Good evening.
Our pre-season continued yesterday and, despite our hopes, Arsenal went down 1-0 against New York Red Bulls.
I haven't seen the game, as I was dead on my feet long before it started, but this morning I was glad I didn't. Not because I would have tasted defeat (well, that too), but because it seemed as meaningless as our encounter against Boreham Wood was. What surprises me, is the reaction of a section of "fans" all over the Internet. They are ready to write Arsenal off after a narrow defeat in a pointless friendly. Guess that tells you all you need to know about them.
Our starting eleven was a strong one, with Hayden and Zelalem looking the only weak links. In a surprising twist our lone forward, Akpom, didn't start. Instead, Rosicky (!) was the focal point of our attack.
From what I gather, Arsenal was a bit off the pace in the first half, with our make-shift defence having trouble against a lively and sharp Henry. He could have scored from a one-on-one and then set up the winner by feeding Wright-Phillips (Bradley, not Shaun) following a corner. That was all it took to bring down Arsenal. Our best attempts to equalise in the second half led to nothing, with their keeper in top form and with Arsene making seven changes to the initial squad, and so it all ended 1-0.
After the game, there was no analyzing the defeat from the press. Even they understood the fruitlessless of scrutinizing a commercial exercise like it was actually something more, so most of the questions were centred around Henry. Here's what Arsene said on our ex-captain:
"Thierry can be dangerous from everywhere and understands very quickly what he can take advantage from. He was sharp today in the one against one and you could see why he was a great player because when he played in midfield his passing was excellent. He has vision as well and you could see that he can play everywhere".
Interestingly enough, Henry led this year's MLS in assists, which tells you he's definitely a great passer of the ball. When he understood he's no longer capable of scoring 30+ goals in a season, he took that, dropped off and became the best playmaker in the league. Amazing.
Arsene also explained his decision to play without a striker:
"We had no Giroud, no Walcott, no Sanchez and no Podolski. Akpom did well but he's a young boy and he has to learn a lot but he has potential. As long as you don't score it's not good but you can play with three No 9s and you don't score sometimes. We were dominated physically in the first half, we came back into it in the last 10 minutes their keeper made a few saves and our combinations were better. We lacked a bit of pace without any centre forward".
Not really explains why he hasn't taken Afobe or Campbell (Sanogo has an injury), but here you go.
Returning to the "pointless friendly" thing, Arsene himself acknowledged all those trips were exercises in frustration:
“These training camps in the modern game are decided for commercial reasons and because of the extent of popularity of the club. We’ve never been to the States before and I was very happy to come to New York, a city I love. But for purely football reasons, the best thing to do is stay and not travel too much – because of the time you waste and the jet-lag you suffer.”
He also touched on the importance of giving players a good rest after the World Cup, but I actually was surprised to learn FIFA forces the clubs to give their international stars a four-week holiday. I always thought it was Arsene's policy. However this year, he encouraged his players to come back earlier if they feel like it. That's what Wilshere, Oxlade and Cazorla did.
The four-week rest means City suffers too, for Aguero and Sabaleta both played in the final and Fernandinho featured in the match for third place. But, like it's the case with Arsenal's German trio, I think these players will cut their rest short in order to return earlier and help their respective clubs claim the Community Shield trophy. These players represent the Club after all, and cooling out on the beach while their team fights a bloody war on the pitch will be frowned upon by fans. Ozil and Co are public faces, they have their image to think about at the very least.
Finally for today, Arsenal confirmed the signing of David Ospina. This plugs our last serious hole and now we have a whole month to add another centre-back (Chambers anyone?) and maybe add a defensive midfielder. But the vital part of our business is behind us. Even if there are no future arrivals, we are already well stocked for the upcoming season.
And this feels good.
Until later