Arsenal: 4 far too early takeaways from pre-season fixtures against Hibernian, Rangers and Millwall following 4-1 win on Saturday. (Photo by Steve Welsh/Getty Images)
The Premier League season draws ever closer. Preparations are good fun in the mean time, watching Arsenal lose matches and not having to be upset by the results as well as all of the transfer ongoings. It’s a nice yearly change of scenery.
It’s also only three matches down for Mikel Arteta’s side. In other words, there is almost nothing to conclusively draw from these games without jumping the gun. We will anyway.
A tour of Scotland was a wise idea from the club (Kieran Tierney actually) due to the minimal travel and weather conditions, with Hibernian and Rangers providing some quality fitness outings.
Would they have been called ‘matches’ if Arsenal had won? Probably.
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Arsenal: 4 far too early takeaways from pre-season fixtures against Hibernian, Rangers and Millwall following 4-1 win on Saturday
The Hibernian game was an unfortunate meeting with an error for debutant Arthur Okonkwo and the start of what appears to be some worrying set piece frailties, but a solid run-out nonetheless.
A strong performance with multiple chances created against Rangers didn’t provide the desired result. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang was guilty of numerous missed chances and the dead ball concerns reared their heads again with two poorly conceded goals, but Nuno Tavares scored on his debut. That was pleasant.
So when Arsenal absolutely wiped the floor with Millwall on Saturday and confirmed their place as Premier League title challengers next season by winning 4-1, all returned to normal.
It was an enjoyable performance. All wins usually are. The first victory of the summer at the third attempt may not have been the Inter showdown fans and sponsors were hoping for but it was 11 men in Arsenal jerseys kicking a ball around and doing it relatively well.
Thus with a whole three(!) games down, what observations are there to make that are more than likely far too soon to decipher?
EDINBURGH, SCOTLAND – JULY 13: Thomas Partey of Arsenal during the pre season friendly between Hibernian and Arsenal at Easter Road on July 13, 2021 in Edinburgh, Scotland. (Photo by Steve Welsh/Getty Images)
1. Thomas Partey Can Actually Shoot and Just Hasn’t Been Close to Fit
It’s been unmissable; one of the most eye-catching aspects of the entire pre-season so far: Thomas Partey can actually shoot!
This comes with the caveat that, yes, he hasn’t actually converted any of the aforementioned shots. He’s come darn close, though.
Smacking the post with a wonderful free-kick against Hibernian, Partey has followed that up with some vastly improved efforts from range. The first task for him was simply hitting the target, and he’s now moved on to making the goalkeeper actually work. It’s a marked improvement.
Has he been taking extra shooting drills with Steve Round and Mohamed Elneny? Or could it be another reason?
Here’s a wild theory, maybe he just hasn’t been fit. At all.
Sure he’s played for Arsenal and been available for periods of last season, but with so many niggling issues there is strong reason to believe that he hasn’t been anywhere close to the levels he can be to perform to his fullest. The sample size is small and the opposition not of the highest calibre, but he does looks sharp and physically able.
While time will tell, he was never this atrocious from distance at Atletico Madrid. So here’s to hoping.
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<h2>Arsenal: 4 far too early takeaways from pre-season fixtures against Hibernian, Rangers and Millwall following 4-1 win on Saturday</h2>
<p>The Hibernian game was an unfortunate meeting with an error for debutant Arthur Okonkwo and the start of what appears to be some worrying set piece frailties, but a solid run-out nonetheless.</p>
<p>A strong performance with multiple chances created against Rangers didn’t provide the desired result. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang was guilty of numerous missed chances and the dead ball concerns reared their heads again with two poorly conceded goals, but Nuno Tavares scored on his debut. That was pleasant.</p>
<p>So when Arsenal absolutely wiped the floor with Millwall on Saturday and confirmed their place as <a href=https://paininthearsenal.com/2021/07/25/arsenal-4-early-takeaways-pre-season/"https://www.90min.com/leagues/premier-league" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Premier League</a> title challengers next season by <a href=https://paininthearsenal.com/2021/07/25/arsenal-4-early-takeaways-pre-season/"https://paininthearsenal.com/2021/07/24/arsenal-beat-millwall-4-1-pre-season/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">winning 4-1</a>, all returned to normal.</p>
<p>It was an enjoyable performance. All wins usually are. The first victory of the summer at the third attempt may not have been the Inter showdown fans and sponsors were hoping for but it was 11 men in Arsenal jerseys kicking a ball around and doing it relatively well.</p>
<p>Thus with a whole three(!) games down, what observations are there to make that are more than likely <a href=https://paininthearsenal.com/2021/07/25/arsenal-4-early-takeaways-pre-season/"https://paininthearsenal.com/2021/07/24/arsenal-4-concerns-season-arteta/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">far too soon to decipher</a>?</p>
<div id="attachment_117534" class="wp-caption aligncenter">
<img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="size-large wp-image-117534" src=https://paininthearsenal.com/2021/07/25/arsenal-4-early-takeaways-pre-season/"https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/fetch/c_fill,g_auto,f_auto,h_389,w_590/https%3A%2F%2Fpaininthearsenal.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2Fgetty-images%2F2017%2F07%2F1233972543-850x560.jpeg" alt="Arsenal, Thomas Partey" width="590" height="389"><div class="fs-center-img">
<p class="wp-caption-text" style="width:590px;">EDINBURGH, SCOTLAND – JULY 13: Thomas Partey of Arsenal during the pre season friendly between Hibernian and Arsenal at Easter Road on July 13, 2021 in Edinburgh, Scotland. (Photo by Steve Welsh/Getty Images)</p>
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<h2>1. Thomas Partey Can Actually Shoot and Just Hasn’t Been Close to Fit</h2>
<p>It’s been unmissable; one of the most eye-catching aspects of the entire pre-season so far: Thomas Partey can actually shoot!</p>
<p>This comes with the caveat that, yes, he hasn’t actually converted any of the aforementioned shots. He’s come darn close, though.</p>
<p>Smacking the post with a wonderful free-kick against Hibernian, Partey has followed that up with some <em>vastly </em>improved efforts from range. The first task for him was simply hitting the target, and he’s now moved on to making the goalkeeper actually work. It’s a marked improvement.</p>
<p>Has he been taking extra shooting drills with Steve Round and Mohamed Elneny? Or could it be another reason?</p>
<p>Here’s a wild theory, maybe he just hasn’t been fit. At all.</p>
<p>Sure he’s played for Arsenal and been available for periods of last season, but with so many niggling issues there is strong reason to believe that he hasn’t been anywhere close to the levels he can be to perform to his fullest. The sample size is small and the opposition not of the highest calibre, but he does looks sharp and physically able.</p>
<p>While time will tell, he was never this atrocious from distance at Atletico Madrid. So here’s to hoping.</p>
<div class="next-slide slider"> <a class="next-slide-btn" style="background: #c01f2f" data-track="shortcode" data-track-action="next-slide-shortcode" href=https://paininthearsenal.com/2021/07/25/arsenal-4-early-takeaways-pre-season/"#"> <span class="title">Next:</span> 2. The wrong appointment </a>
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<img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="size-large wp-image-117535" src=https://paininthearsenal.com/2021/07/25/arsenal-4-early-takeaways-pre-season/"https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/fetch/c_fill,g_auto,f_auto,h_389,w_590/https%3A%2F%2Fpaininthearsenal.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2Fgetty-images%2F2017%2F07%2F1233961809-850x560.jpeg" alt="Arsenal, Nicolas Pepe" width="590" height="389"><div class="fs-center-img">
<p class="wp-caption-text" style="width:590px;">EDINBURGH, SCOTLAND – JULY 13: Daniel Mackay of Hibernian celebrates scoring his team’s second goal during the pre season friendly between Hibernian and Arsenal at Easter Road on July 13, 2021 in Edinburgh, Scotland. (Photo by Steve Welsh/Getty Images)</p>
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<h2>2. Andreas Georgson, Please Come Back</h2>
<p>You can’t have everything in life, and neither in football it seems.</p>
<p>Last season Arsenal were rocks in defensive set pieces. Superb at them. It was unbelievably refreshing.</p>
<p>Last season Arsenal were also atrocious at attacking set pieces. Woeful at them. It was excruciatingly unpalatable.</p>
<p>There are two sides to ‘set piece specialist’ job and <a href=https://paininthearsenal.com/2021/07/25/arsenal-4-early-takeaways-pre-season/"https://paininthearsenal.com/2021/07/05/arsenal-important-staff-appointment/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Andreas Georgson nailed one half of it</a>: no team conceded fewer than the Gunners’ five goals from set pieces in the top-flight last season, a full ten fewer than the season before.</p>
<p>However, scoring a grand total of six (two were direct free-kicks) saw a 50% drop off from 2019/20. Crowding the goalkeeper for out-swinging corners? There is a Jackie Chan meme to be used somewhere here.</p>
<p>In three pre-season matches the new man on the block, Nicolas Jover, has watched on as Arsenal have conceded three goals from set pieces and looked shaky at most of the other ones. Even if Millwall’s goal wouldn’t class as a set piece goal, it arrived shortly after a poorly defended corner.</p>
<p>So thankfully it’s only three matches in pre-season and completely over the top to assume that Arsenal will concede from dead balls every week and Georgson will watch on from his home in Malmo staring at his phone waiting for Arteta’s call only to let it go to voicemail.</p>
<p>Jover will sort it out. No panic.</p>
<div class="next-slide slider"> <a class="next-slide-btn" style="background: #c01f2f" data-track="shortcode" data-track-action="next-slide-shortcode" href=https://paininthearsenal.com/2021/07/25/arsenal-4-early-takeaways-pre-season/"#"> <span class="title">Next:</span> 3. Auba </a>
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<img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="size-large wp-image-117536" src=https://paininthearsenal.com/2021/07/25/arsenal-4-early-takeaways-pre-season/"https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/fetch/c_fill,g_auto,f_auto,h_389,w_590/https%3A%2F%2Fpaininthearsenal.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2Fgetty-images%2F2017%2F07%2F1233976753-850x560.jpeg" alt="Arsenal, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang" width="590" height="389"><div class="fs-center-img">
<p class="wp-caption-text" style="width:590px;">EDINBURGH, SCOTLAND – JULY 13: Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang of Arsenal during the Pre-Season Friendly between Hibernian and Arsenal at Easter Road on July 13, 2021 in Edinburgh, Scotland. (Photo by Matthew Ashton – AMA/Getty Images)</p>
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<h2>3. Aubameyang Looks Sharp and Ready</h2>
<p>Isn’t the narrative that this should be a highly critical segment tearing into the captain for missing a gift basket full of chances and needing to be dropped from the team immediately?</p>
<p>That’s not the angle this time.</p>
<p>Indeed, Aubameyang has missed a good few chances. Particularly in the Rangers game where he was guilty of a healthy handful of, well, sitters.</p>
<p>He also looks a lot sharper than he did at the end of last season -that period where he was heavily criticised only for it to turn out he <em>had malaria</em>. When moved to centre-forward after the failed early season left-winger ploy, he actually recorded very strong numbers from around Boxing Day prior to contracting the disease.</p>
<p>What happened following that was entirely expected. He was clearly not fit.</p>
<p>Now in pre-season he looks quick across the ground, has been noticeably more involved in the build-up play and, most importantly of all, is getting into the right spaces to make chances. Yes, he hasn’t put any away. Yet.</p>
<p>With a fully fit Partey, <a href=https://paininthearsenal.com/2021/07/25/arsenal-4-early-takeaways-pre-season/"https://paininthearsenal.com/2021/07/23/arsenal-smith-rowe-likeness-rosicky/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Emile Smith Rowe</a>, Bukayo Saka and a hopeful new central midfielder in the team, if he still isn’t finding the back of the net a serious conversation can be had. For now, the signs are mostly positive.</p>
<div class="next-slide slider"> <a class="next-slide-btn" style="background: #c01f2f" data-track="shortcode" data-track-action="next-slide-shortcode" href=https://paininthearsenal.com/2021/07/25/arsenal-4-early-takeaways-pre-season/"#"> <span class="title">Next:</span> 4. It's going to be a Sambi party </a>
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<img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="size-large wp-image-117253" src=https://paininthearsenal.com/2021/07/25/arsenal-4-early-takeaways-pre-season/"https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/fetch/c_fill,g_auto,f_auto,h_389,w_590/https%3A%2F%2Fpaininthearsenal.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2Fgetty-images%2F2017%2F07%2F1308438470-850x560.jpeg" alt="Arsenal, Albert Sambi Lokonga" width="590" height="389"><div class="fs-center-img">
<p class="wp-caption-text" style="width:590px;">BRUSSEL, BELGIUM – MARCH 21: Albert Sambi Lokonga of RSC Anderlecht during the Jupiler Pro League match between Anderlecht and Zulte Waregem at Lotto park on March 21, 2021 in Brussel, Belgium (Photo by Perry van de Leuvert/BSR Agency/Getty Images)</p>
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<h2>4. Albert Sambi Lokonga is Going to Be Incredible</h2>
<p>If you think we’re going to get carried away with Albert Sambi Lokonga’s 45-minute outing against a mid-table Championship team in a behind-closed-doors friendly when Arsenal were already leading 1-0…then you are absolutely correct.</p>
<p>We won’t, honestly. Ish.</p>
<p>But we will begin hypothesising about what he can bring to this team. Sambi’s qualities are already known, it was just pleasant to see them in practice in what was, in all honesty, pretty much a practice match.</p>
<p>Lining up with Thomas Partey, the decision to take Elneny off at half-time instead of the Ghanaian hints (sort of but not really) at what could come next season. Arsenal still haven’t signed a central midfielder to be starting week in week out, which they absolutely must do, but Sambi will get more minutes than most expect.</p>
<p>As a ball-playing No. 6, there is no reason that Elneny should be ahead of him in the pecking order once he gets up to speed. While patience is needed on that front, all the hype around him comes from people to trust and given how light Arsenal are in that department with more exits to be sanctioned, there are minutes there to be had.</p>
<p>No starts against Brentford and Chelsea, of course.</p>
<p>How much more overboard can we go from 45 minutes against Millwall? Let’s try: he’s more progressive than Elneny, more composed than Matteo Guendouzi, more robust than Lucas Torreira and more economical on the ball than Dani Ceballos.</p>
<p>Yeah, that’ll do. All aboard the premature hype train!</p>
<div class="fs-shortcode" data-type="StoryLink" data-theme="dark" data-text="Ben White having Arsenal medical" data-url="https://paininthearsenal.com/2021/07/25/ben-white-arsenal-medical-transfer/" data-call-to-action="Next"> <div class="story-link-next"> <a class="story-link-next-btn" style="background: #c01f2f" data-track="shortcode" data-track-action="story-link-next-shortcode" href=https://paininthearsenal.com/2021/07/25/arsenal-4-early-takeaways-pre-season/"https://paininthearsenal.com/2021/07/25/ben-white-arsenal-medical-transfer/"> <span class="call_to_action">Next:</span> Ben White having Arsenal medical </a> </div>
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<p><em>(but seriously we absolutely need to be patient with him)</em></p><!—pageview_candidate—>">
