Evening everyone.
The Emirates Cup has concluded today and, unfortunately, the Gunners didn't claim the trophy. Instead, Valencia did, but I don't think it's gives us any reason to worry. All parties involved viewed these games as just warm-up (something we could tell by looking at the line-ups) and fans should do the same.
As I haven't been able to report on our thrashing of Benfica (sorry about that. A training session combined with unbearable heat in Moscow ensured I had next to no energy today), I'll split this review in two parts. Starting with:
Arsenal 5-1 Benfica
This game was less of a commercial exercise, than our trip to New York, and our starting eleven reflected that. The defense was a bit make-shift and I doubt we'll see Sanogo and Campbell on a regular basis when the campaign starts, but our midfield was as serious as it gets. Ramsey, Flamini, Rosicky and Cazorla all started.
It was a bit of a slow start from us, truth be told. Benfica had the best chance to open the scoring in the 15th minute, but their effort hit the bar. Then we got back into the game and took the lead almost immediately.
Ramsey fooled everyone on the right, ran half the length of the field and passed to Sanogo, who finished with his heel. Sublime touch and the Frenchman finally got to celebrate his first goal for us.
After that, goals came raining down. Fancy footwork from Oxlade saw Campbell smash on the volley (my personal favourite) and then Sanogo scored three more times, two of these goals came before the break. I really liked how he poked the ball home for his second, but then he also was in the right place at the right time for his third and fourth, which is the best quality a striker can possess. Benfica got one back, but we were still miles ahead and could have scored a couple more, but Miguel and Coquelin hit the woodwork.
This is what Arsene said after the game about our four-goal hero:
"Sanogo was injured for basically two years before he came to us. If you look at his goal scoring record before he got injured, it is quite frightening. For a while when he came back last season, he could not score. You could see when he scored the first goal today, suddenly they came raining. I especially liked the third goal he scored, it was really the goal of a striker of quality. He has a big future here, or course, he is 21. He has something of Adebayor. He is strong, a strong body, similar strengths [to Adebayor], but as well technical skill".
I am very happy Sanogo has kicked on. It's been obvious how much of a weight it was for him not to score, so hopefully now that it's lifted he'll be more involved and will have better and product.
I' m also glad Campbell performed the way he did. He wanted a chance, he got it, he proved he's up for the job. I especially liked his neat finish from the volley. Super beautiful stuff. That's why Campbell will probably stay:
"Campbell has done very well. I like the way he plays, he's good on the ball, creative and collectively as well he has a good balance between individual skill and collective attitude - that's not easy to find. There is no reason to let him go".
Chambers and Sanchez also made their respective debuts and I liked both. Sanchez is obviously still a bit rusty, he needs to whip into shape, while Chambers at centre-back was genuinely exciting:
I thought he played very well, was intelligent, good decision-making and calm on the ball, good in the air. He is 19 years old, and what he did is very promising.
Chambers carried this form into the second game and, again, he looked exciting indeed. My personal pick for MoM against Monaco. If the Englishman continues like this, Mertescielny will have a serious contender breathing down their necks.
Arsenal 0-1 Monaco
Blah. Tedious game. Maybe the players were just exhausted, I don't know. Arsene rotated his side quite a bit, but we still looked off the pace. All it took was Falcao's header in the 37th minute to gift Monaco the victory. Interestingly enough, just moments before the cross came in, from which the unmarked Colombian converted, Monreal and Koscielny were arguing, who should mark Radamel. In the end, no one did and Falcao had the easiest of tasks.
The closest Arsenal came to scoring was probably Wilshere's effort early in the second half, but the game was interesting because of other things.
For one, Debuchy made his debut and played almost till the end. He was rock-solid in defense (unlike Bellerin 24 hours ago) and I liked that. Mathieu also got up and down the flank well, put in some dangerous crosses and even cleared up for Chambers and Koscielny on several occasions.
Another interesting player was Sanchez. He played the entire first half on the right, then shifted to the centre for the second half. Alexis showed touches of class he undoubtedly possesses, but he's still some way from full fitness. It;ll be interesting to see how we line up against Manchester City a week from now.
Phew, that's it for today. Don't dwell on the result, it's still pre-season. Plenty of time to get in form for the upcoming campaign.
I'll probably be back tomorrow with Arsene's view on this game and other interesting snippets. If I find any.
Until later