose Sa in the first half, and Saka receiving a Havertz pass out wide, cutting in, and lashing one inside Sa's near post.  Both were unstoppable.  We could have had more but for stout defending and wayward finishing.  All in all, Arteta learned a few things and our main men were close to their best form.  The Merino buy looks more necessary than ever after this worrisome start from Partey, though.  Timber came on late and looked very sharp, but tried to do too much and was robbed of the ball once in a bad spot.  He'll get a talk about that from Arteta.

I still wonder if Timber or Calafiori could play as a holding midfielder.

Well, it's Aston Villa next weekend.  They looked very good today beating West Ham in London.

The Preseason

 First, transfer tittle-tattle:  We made the Raya acquisition permanent, and spent £40+M on another defender, Riccardo Calafiori.  Honestly, Arsenal has the deepest defensive bench in the world.  Saliba and Gabriel Magalhaes start at CB, and White at RB.  LB was an issue but Calafiori would be ideal there.  Any of those guys can play across the back line.  Behind them, there's Kiwior, Zinchenko, Timber, and Tomiyasu.  Arteta is definitely building from the back.  Apparently he thinks the Premier League's best defense can get even better.  It looks as though Mikel wants another Mikel, Merino, in midfield.  He has a very Rice-like profile and could play a six or an eight.  Outgoings include Emile Smith Rowe (Fulham) for £34M and probably Eddie Nketieh to Marseille for around £20M.  Reiss Nelson is in the shop window as well.  It would not be surprising to see Kiwior move back to Serie A, but if Gabriel goes to Saudi Arabia (long shot), we'd probably keep him for backup.  Everyone wants a great striker or winger, but the price has to be right.  And Aaron Ramsdale is desperate to play.  I think the guy is a really good GK and should fetch £20M+ easy, but we shall see.  Karl Hein seemed pretty solid to me in all three games.

The three US games were great showcases for young talent and an opportunity to get everyone together in a competitive atmosphere before the regular season.  It's always nice to win, but no one actually cares much about that.  Liverpool scored two really nice goals--the second was delicious--and deserved to edge the Gunners last night.  We beat Man U by the same 2-1 score, and Bournemouth was a 1-1 contest.  Bright spots were Ethan Nwaneri in midfield--the guy is almost ready for the senior team--and a rejuvenated Gabriel Jesus.  Martinelli looked eager as well.  Timber was good.  It was a good run up to the season ahead.