Arsenal spent the summer with a Premier League trophy to fawn over for the first time in 22 years, so this pre-season was never going to carry the usual nerves for a fanbase that had grown used to being the top-flight’s nearly men. Mikel Arteta’s side ended a long wait by finishing top with 85 points after Manchester City stumbled at Bournemouth on the final day of the campaign, with the summer campaign that followed feeling more like a victory lap than a trial by fire. At least, that was the case until the goals started going in at the other end against a defence that had been solid for so long.
Six friendlies took Arsenal from a closed-doors runout against MK Dons through to the bright lights of the Community Shield in Cardiff, seeing them play in Girona, Dublin and back at the Emirates for a home double-header against Borussia Dortmund and Como. New faces such as Christos Tzolis, Bruno Guimarães and Piero Hincapié were worked in gradually, whilst Academy graduates Max Dowman and Myles Lewis-Skelly took more of the headlines than most of the senior squad. It set up an intriguing narrative heading into August.
Could the champions really be this open at the back? Was Arteta simply using the summer to find out what he had to work with before the games really started to matter? Having waited so long for a title, the Gunners will feel that the disruption at practically every other club in the Premier League means that they have a great chance to win a second on the bounce, so did the pre-season games work out well for them on that front?
Fixtures & Results
Here is how the summer unfolded for Arsenal, who played six games, notched up four wins and two defeats with a trophy at the end of it:
| Date | Opponent | Venue | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 25 July | MK Dons | Closed doors | Arsenal won 3-0 |
| 1 August | Girona | Montilivi Stadium, Girona | Arsenal won 4-1 |
| 5 August | Real Betis | Aviva Stadium, Dublin | Arsenal lost 1-3 |
| 9 August | Borussia Dortmund | Emirates Stadium (Emirates Cup) | Arsenal lost 2-3 |
| 12 August | Como | Emirates Stadium | 1-1 draw, Arsenal won 4-3 on penalties |
| 16 August | Manchester City | Principality Stadium, Cardiff (Community Shield) | Arsenal won 3-0 |
Two defeats in six might sound alarming for the newly crowned champions, but both results came with a decent enough explanation attached, as you’ll see below.
How Each Friendly Went
Arsenal opened their pre-season with a routine 3-0 win over MK Dons behind closed doors, which was the kind of low-key run out that was always going to be more about fitness levels than the actual football being played. Ethan Nwaneri got on the scoresheet and Christos Tzolis made his first appearance in red and white, but with no crowd and absolutely no jeopardy to speak of, it was forgotten about almost as soon as the final whistle was blown.
Actual Tests for the Gunners
The match against Girona offered a genuine test, which Arsenal passed well. They ran out as 4-1 winners at the Montilivi Stadium in Spain, thanks to goals from Kai Havertz, Tzolis, Gabriel Jesus and, arguably the best of all, 16-year-old Max Dowman. Dowman, who excited with his appearances last season, set up the opener with a clever turn and through ball, before scoring himself with a low finish from outside the box. It was the kind of display that has Arsenal fans pondering how long Arteta can keep him out of matchday squads once the season proper starts.
Then the wheels of the Gunners’ wagon began to wobble a touch. Real Betis won 3-1 in Dublin, with David Raya still away on World Cup duty with Spain. That meant that stand-in goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga was given the gloves and he misjudged a corner that let Rodrigo Riquelme in for an early tap-in, with Nelson Deossa’s long-range strike and a Pablo Fornals finish, created after a loose Havertz pass, adding two more. Hincapié got Arsenal’s consolation goal with a header, but individual mistakes rather than any lack of quality did the damage.
Defence Looking Shaky
Arteta admitted afterwards his side had conceded ‘a sloppy goal,’ which the Spanish manager will have been frustrated by, considering the fact that Arsenal’s title win was built on the solidity of their defence last season. The fact that Borussia Dortmund then won the Emirates Cup 3-2, having gone 2-0 up inside half an hour and adding a third before Nwaneri and a Viktor Gyokeres penalty pulled it back to within a goal, will only have added to that sense of annoyance. It was the second friendly in a row where Arsenal shipped three goals.
Arteta was blunt about it afterwards, saying that his team needed to ‘improve’ defensively, which was almost certainly intended as a shot across the bow for his side, given how well organised they usually are. The match against Como didn’t exactly see the Gunners return to the defensively stingy side of old, with Lewis-Skelly punishing a poor pass from the away goalkeeper before Martin Baturina equalised. Although Arsenal eventually won on penalties, Arteta will have noted that clean sheets were not exactly coming thick and fast for his side.
Silverware in the Bank
Bruno Guimarães made his debut off the bench after barely a week of training after his arrival from Newcastle United, looking sharp enough. Teenage defender Marli Salmon will have caught Arteta’s eye thanks to his composure at the back, which will have come as a small mercy given the goals conceded in the previous two games. Normal service did resume for the Community Shield match, where Arsenal brushed aside a Manchester City team just beginning life under new manager Enzo Maresca.
Riccardo Calafiori scored inside 23 seconds from a Lewis-Skelly pass, with Havertz heading in a Tzolis cross and Martin Odegaard adding a third after the break. City were missing Savinho and Rodri, but pundit Ally McCoist hit the nail on the head when he called their display ‘concerningly poor’ during commentary. Not that Arsenal will mind, given the fact that it was the perfect way to bank some silverware against the team that pushed them closest last season. In terms of getting a mental advantage, the Gunners are already 1-0 up.
Food for Thought for Arteta
Strip away the scores and a clear theme can be seen from the Gunners’ pre-season. Arsenal’s attack looks in rude enough health, but three of their six games saw the opposition score at least once through what were entirely avoidable circumstances, rather than seeing themselves being cut open. There is a straightforward enough explanation behind that though, given the fact that William Saliba was missing throughout pre-season after aggravating a long-standing back injury during France’s World Cup semi-final defeat to Spain, whilst Raya was also missing.
Several other regulars also only returned from international duty in mid-August, so Arteta will know that his most reliable lieutenants will be back in the starting 11 before too long. Kepa’s error against Betis and the shaky opening half hour against Dortmund both came with makeshift defensive units still finding their feet, so anyone weighing up early season markets will want to bear that in mind. Reports around the Community Shield suggested that Saliba faces an extended spell out, which means Arsenal could be without their first-choice centre-back for at least the opening weeks of the season.
Although the rest of the group is likely to return to full fitness quickly, Both Teams to Score markets might be worth looking at for Arsenal’s opening fixtures, at least until Saliba is back and the regular back four have had a proper run of games together. At the other end of the pitch, Dowman’s cameo in Spain and the way that Arteta trusted him with real minutes suggests he could be more than a bit-part player this season. Tzolis also looks like a shrewd bit of business at £34 million from Club Brugge, scoring against Girona, converting in the shootout against Como and setting up Havertz’s goal in the Community Shield.
Upheaval everywhere else you look in the Premier League suggests that the Gunners stand a chance of winning back-to-back top-flight titles for the first time since the 1930s, provided the Scrooge-like defence that we all got used to seeing last season is back up and running as soon as possible.