“ProRef”….ha! If that isn’t the most ironic rebrand you’ve ever seen…

That decision by the VAR yesterday was as bad as the “forgot to draw the lines” nonsense we had to deal with at home to Brentford in 2022/23. It was a shambolic ‘process,’ and whilst United fans might be spitting feathers, we also have cause for grievance. If this season goes down to the last point and there’s one point in it between City and us, you can legitimately say that it is undermined by a clear helping hand that 115 Charges FC has been given. Forget the fact that Haaland looked to the whole world to be offside anyway, but Enzo Fernandez NOT interfering with play? Farcical.

We all like ot look for our conspiracies, and once again it’s Michael Oliver who was officiating in favour of City, but to be fair to him, in this instance, I think it’s not on him. The VAR needs to help him out here; he has no real control over whether to give this or not. He’s relying on his lino and the VAR, and whilst the lino gave the offside call, the VAR got involved, and I’m afraid it failed in its duty. Once again. So this weekend we’ve had VAR deliver a shocking decision against us for the penalty on Konsa, then our main title rivals benefit from a horrendous call that should never have stood in a million years.

Aside from that, because I could rant about it all day, I reckon what we did learn is that it is looking likely that City and Arsenal will be the two teams duking it out once again for the Premier League. Of course there’s a lot of football still left to play, we are only 10% through the season, but with Chelsea already five points off us and looking like they couldn’t keep a clean sheet if their lives depended on it, with Liverpool on six points and looking like they might have a ‘Draw FC’ season like we did when they won it two seasons back, and with Man United looking as sluggish and bereft of any kind of tactical identity unless their sitting and countering on teams, it’s already looking like some of the pre season predictions of title chases being ripped up for the tried and tested forumla of the last four years.

As for The Arsenal, it’s straight back into action tomorrow night, as Mikel Arteta heads into Suffolk to face Ipswich in the third round of the EFL Cup, and I think every single Arsenal fan on the planet knows that he’ll undertake some mass rotation. He has to. We have ourselves an opportunity to get some minutes into the legs of players who haven’t played as much football, so when Mikel Arteta does his press conference at some stage today, I suspect we’ll get hints that he plans to shuffle his deck. I’ll do a little more of a match preview tomorrow, but my initial thought about this one is that I’d love us to win it and go deeper in this competition, but only because of the size of our squad. Keeping players happy and fine-tuned when you have the squad we have feels like it is important, so playing these games as well as the others gives Mikel a chance to tune up players he would like to call on if there is an injury. So for me that means the likes of Kepa, Salmon, Hincapie, Zubimendi, Eze, Merino, maybe even Bruno given he’s only made substitute appearances, Max Dowman, Madueke, Big Vik – there’s plenty of players who need to shake off the rust, and so this is what I’m hoping Arteta hints at today.

I’d also like to know how the likes of Mosquera and White are doing, because with Timber playing a half against Sunderland, we have ourselves a fine right back returning, but we really could be easing him back into the side right now. Not for Ipswich, of course (which is why I have suggested Salmon starting tomorrow), but for Brighton next week. We can’t just wheel Timber out to play every week now after he’s only just recovered from such a lengthy injury; we could do without White being injured for weeks/months now that we have him back. They need to be sharing minutes to preserve both of them. I saw somebody suggest that they’ve never met each other, and it certainly feels like it at the moment, doesn’t it? Like Clark Kent and Superman, or something…

That will all soon become a ‘little’ clearer when he does his presser, but I’m not expecting that much clarity, given who Arteta is and how much he gives away in these things. I’ll be interested to see what questions he gets asked by the journalists about refereeing decisions this weekend. He’s not an idiot; he won’t give anyone any fuel for the fire, but I bet inside he’s seething. Especially given they’ve now released the transcript from Saturday’s game, in which the ref says, “He’s all over him at the near post facing the wrong way.” Err, no, Mr Brooks, he was looking for the ball until he had his shirt pulled by Ballard, then the VAR: “I’m happy that it’s a holding offence. The foul is confirmed. Confirming the on-field decision of penalty.” Something has to give here, surely, because now we’ve got two incidents that are so clearly wrong. I do agree with what somebody on social media said, however, which is that we all collectively need to pull tribalism out of this debate and start calling out wrong decisions when they have nothing to do with us. Obviously, the Sunderland penalty had a direct consequence for Arsenal, with the City goal an indirect consequence, but as Arsenal fans we also need to be looking at games in which we aren’t partisan, and lending our voice to wrong calls. When fan sentiment is unified and loud enough, only then will we probably see change.

I’ll leave it there for this one today, I think, and instead leave you with some bonus content if you fancy checking out Amanda, James and Scarlett on the Same Old Arsenal pod yesterday, as they did a debrief on the Sunderland win. Check it out here.

This is a defensively organised Sunderland team. It’s a strong and physical Sunderland team. It’s a side who go direct, long and want a battle, which is evidenced by Dan Ballard’s post-match comments when interviewed on TNT Sports after the game. Brobbey was an absolute handful for Konsa all night, Ballard was a physical presence on set piece and long throw-ins, and our two centre-backs, Declan Rice and the rest of the team who dealt with the aeerial bombardment, did it superbly I thought.

But as Mikel has already said, I also thought that the referee had a poor game. A really poor game, actually, and I do think it is important we call this out. In fact, after victory, it is doubly important to call out refereeing and VAR performances like last night, because we can’t be accused of sour grapes in defeat. We won. That’s the headline. But we also saw a terrible refereeing and VAR performance from Messeurs Brooks and Attwell.

On Attwell, I said on social media before a ball was kicked, “Attwell on VART. Gulp” and that’s exactly how we all felt on 54 minutes after Brooks had suggested Konsa had fouled Ballard, and Attwell had “checked and cleared” the on field decision. It’s situations like this that we can’t really point too many fingers at the referee on the pitch. He’s trying to look at about 10 things happening in the box, he’s trying to spot things through a crowded penalty box of players, so if he interprets something a certain way, then you have to just wait until another pair of eyes can see it.

I mean, just look at this:

Ballard has Konsa’s shirt as much, maybe even more, than Konsa has his. And on Match of the Day last night both Thomas Frank and Ashley Williams – neither of whom have any attachment or affinity with Arsenal (even though we all say Thomas is a silver member ) – both said that they didn’t think it was a penalty.

For those moronic rival fans saying that we have VAR and PGMOL in our pocket, laughable in any way you look at it, how can you muppets explain this then, eh? I thought what Frank said was interesting though in that clip I’ve linked to, because he says what we all say, i.e. in the first couple of weeks there’s usually an example to be made of a new directive. But after about week three, usually things go back to normal. This was a VAR in Attwell who wanted to make an example of The Arsenal. And they got what they wanted.

But they also got what they deserved. David Raya’s penalty save was brilliant. Quite often when you see penalty saves it is because the penalty is struck straight at the ‘keeper, too far down the middle, but Raya was a full stretch, he tipped it on to the post, then the roar he gave out when it was cleared was brilliant. My stream was about a minute late, so annoyingly I saw the response on social media channels first, but I didn’t care, because justice was done.

And then we served up a slice of wonderment with our first goal.

Bruno G. Who else?

I saw the Geordies all taking particular delight in that online, and many of them saying “He’s won me back” after his celebration, which was a repetition of a celebration he did to Sunderland players and fans whilst in a Newcastle shirt, decrying them as ‘small’ by using a fingers gesture. There was nothing ‘small’ about his finish though. One touch to bring it out of his feet, then an absolute peach of a finish from around 25 yards out. In midweek I talked about how Martin Odegaard’s goal was one of those beautiful ones because it came in off the post, which is the best way to score goals. Bruno G had a ‘hold my beer’ moment, as his howitzer came in off the underside of the bar and he wheeled away in celebration. He would have absolutely loved that. In fact, if you asked him what team he’d like to get his first goal against, I bet it would have been Sunderland. His celebrations would have enraged the home fans, intent on booing his every touch, and the best way to respond is to top-bins one beyond their goalie. Great stuff.

That goal had happened around a minute-and-a-half after the penalty, so it would have been a sucker-punch for Sunderland, but with 30 minutes still on the clock, there was still plenty of time to mount a response. And to be fair to them, they continued to make life difficult for us. They continued to go long, they had more of the last 10 – 15 minutes, and it felt like history might repeat itself with some of the Sunderland bodies being thrown at the goal underneath Raya’s crossbar. Sunderland created more xG against us last night than all of our three previous opponents in the Premier League combined. Yet we held out, sealing the game with Saka’s late penalty.

This was a great result. The Stadium of light will be a really tough place to go for several teams this season. Yet we’ve ticked that off, as well as Villa Park, already. And we’ve shown we can have a physical battle with the most physical of teams. This is an Arsenal team with heavy fight in them. John Terry’s moronic pre-Chelsea game comments were once again shown up to be a complete falsehood; if you want a battle with this Arsenal team, we’ll have it. If you want to put barbed wire on your boxing gloves, we’ll do the same, and we’ll trade blows with you. But please, bring a proper referee next time. Let’s have a proper fight, eh?

That’s pretty much it from me for today I think. I was going to go into some individual performances, like how I didn’t think Saka, Tzolis or Lewis-Skelly were too great yesterday, but in matches like this where it’s just so attritional, you’re going to get one or two players that are just off the boil a bit. So instead, let’s focus on the collective effort, which was very sound last night and see’s us go top of the Premier League, at least until the Manchester Derby plays out later this afternoon.

Amanda and James are trying to sort out a pod either today or tomorrow evening, so keep your eyes peeled on the Same Old Arsenal YouTube page for that one, but for now, from me, I’ll wish you and yours a fine Sunday.

It was a cautionary tale of the ‘always on’ mentality needed in the Premier League.

Sunderland were superb at home last season. It is the reason they are playing in Europe in midweek next week. They drew with us, Villa, United and City, and they beat The Scum (although that was less of a ‘feat’ last season), and they showed that with the right coaching, shape and structure, a newly promoted team can easily avoid relegation if they have the right signings in place as well. Granit Xhaka was a key one in that respect, and tonight we’ll face up against him for the second time, having missed him at the Emirates last season. He is a fighter; we all know that, and the vision of him standing over Merino and having a go at him still sticks in my mind. He will be all smiles and hugs before the game, but the second that he crosses that white line, he will view us as the enemy, and those Arsenal players will need to treat him as such as well.

I don’t think it will be that hard, though; there aren’t actually many players left from the last time Xhaka played for The Arsenal. That day was a 5-0 win in which he got two goals, but the squad that day only now has White, Ødegaard and Saka in it; such has been the renewal of Arteta’s Arsenal since the Swiss left. There will still be smiles and a happy reunion with the manager, and I enjoyed his interview with the Premier League ahead of this one. His is a story with a great redemption arc, and as fans we love to see that kind of stuff.

So then, to the football, and what sort of game we’re going to get from Sunderland today. With only three Premier League data points to draw upon, and all against what you would call ‘mid-table’ opposition or worse, it is difficult to say with any certainty how Regis Le Bris will line his side up. I saw an interesting stat today from Opta that since the start of last season, Sunderland have played the most forward passes in the whole league. They are a direct side, who want to go forward quickly, and the ‘zones of control’ on this page show that they are more left-sided dominant than anywhere else. On that side they have Nelson Angulo, but they also have the new guy Fofana, who was rumoured to be with us on deadline day, so I wonder if those two might share minutes today, as Le Bris tries to keep his side fresh for Alkmaar in midweek next week.

Opta has them lining up in a 4-2-3-1, and I think most of the pundits are suggesting that, but I suspect it will be a similar approach to last season. That means I think they’ll look to go a little longer, but in our defensive third, it’ll be Enzo Le Fee and Brobbey who will be looking to win those battles. Brobbey showed at the Emirates that he’s a big, strong, powerful guy, so perhaps aerial duels might be something that Gabriel and Konsa need to be mindful of.

In terms of the data, it’s tough because, as mentioned already, the sample size is small, but from what we have seen so far, Sunderland are down there in terms of goals scored (three), their xG is around mid-table (4.40), they’re about mid-table on the total number of shots and shots on target, possession, passing numbers, the lot. They sit towards the top of the league on through balls, which rings true with their forward passing metrics that I saw from Opta; if they’re getting on the ball in the middle third, they’re going to try to put Brobbey in.

Defensively, they are up there with us in terms of xG conceded, sort of, because we’re miles in front of anyone in terms of how miserly we are in front of goal. But they’ve shown that they have a decent shape about them so far, so we will need to be better in front of goal than we were against Napoli, I reckon. I suspect we won’t get as many clear-cut chances as we did in Naples on Wednesday.

So how do we beat them?

Well, for me, a lot of what is good about us so far is via Martin Odegaard, so he surely feels like the guy we need to get on the ball. It’s funny because when you look at our stats on Opta, we are dominant on both left and right sides of the pitch. I looked at that map on that page and assumed it would show us right-side bias, but we’ve been mixing it up with Tzolis in there, as last weekend against Chelsea, where our second goal came from, attests. If Sunderland are left-side biased, and we are right-side biased, it does feel like whoever wins that battle will be the eventual victors.

So in terms of team set-up, I suspect Arteta goes back to the side that succeeded against Chelsea:

Raya

White – Konsa – Gabriel – Calafiori

MLS

Odegaard – Rice

Saka – Havertz – Tzolis

Maybe he has a think about Bruno for Myles, which is certainly something I’d be thinking about, given how he’ll get a hostile reception, and it’s the type of game I suspect he thrives on. But I just have a feeling that Arteta puts his faith in Myles once more, with rotation happening in the second half. That team has shown it can get goals, and with the slightly rotated side in midweek not exactly putting a decent-but-not-great Napoli side to the sword, I think Arteta reverts to what I think we’d all call the ‘first XI’ based on form and availability right now.

I often find myself saying “start early” in these preview blogs, but I don’t think we have to today. We can feel our way into the game. If we can limit Sunderland’s opportunities in attack, it’ll keep the home fans quiet, which will be absolutely fine by me, you and any Arsenal fan tuning in or in the stadium. But we need to be ready for direct football and a Sunderland side who will fancy a scalp under the lights.

Right, I’m off to go and see a bunch of old Spitfires perform at Duxford, so I’ll bid you all a fine farewell. Let’s hope Everton can make this a hilarious afternoon at The Scum Stadium, before we kick off in the North East. Ciao.

It’s a trip up to the Stadium of Light to play Sunderland, who last season, when we played them, were certainly in a rich vein of form, specifically on their own patch. I think we remember it all very well; long ball, not dealt with, Ballard slams it home to put them one up. We respond with a Saka goal and a superb Leo finish on 74 minutes, before they score with basically the last kick of the game. A real gut-punch because when you look at the numbers, we really did batter them that day.

But it is a new season, a new opportunity, and an Arsenal team with four wins out of four so far in all competitions will go into tomorrow night’s encounter full of confidence. Is that how the pundits will see it though?

Pretty much, although a few are predicting this to be a tight one, which I could totally see. Sunderland are a tough team at home; they have Xhaka back in that midfield and have a 1-1-1 record in the Premier League so far, with their home win at Fulham the only data point we have for whether their home form will once again make the Stadium of Light a bit of a fortress. But Chris Sutton on the BBC website reckons we’ll do them with a 1-0, as does Lewis Jones on Sky Sports. Sports Mole have been a little more bullish with a 3-1, but if I was to pick the more likely of the two results in Arsenal’s favour, I’d probably opt for that tight one-goal result.

That makes for nervy prep, because whilst we’ve looked imperious so far this season, as we saw with Brobbey’s goal in injury time last November, it only takes one slip-up for an opponent to capitalise in the Premier League. Last season, just before we kicked off against Sunderland we’d not conceded in our previous eight matches in all competitions. It was that period of the season where we were joking that it was annoying when teams even had a shot against us. We go into this game in a similar situation to back then; this time we have recently conceded – against Chelsea – but it’s the xG stats that we’re all looking at, as the Napoli game was another one in which we reduced our opponent to pot shots and speculative efforts from distance. Where that happens, you play the percentages and most of the time teams don’t open you up and don’t score worldies from 25 yards. But that doesn’t mean it doesn’t happen. Sunderland certainly have players who have the ability to do that tomorrow night, so whilst I would be happy to take my chances and see them have 25-30 yard efforts, I don’t think that we should be too complacent about how we defend in our clusters and recover the ball.

Team news-wise, we’ll find out more from Arteta today, and I’m particularly interested in hearing about Jurrien Timber, because he’s a guy who we really miss, and Ben White can only play so many minutes, you fear. I hope that we get a good update today from the boss on that one.

In terms of how our opponents’ fans are feeling, it’s a mixed bag and clearly their fans are recognising the form we are in. There’s the usual comments about a stoppage time penalty to win it 1-0, one guy suggested they play six at the back against us, but what is nice to see is none of those weird comments from fans of whom we have no natural rivalry with, saying things like “I hate Arsenal more than any other team”. We all know when you’re the champions, when you’re the best team (or have been based on last season) that you’re there to be hated and shot at, but Newcastle, Villa, weirdly Forest fans, etc, have all said some pretty ‘out there’ things in the last year or so that I’ve been snooping on opponent fan forums.

In many ways it is a shame that they are playing their game against AZ ALkmaar on Wednesday next week; it would have been good to see how they fare after a big European night for them next week, then us having to play them, but as the guys oin Sports Mole suggested, Arteta’s rotation of some players, and the depth of the squad, should mean that we can still go into this game relatively fresh. Tzolis can come in for Eze, Kai for Havertz, Calafiori didn’t start in Naples, Saka came off for Noni so he’s hopefully ok, plus there’s one of Myles, Bruno or Zubi who could all play against the Mackems in the engine room of the team. So from a freshness perspective, I’m less worried about that.

We do need to make sure that the profligacy in Naples isn’t carried over in the North East tomorrow though. As I said on the Same Old Arsenal midweek pod we did last night, I do think we should be looking at giving Bruno his first start, given his background as ex-Newcastle captain. It feels like this is the kind of game he would love to be in the trenches for. But team line-ups and tactical thoughts on how this plays out need to be saved for tomorrow, I reckon, when we’ve heard both managers speak.

And so until then, I shall bid you all a fine Friday, and I will catch you all tomorrow ahead of the evening’s big kick off. Enjoy your Friday.

Laters kids.

Martin Odegaard, captain extrodinaire, leader, goalscorer, the metronome through which our creative play flows, showed everyone watching last night just what you get when he is fully fit, in form, and able to deliver in the final third of the pitch. 121 touches in total, drifting over to that right-hand side in between defence and midfield, picking up the ball and keeping us in control, he was once again a dominant force and deservedly the man-of-the-match in a hostile environment that could have been quite difficult for us on Champions League match week one.

He created the most chances, he had the most touches, he completed the most dribbles and his finish was the absolute pinnacle of pure. I remember being a kid and playing football in front of our house. We lived in a detached town house and to get to the front door you had to go up a flight of concrete steps. ON those steps as a metal railing and as the steps finished and then levelled out to a concrete front porch, there were two railings at either end of the porch that had bigger iron rails than the rest. My brother and I used to use those as the posts when we were playing football. I would deliberately try to hit those railings, in an effort to pretend to hit shots in off the post, because those goals felt the sweetest.

That’s what MO delivered last night. And I loved it.

His goal may have separated the two teams on paper, but in fact it was much more than that last night in Naples, because in truth Arsenal should have won by more than the one paltry goal we did win by. Merino had a point-blank header saved, Hincapie had a couple of chances, Saka should have scored, White had a chance, plus we had a barrage of efforts off target too. In total, Arsenal took 26 shots on goal, had eight on target, 58% possession and an xG (according to FOTMOB) of 4.05.

Four. Point. Zero. Five. That’s not comprehensive; that’s an absolute mauling. Towards the end of the game, Napoli fans were whistling, and The Management asked me why. My only explanation to her was that they wanted the referee to blow up early, because in truth, Napoli were the latest team to find themselves shut out by an Arsenal defence that once again conceded very little xG. In total, Kevin De Bruyne et al managed just 0.22; so they were reduced to pot shots and half-efforts, as Arsenal kept control and showed the reason why they’ve only conceded one goal so far this season.

If you’re going to be a little bit picky, you’d say that we probably shouldn’t have been so profligate in the sharp end of the pitch. If this was a night for Big Vik to show us why he needs to be in the consideration for a starting berth, he didn’t show it at all, I’m afraid. Just nine touches in the whole game, although FOTMOB has him creating four chances with those nine touches, so if you’re being kind, you’d say that he was certainly efficient. But when you consider that Havertz had 13 touches in his cameo, plus one big chance created, you can see why he’s probably getting the nod against Sunderland on Saturday evening.

Arteta may have rung the changes last night, but the same fluidity on the ball remained, and I have to say once again, much like Chelsea, there were times last night when we popped the ball around so fluidly, as if there wasn’t a care in the world for those Arsenal players. They just knew they were superior to their opponents, and those Napoli players knew it too.

And I love that Arteta felt happy to make those changes. Hincapie in, Merino in, Eze in and Gyokeres in. Alright, it didn’t result in the flurry of goals we probably deserved, but we still got minutes into legs that haven’t played too much, and for me that is important for the games ahead.

I’ve mentioned some of the stats already, but you can take your pick to see just how dominant we were. Five big chances created to Napoli’s zero, 559 accurate passes (at 92% completion) to Napoli’s 383 (and 86% completion), xG from open play was 3.81, and for those detractors last season who said Arteta couldn’t coach attractive football and all we relied on was set pieces: WHERE ARE YOU NOW?

We had 433 of the total 605 passes in the Napoli half; we were camped there. Napoli took just eight touches in our box. We had 51. 51! These are the sort of numbers that, if you took away the badges and just showed the result and stats, you’d probably argue it was a League Cup or FA Cup game against a lower opposition; such was the dominance.

Yes, there could be questions that are asked about the finishing from the team yesterday, and yes, that may well raise its head when the media does its analysis today. But I’m not minded to get too stressed about it, personally, because I feel like what this team is doing is very repeatable. A lot of the talk in the wake of the Chelsea game was that what Chelsea do is not sustainable, i.e., goalscoring and not keeping it tight at the back. But if you have a rock-solid defence, it absolutely is sustainable, because if we keep being so miserly with our chance creation for the opposition, it quickly grinds them down. Then we only need one moment of magic to win the game. Sure, we could do with upping it a bit in terms of our end product, but I feel like we’ve already shown we can do that with our opening games. So I’m in a really good place when it comes to this Arsenal team and how they are going about their work. Last night we were also able to rotate players so that we can have them ready and as fresh as possible for Sunderland on Saturday evening, as well as get minutes into players’ legs who haven’t played, as I’ve already mentioned. Ben White was even able to come off for Zubi, so hopefully that’s him with a little more juice in the tank left for the trip to Mackemmland.

But on the whole, this was a performance that had the control and dominance of a team that can call themselves champions. And I loved it. Looking to do a post-Napoli pod tonight if I can get some people on the show, so keep your eyes peeled on the Same Old Arsenal podcast here for more info.

And it’s a campaign that I think a lot of Arsenal fans have their eyes on, having gone:

• Quarter-finals in 2024
• Semi-finals in 2025
• Final in 2026

Oh, if only life was linear, eh? A straight path to winning the Champions League this season would be unreal. But in order for that to happen, you do feel we’re going to need to have a very good group stage, because it does drastically help your route through the knockouts. Last season we certainly had a favourable draw; it’s unlikely we’ll get the same again this season, but finishing top again would not only lay down a marker for the rest of Europe, but it would also most likely at least make our Round of 16 game a little easier.

The key question I think most of us have for tonight is how much Mikel Arteta will rotate. This is the first week in which there are three games within a week. We played on Sunday, we play tonight, then it’s a trip to Sunderland on Saturday evening, so we really do need to see some kind of shuffle somewhere on the pitch. The challenge is where that happens, because Arteta has so many options, which is really great when you think about it. We’ve spent the best part of two seasons worrying about injuries, and whilst they will still come this season, the fact that we’ve got the squad we have is testimony to the good work that the club has done. Chelsea were bemoaning how they got to a situation where they are playing two right-backs in central midfield at the end of the last game, whereas we’re wondering how we’re going to keep players happy.

I look at the players who missed a lot of football last season, and those are the ones I think I have the most focus on for rotation tonight. To me, that means Calafioiri, Odegaard, Saka, and Havertz, so personally I’d be looking at those guys as candidates. Maybe not all of them, but one or two, perhaps. We play Sunderland at the weekend, who are a direct side and will go long and fancy a battle, so I’d be looking at Hincapie for that one. I think Calafiori would probably start tonight if it were me. He’s also going back to Italy; he’s just done an interview stating how fresh he feels, he’s in great form, and was unlucky not to score at the weekend. So I’d keep him in.

As for the rest of the defence, I think Arteta probably doesn’t have much of a choice; White and Konsa start because we still don’t know about Mosquera, and he can’t be risked if he’s not fit, so you’d think the rest of the back five will pick itself. Midfield is where the real questions lie, because we have a litany of players who could play, and personally, here’s where I’d do most of the rotation. I think I’d certainly give one of Zubimendi or Bruno a go, and I suspect it might be Bruno to start tonight. He’s been on the bench for a couple of games; I think the manager will be eager to put him in, but if it were me, I’d hold him back for one more game, with Sunderland in mind. He’ll be bang up for that one at the weekend against his former club’s hated rivals, so I kind of feel like that one works, whilst Zubimendi needs to get minutes into those legs, so I’d go with the Spaniard. I’d probably keep Odegaard and Rice together, given the captain’s performance at the weekend just gone, whilst Rice is the engine that just keeps going. Perhaps there’s a case to swap Bruno for Rice, but I suspect Arteta won’t do that, and neither would I.

It’s the same with Saka; I think he’s looked good. I’d keep him tonight, although I have a sneaky suspicion that he might use Noni. I’d keep Saka on the right, I’d have Tzolis on the left, then I’d actually go for Gyokeres down the middle. I think of all the players who missed a lot of football last season; Kai missed some of the most, and after that first game against United on opening day last season, we then didn’t see him until the new year if I remember rightly. So for me, this is one where you bring in big Vik, you get him to run channels, knowing there is always more space in the Champions League compared to the Premier League.

Napoli will have a familiar look about them, as they’ll have De Bruyne, Hojlund, Gilmour and Badiashile, but they’ll be missing McTominay and Anguissa, which is a bonus for us as it’s two players who are a key part of the way they play. They got beat away at Inter at the weekend, which had a defeat at home to Como before it, but I think Allegri might be thinking about rolling out the old guard in De Bruyne to try to hurt us this evening with our passing range. At 35, he won’t have the running power of the guy who bossed Premier League midfields five years ago, but he can still see a pass; he still has goals in him, and I wonder if Allegri will think about wheeling him out to see if he can roll back the years against a club he had plenty of joy with for 115 FC. And he’ll be looking for Hojlund to play the ‘Haaland-lite’ role this evening, with two goals already this season, like Gyokeres, you’d think he’ll be looking to make those runs in behind our back line as we press a little higher.

The good thing we have is that our two centre halves are ball recovery monsters, so I am hopeful we can keep Napoli at bay. And if we do that, then it’s over to those attacking Arsenal players to do the business.

A win tonight sets us up really nicely for Lille at home in October, before we then have the tricky away day in Munich against Bayern to worry about. The good thing about this setup is that one or two defeats isn’t fatal, but if we want to lay down a marker that we might go deep in this competition, you kind of feel we probably need to win at least two of our four away games – probably three, which means one of Napoli, Munich, Slavia Praha or Betis needs to fall. Let’s kick it off by doing it in Naples tonight.

10 months ago we went to Stamford Bridge, and we saw Cucurella go in on Saka time and time again. We saw Fofana leave one or two in on Arsenal players. We saw Enzo and Cucrella going in hard on Madueke and then screaming in his face. We saw Caicedo behaving like a man possessed and eventually getting himself sent off for a reckless challenge on Merino. And yet here we are, less than a year later, and I’ve read:

The fact that they’re celebrating this dirty play that led to their goal should tell you everything about them. They’ve gotten so used to cheating & referees favouring them that they all laugh thinking this is normal.

and

Last time I checked closing mouth in an argument with opponent is a red card offence.

and

I thought this decision was crazy added to Gabriel booting Martinez in the face And Arsenal seem to repeatedly get away with it

and

Not only that Pedro got hugged while chasing the ball, Rogers got body slammed, Martinez got kicked in the eye… that game was so dirty.

If you ever wanted an example of the myopia of football fans, you have it there in a very small sample size. And I don’t think I want to single out Chelsea fans, because fans of every team will do it. What’s happening with us right now, a little bit like what was happening last season at times, is that because we are so good, we are the target. The dominant United team of the 90s was the same; Chelsea under Mourinho in the 2000s was the same; City under Pep was the same. Everyone thought they got all the decisions, or they didn’t like the style of football, or there was just something wrong with the club for some reason. It is just the way football fans are programmed.

So I take it as a compliment. What it means when you get ickle Chelsea fans bleating on with comments like “everyone in the league hates them for a reason” is that you have a team that looks to be the dominant force this season. And nobody – Arsenal fans aside – wants that to happen. Heck, I said the same about City when they were in the middle of their dominance under Pep, winning the title five times in a row. I think it was probably the 2020/21 season when I bet I could go back through the SuburbanGooner archives and find a few blogs I’d written where I say comments like “this league is boring and I’m not even paying attention to the top of the table”. City won the league by 12 points that season, and there was never really any competition. I don’t think we will do the same this season, but if we do, I will expect very similar comments from fans, maybe the odd pundit who has a leaning (in support) away from The Arsenal. Yesterday afternoon I spent a bit of time playing catch-up with what the media are saying and they are all saying things like “unbeatable” and “could they go unbeaten?” and “Is this the most complete side?” etc, etc., blah, blah. Before the Chelsea game, we had Gary Neville telling us that Arteta would gladly swap the Arsenal front three for the Chelsea front three, which of course, is complete nonsense.

Of course last season Liverpool had the same stuff from the media at the beginning of the season. They were five wins in a row at the start of the season and all we heard was whether they were ‘inevitable’. We had some Liverpool fans chirping, although the reall hard-core ones knew that everything was not rosy in the garden. And I guess we all know that everything isn’t perfect, either. Just look at the Villa game. We weren’t sparkling on the day, but we did manage to do what was needed and keep Villa at bay. I guess my hope for our situation being more sustainable than Liverpool’s last season, is that old footballing cliche:

Goals win you games. Defences win you titles.

You can’t argue that we don’t have the defence to mount a good…erm…defence of our title. But as always, people are questioning the attack. They can do that if they like, but having seen Saka start the season in sparkling form, Havertz playing well and looking fit, as well as Odegaard flying and Tzolis impressing, I think we’re in a good place from a creative point of view. That’s without mentioning Merino, Eze, Gyokeres and Madueke, either. Oh, and we’ve got Dowman, too…

So we’re in good shape, but the key to succees will be avoiding injury as much as possible. And with Napoli on the horizon tomorrow night, rotation is something I think Mikel needs to think about even now in the early stage of the season. Personally, and I said this on the post-match review show on the Same Old Arsenal last night – I would be thinking about two or three coming in to protect those who had long spells on the sideline. Maybe we could give Eze and Gyokeres a start, for example? Or bring Bruno in for Rice, or Zubi for MLS? These are all options I think Mikel might consider. You don’t want to mass-rotate your team, but one or two changes tomorrow, then perhaps one or two again on Saturday evening? We have a great squad, we need to start getting minutes into legs, and with the midweek games now popping into the diary, it feels like finding the right rotational balance would be important as we set ourselves up for a long season.

Right, that’s for today – there’ll be a press conference later no doubt as the Champions League kicks off, so let’s see what Mikel thinks about our opponents tomorrow evening. Catch you all in the morrow.

Of course, that only lasted 77 seconds once the game kicked off, with Chelsea’s fast start rewarding them with what I’m still trying to work out whether their goal was preventable from our perspective, and if so, how. Firstly, I don’t think that the Konsa foul was a foul. It looked like he won the ball to me, but that’s a moot point because even when the decision is made, there is still a few actions for which we can avoid conceding. I think, perhaps, Gabriel will be slightly frustrated with himself for his part in not winning the initial header, as the ball was floated into the box, then the second header away and into the air wasn’t quite far enough or wide enough to alleviate the danger completely. Even so, the ball kind of drops into a fortunate position and in the ground and in real time I was frustrated that nobody closed Rogers down on the edge of the box, but when you watch the replay, you see that White actually does close the space, sticks a boot out, but Rogers catches it and Raya can’t quite get there. Maybe David Raya might think he could have got down a little quicker, but it was the kind of low-xG finish we came to see of Rogers last season, as well as why Aston Villa were such high xG over-performers. I actually looked at my phone about two minutes before we’d scored and saw that up until that point, that chance that Villa had created was worth 0.02xG, so it shows you just how much of a ‘everything goes right’ finish it was for the Chelsea player.

His celebration annoyed me. Right in front of us by the corner flag n’all, doing the Thierry Henry celebration, smiling and laughing at us, goading us. Up until that point there’s been no animosity between Arsenal fans and Rogers, so why he felt he needed to point at The Arsenal flag on the corner, do a little Henry mocking, cocky, so early in the game, I am not really sure. But sometimes these kinds of games need a pantomime villain and he set his stall out to be that from that moment onwards. There was the Konsa tackle that we all roared with delight at in the second half, the handbags with Declan Rice (who I see a lot of people – Arsenal fans as well – saying that it was a cynical trip by him but I’m still not 100% sure – maybe red and white-tinted specs n’all that jazz), then as he was taken off in the second half the “you should have signed for a big club” chants as he trudged off towards the Chelsea bench with us winning and time running down.

But back to that first half, and the early goal and whilst it’s really annoying to score so early, it does give you enough time to turn around any deficit. Which is exactly what we eventually did. And we really did from the second we kicked off again after two minutes. We were supertb straight away, and as I’ve already half-mentioned with the xG, by halftime we were well value for not only being level with the World’s Most Reprehensible Football Club, but perhaps being ahead. I mean, technically we’d had the ball in the net twice, so if you’re doing a Jose Mourinho, you could argue that. It was a great boost to be level just 12 minutes after they’d scored, but Konsa was clearly offside and the second that it came up that VAR were checking for a possible offside, you kind of knew that it would be ruled out. Anything other than offside has a degree of subjectivity about it when it comes to VAR, but offsides are usually quite black and white.

But we had already shown in that time that we were going to get on top of Chelsea and whilst I’ve seen some laughable comments from Chelsea fans about how a draw might have been a fair result, the reality is that this was the performance of a side who know they are Champions, know they are the best team in the Premier League, know they are the ones that are there to beat and know that they have the capacity to turn big games around.

And that’s exactly what we did.

Havertz first in the first half on 25 minutes, and whilst I was properly nervous about how the day would unfold when they got their goal so early, the fact we scored on 25 should have made me realise that actually, this Arsenal team were going to do the businss on the day. Havertz’s goal wasn’t the cleanest – I thought he didn’t strike it with the most venom I’ve seen and Emi Martinez probably shouldn’t get beaten at his near post – but the fact that it was him who scored was the most delicious. They laughed at us when we paid what we paid for him. They mocked him and couldn’t believe they’d managed to offload a player who they thought was a bit of a dud. But in The Arsenal he’s found a home, he contributes, he’s a key part of our team and he has fans who love him. And he repays us, and punishes those who formerly supported him. It’s poetic justice.

And then to Martin Odegaard’s goal early in the second half, which was another open play beauty, which is all the more delicious given that rival fans are calling us boring to watch because we “OnLy GeT sEt PiEcE gOaLs”. Have some of that, doubters. The little shimmy run from Tzolis and then pass was good, the dummy from Havertz was superb, then the finish from Odegaard was of a man full of confidence right now. It was brilliant. Just like his overall game on the day and he rightly got the man-of-the-match award on the day. He was imperious, ensuring that he dictated the play and our patterns on the ball, playing an early part in his own goal, as well as ensuring that he covered the ground and pressed as hard as he usually does. He’s already showing that this season he wants to prove a point, and for us as fans, that’s perfection.

I need to wrap up today’s thinkings, as I have a fair bit to do today, but I could probably drop another 500 – 1,000 words on other players if I had time. Tzolis was great, Konsa put in a good defensive home debut, the Gabriel/Martinez ‘kick to the head’, etc – but I will leave it there, be back tomorrow as we prep for Napoli, and hope that you and yours have a great day. We’ll be doing a Same Old Arsenal pod a little later if you fancy joining us. It’ll be from 5.45pm UK time, over on the YouTube channel here. Otherwise, I’ll be back tomorrow, so see you all then.

Let’s get it straight – Chelsea have been a basket case, and last season they were a bit of a joke. How they got to any cup final is a minor miracle, but they have looked a rag-tag bunch of assorted footballers accumulated because Clearlake watched Moneyball too many times and thought it was easy.

This season may be in its infancy, but already they have shown what they are going to be all about: Blistering attack. They have a litany of creative players, and in Rogers, Palmer and Joao Pedro they have a rapid forward line who feel like they are set up for swift counterattacks when out of possession. Which you have to think is the way they’ll play today. Whether Alonso wants to play that kind of football long-term remains to be seen, but in many ways the first two games of the season have probably provided him with a decent enough blueprint for how to line up against us today, i.e. hit Arsenal in transition when the ball turns over and get the ball forward as quickly as possible. Emi Martinez basically went full-Jordan Pickford on his debut and went long time and time again, and it’s hard not to see him do that again today. Playing out from the back, with their defensive challenges, against an Arsenal team who wants to win the ball high up the pitch, would be suicide. So I think Chelsea are going long, and they’ll want to contest duels over the halfway line up against our defence.

That’s where I start to look at who might be the best pairing for Gabriel: Konsa or Mosquera?

Initially, I would have thought it would be Konsa, but having looked at his numbers from last season, he’s in the 59th percentile for aerial duels won, which isn’t exactly amazing. Where he excels is in ground duels, in which he’s one of the best in the Premier League, but in the air, less so, according to those numbers in the link. Gabriel, when I look at it, ranks at around the 20th best in the Premier League (which includes attackers too), so I wonder if we will almost certainly see the same approach to what Brighton faced last weekend.

So Chelsea will let us have the ball; they will want to hit rapid back-to-front counters; they will go long out from their ‘keeper. How do we win this game then?

It sounds a little redundant, but the first goal matters here more than usual, I think. If Chelsea score early, I do worry about our need to get back into it and leaving space in places we don’t want to leave space. Those pockets out wide when our fullbacks have pressed up higher in the pitch; think of the goal City scored early at the Emirates last season when Calafiori got drawn out. That’s what I worry about. And then, just like that day, Chelsea tucking in and trying to make it difficult for us by compacting into a lower block, leaving one or two rapid players up top so that we have something to worry about on the counter.

We have to be prepared for this. I think Arteta will certainly have been thinking long and hard about this, as well as those game state scenarios in which we are behind and how we respond.

Team news-wise, Alonso said he wasn’t sure about Caicedo, but I think he will be playing today. They have Leeds in midweek, then they play Hull – both at home – and if he can push Caicedo to get 60 – 70 minutes today, those are games he could probably leave him out to rest for. And if he plays, then it’s a player who can cover a lot of defensive ground, which enables their attackers to effectively be given a little less restriction on sitting deep in a defensive shape. That worries me. If Caicedo doesn’t play, I think I’m feeling a little more confident about this one, for sure.

For us, I do think Arteta starts Konsa, particularly given we’re expected to have the ball and he has a very good passing range. I also think that Bruno might start too, because of his cameo and forward passing range he’s already shown in coming on against Villa. He was impressive; he can sit in that six role, be up for that battle when Chelsea go long, but he’ll also look to set Arsenal players in behind against a Chelsea back line that has looked a little shaky at times already this season. However, as mentioned, game state has played a big part in this, and I don’t see Chelsea being as open against us as they were against Fulham and Brighton. In those two games, they were the big dog; they were the ones that were expected to go forward more; they were the team that would perhaps have switched off and left a bit more space because they know that they can hit those teams hard when the ball turns over. They don’t know that as much against us, so I wonder if they will actually be much tighter and more compact against an Arsenal side that they know is drilled to within an inch of its life about shape.

The rest of the team selection I think is faily self explanatory, so I’m opting for:

Raya

White – Konsa – Gabriel – Calafiori

Bruno

Odegaard – Rice

Saka – Havertz – Eze

Actually, maybe Eze needs a little more of an explanation. I think these kinds of games need some kind of end product magic to them, which Eze has, and if Chelsea do move into a deeper block without possession, he might find himself in pockets where his close control and long-range finishing might be useful for us. Havertz clearly starts against his old club, and has got a couple of goals against them, so let’s hope for some more.

At this early stage of the season, nothing is really terminal; it’s just about bragging rights and statements. Which is why I am thinking that actually I think this one might play out like the City game last season, and end with the points shared. Earlier in the week on the Same Old Arsenal pod, I predicted an Arsenal 2-1 win, but the more I’ve thought about this, the more I think that this kind of game feels ripe for one of those “Sky Sports builds up, ends up a cagey 1-1 draw”. So I’m changing my mind. I hope I’m wrong.

I’m there for my first game of the season today, so I’m hoping for a good one, and all three points. Back tomorrow for a post-match debrief. See you then.

I enjoy change. I work in marketing and ‘doing new stuff’ is something I always try to adhere to as a work principle.

Not when it comes to football, guys, not when it comes to football. Give me a good ol’fashioned 3pm kick-off any day of the week. But we are where we are, and it’ll be Chelsea tomorrow at 4.30pm that we’ll all be either in the ground or tuning in to see if we can overcome what I think is quite an unknown quantity in Chelsea. I mean, we all know what they are – the most reprehensible football club in the history of the world (The Scum are Scum, City are cheats, but Chelsea are just despicable) – but under Xabi Alonso they have done a full 180 (based on two games) in terms of playing style and approach. I don’t know if it was just game state, but in their first two games they’ve basically just not wanted the ball, which was the opposite of what Maresca was teaching them. Under Xabi Alonso, they don’t want it, happy to let their opponents have it, and want to win games in transition with rapid counters. I’ll do more of an analysis on them tomorrow in the match preview, but that as a teaser sets us up nicely for today’s focus – Mikel Arteta’s press conference and what fans/pundits are saying.

First up, Mikel, and the not-so-surprising news from Mikel’s press conference is that we’ll have to wait until after training to know exactly who is available for Chelsea, with Bruno assessed after his knock against Villa, while Timber is back in full training and sounds to be in a really good place – although he wouldn’t be drawn on whether he’ll make the squad. Mikel did what he always does with opponents: complimentary about the job Xabi Alonso is doing, admitting that signing Emi Martinez was a “really smart decision”, but he also pointed out that their fast starts in the opening two games have heavily influenced how those matches have played out (kind of why I say they’re a bit of an ‘unknown quantity), so he’s expecting a side capable of adapting depending on the game state. There was plenty of chat about our own squad too, with Mikel making it pretty clear that he’s very happy with the attacking options we have, insisting that the club “100% ticked” the boxes it wanted to tick in the transfer window and that he’d rather focus on the players we do have than the winger we didn’t sign. He also backed the academy, praised the different midfield combinations available to him and described Monday’s win at Villa as a genuine squad victory. In other words, the window is closed, the excuses are over, and Mikel’s message is pretty simple: this is the squad we have, he likes it, and now it’s time to get on with the football.

Whether all of that is true remains to be seen; after the Champions League Final, we all know what Mikel said about acting fast, and I think the actions in the attacking spots suggest that perhaps that wasn’t the case. Let’s not re-litigate the situation, as everyone has spoken about it already, but Mikel has to put on a brave face and smile for the cameras – I think we all know that. I do believe him when he says he is happy overall with the squad depth, and it’s something I’ve also been talking about this last week – we’re well-prepared for every eventuality, and when you see quality players not even making the matchday squad, you know you’ve got a great team.

But we need to show it on the pitch tomorrow. The pundits, unsurprisingly, are going for us. We’re the Champions; we’re there to be shot at, we’re the ones wearing the crown, and this will happen for most of these opening months of the season, I suspect. The only way it starts to turn is if we start to blip, like in games tomorrow. Personally, I feel like this could easily be a score draw. Still, Lewis Jones on Sky Sports is calling it a 2-0, Shearer says ‘Arsenal win’, Sutton goes 3-1 to The Arsenal, and the guys at Sports Mole have us at 2-1, saying that “if ever there was a match that screamed ‘defence versus attack’, Arsenal vs Chelsea is the dictionary definition”. They also say our current shut-out of two clean sheets will end this weekend. I make them right, to be fair, but although they’re calling us ‘defence’ versus them ‘attack’, they still think we’re outscoring them and winning. Work that one out, eh?

I do think we will score; I also think this could easily be a draw – as I already mentioned – but this is going to be really tough. It’s funny because as good a time as it was to face Villa last weekend, it’s probably not the best time to face them this weekend; they’ll be bullish, buoyant and will no doubt fancy an upset. We have an amazing record against them – 16 games undefeated I believe – and that will come to an end. Could easily be this weekend given their firepower, so to work out how they’re feeling, I did my usual behind-enemy-lines stuff and had a look at a couple of fans’ forums. The first ten comments on one thread of match predictions read:

• Arsenal win = 3
• Chelsea win = 6
• draw = 1

Another site had a voting buttons thing going on, which had 19 calling Arsenal, eight calling a draw, and seven calling a Chelsea win. I gotta be honest, I thought they’d be more bullish than what I’ve read, but they’re really worried about their defensive issues. I think they sorted one out by signing Martinez, but they still conceded three against Brighton last weekend, and even though a couple have said they fancy themselves to score, they also think they’re 100% conceding. One person even said if we don’t score two or three, we should be automatically relegated! They’re saying things like “too early (in the season) for us” or “I hope we give them a good game,” which really surprised me. Maybe it can give us a little bit of confidence in a good game and a victory tomorrow, but let’s not forget just how good their attack has looked so far.

More on that tomorrow, as I try to do a “what Chelsea might actually see” preview, having looked at a few numbers on them so far. Until then, we sit back, watch the games, hope that Forest make it three defeats in a row for the Scum, and wait patiently for our turn tomorrow.

Catch you then.

And we all knew that he possibly wasn’t going to be part of the team this season, too. His output domestically had fallen off a cliff; many people – me included – had questioned his longer-term future, some had lamented why he was still here during last season, and I think all of us thought at the start of the season he would make way for a star left-wing signing if we could get a good deal. As we all now know, that ‘big signing’ never happened, but what has happened is that Arsenal have got a club-record transfer fee for a guy who has been at the club for seven years man and boy, joining for £6million and leaving for £60million. It is, as they say, “pure profit”.

But it isn’t pure satisfaction for his exit, from my point of view. Yes, it was probably time to move on, and yes, it was right for all parties. But that doesn’t mean it doesn’t hurt a bit. This was a guy who burst onto the scene as a kid, scored a couple of goals early on in the Europa League, at one point we thought he might evolve into a striker, but beyond his sparkling form in the first title charge of 2022/23, in which he nabbed 15 goals and six assists in a brilliant season, it never really materialised the way we thought. Regardless of that, he still proved his worth. Energy, effort, pace, and a willingness to adapt to Arteta’s style of play is what has seen him become one of the last survivors of Mikel Arteta’s original side that he took control over back in 2019. That, in itself, is testimony to the player, but also his willingness and ability to adapt.

I loved the farewell video the club posted here. Had me a wee bit choked, if I’m honest, because he’s grown up so much and it really is sad to see him go. He’s always maintained he never wanted to leave the club, he loves the club, the club and the fans love him.

But it was the right thing to do. We needed to move on from Martinelli and Trossard and I think, if you asked every Arsenal fan at the end of last season what the one position was we really needed to go to the next level on, 90% of them would have said ‘left wing’. The only problem is that we haven’t really done the incomings that we expected. Indeed, I even said 11 or so days ago that I’d be fine with keeping Martinelli if we couldn’t find a replacement. But I don’t think it’s right that you essentially tell a player his future lies elsewhere, he prepares himself mentally for an exit, he gets on a plane to Saudi, then gets called back because Arsenal haven’t brought in cover. Martinelli would deserve more than that, he doesn’t want to be the dad that is still at home just because the parents are paying the mortgage and doesn’t want to upset the kids.

So the move had to be made, and whilst I do agree with those who suggest we are now short there, I do think Arteta will need to lean into Eze on the left. What it also means is that those Sky Sports and Football365 articles talking about ‘net spend’ and having us as the fourth or fifth biggest spenders, actually need to drop us down to around about the middle of the table now. And yet we’re STILL favourites for the title, and we’re STILL looking good right now in terms of our squad depth and strength. That also should mean that the ‘PSR headroom’ (or whatever they call it these days) that we have gives us room either in January, or to go big in next summer’s transfer window.

So whilst we can be sad that we’ve loved a guy who has been with us so long, whilst we can have fond memories whilst at the same time realising it was best for everyone for him to move on, we still need to be mindful of making sure we address this issue in the medium or the long term. For now though, we have to wish Martinelli well on his new adventure. Personally, I think he should have gone to a more competitive league than the Saudi Pro League, and I think he’d have smashed it in Italy or Spain, but I guess those clubs probably don’t have the cash funds to pay what Arsenal wanted – which also includes his not insignificant wages too, which are rumoured to be close to the £180k-per-week, which we also have to factor in to any accounting situations. Last summer I wondered on here how Arsenal have stockpiled and got so many players in, but I wonder now if some of the knock-on effects have been felt this summer? If that’s the case, the balance has been re-addressed, so let’s just see how the football shakes out in the coming months.

Right, I think I’ll leave it there, because we have a Chelsea game coming up, but there’s always tomorrow for us to do the match preview for that one, as well as Sunday morning too. So I will take my leave for today. Wish you and yours the best, then catch you on the socials and on here tomorrow.

It’s funny because I’ve spent many a summer transfer window over the years feeling frustrated with our business – or lack thereof – and have written about that on many a post-Transfer Deadline Day lament. “We always leave ourselves one player short” I feel was the mantra every season. And whilst I think all of us can appreciate that the left-wing spot that we all wanted feels like it is just one player short again this summer, I really can’t get myself worked up at all.

As a bit of an aside – I really like this “Who won the summer 2026 transfer window?” piece on the Cannon Stats site. Adam, who wrote the piece, is a very level-headed Arsenal fan from the States and I echo his sentiments exactly.

It’s the reason why, for this summer right now anyway, I’m kind of happy with where we are at. It was perfect, of course. But you can’t say we aren’t well-equipped to have a proper go at both the Premier League and Champions League. Look at all of our domestic rivals; they have all had quite a bit of upheaval, and you can’t tell me that every single player they have signed is going to absolutely ‘bang’ – it just doesn’t happen. In fact, to assess that, I had a quick look at the transfers from Man City, Aston Villa, Liverpool, Man United, Chelsea and The Scum from last season, to see which ones were successful. I’ve decided to – completely subjectively, I’ll admit – group them into ‘success’ or ‘failure’ in my opinion:

Apart from United, who didn’t make many deals, you can hardly say that’s been a glowing rap sheet from any of the so-called ‘big clubs’. So getting worked up over the volume of signings is just not something I can get behind. Would I have liked us to get that winger in? Sure, but not any old blagger; we are not in that space right now.

I certainly think Berta has some questions to answer, however, but that is more about his ‘plate-spinning’ style that I think a few of us are a little concerned with. And I think that is right; there’s a very real argument to be had that the reason we lost out on Morgan Rogers was that we didn’t strike super-quick. The noises that I heard were that Arsenal were led to believe that £80million gets him. If they’d have acted sharpish and gone for him before the Anderson deal became the yardstick by which every club measured their big players, I think we’d have seen him in an Arsenal shirt. But we waited, and the result was that Rogers now rocks up at that reprehensible club, Chelsea. Anderson signed for City on 23rd July – that is more than enough time to move for the player. But Berta’s approach has always been more measured, and perhaps that has had an impact.

But I’m nitpicking here, because you can’t argue that our squad isn’t deep and strong. Even in that left-wing position, we’ve lost two players, but we still have Eze and Madueke as well as the new boy Tzolis. Plus, with a September extended international break which goes on for three weeks, then by the time the season starts going you’re in to October/November anyway. The January transfer window then becomes a few short weeks away and if the need is really that pressing by then, you can pull the trigger. I know it sounds very ‘The Neverending Story’, and it used to wind me up when Wenger would give us the ‘Judge me in May’, then we’d finish fourth, and repeat the cycle in that summer, but I do feel like this team were judged last May, as Champions, and they are now stronger in the areas of our team that really made the biggest contributons to our title defence – at the back and in midfield.

As a reminder, our signings last summer were:

• Zubimendi – success (despite the end, he was brilliant for 75% of the season – so that counts for me)
• Eze – success (just – he got important goals and contributed to some big games, including the two NLDs)
• Gyokeres – success (just – we all know he’s a bit of a wardrobe, but still bagged 21 goals, even if he probably should have had more)
• Madueke – success (just – I think the jury is still out)
• Mosquera – success
• Norgaard – failure
• Kepa – failure (based on the League Cup final
• HIncapie – success

So I think our recruitment was pretty spot on, and I think this summer’s additions will only demonstrate that further, which will ultimately mean we are in a stronger position than we were last season – where we finished as Champions.

Honestly guys and gals, I’m not drinking the company Kool-Aid here; I think we’re in a great position, a great squad, we’re set up for success and now it is about delivering it on the pitch. So let’s all get back to focusing on that.

Catch you all tomorrow as we start to look ahead to Chelsea and the weekend’s fixtures.

Ethan Nwaneri has gone on loan, which I think most Arsenal fans are happy with, because we want him to come back having done (hopefully) a season at Dortmund and played plenty of football. If he has a good season in Yelow and Black then maybe he can come and challenge for an important squad place. I also think that, if Madueke hasn’t kicked on, we should be looking at him again as a wide forward.

So let’s break this down into the individual deals – including Martinelli – then finish off with fan reaction and where I’m at today, right?

Fabio Vieira

Probably the easiest and quickest one to get through. He had been on loan to them last season; he’d been on loan at Porto for the season before. He never felt right for our league and always struggled to really make an impact. I remember when he made what I think was his first start for us against Brentford, because Martin Odegaard was missing, and I thought that he might well go on to be a superstar at the club. But it never really happened, and I don’t think that is down to his size. A lot of people talked about how he wasn’t physical; he was too slight, he needed to bulk up, but I never really truly bought in to that. Bernardo Silva isn’t a big bloke, David Silva wasn’t, Tariq Lamptey is small, so there’s plenty of examples of players who can go on in the Premier League despite a smaller and less physical frame. I just think that, ultimately, he never really kicked on and showed the promise he did at Porto and then in the initial time at his career at The Arsenal.

That being said, I do think we’ve been shafted a bit on the fee, which is supposedly £8.6million. TransferMarkt has his value at €18million (£15.43million), he played 31 times, got seven goals and six assists for Hamburg last season, playing nearly 2,500 minutes. He was a regular for Hamburg and they’ve lowballed us there, so the only hope we have to have is that Arsenal got a chunky sell-on fee to ensure that there might be a bit more cash coming our way in the future.

Slight aside – Flo Balogun’s collapsed move to Everton was a bit of a pain in the arse for us, we apparently have a 17.5% sell on clause, which would have netted The Arsenal £7million, so that’ll be a bit of a kicker for the club and the coffers.

Gabriel Jesus

It’s funny how the impact of the details around a transfer can affect your mood on it, because I think most Arsenal fans are happy with the £8.6million we received for Gabriel Jesus from Barcelona. Bearing in mind how much Barca as a club are pretty much arseholes to deal with (think Auba transfer for free a few years back, or Cesc, Petit and Overmars, etc, etc), the fact that they’ve given us ACTUAL MONEY for Gabriel Jesus feels like a bit of a touch from an Arsenal perspective. We know the club were touting the whole “£15 – £20million” at the beginning of the window, but that was never realistic, and I think most Arsenal fans would have been happy with any fee. So in that respect, you have to give some kudos from the club for getting what they got. But it’s not just that, because the rumoured £265,000-per-week wages are also now off the books. If that number is true, then keeping Gabriel Jesus would have cost the club £13.78million for a year. Admittedly, we’re in September, so maybe it would have been close to 44 weeks wages they’d have had to pay, but that’s still £11.66million. So to go from that as a cost to money coming in for that fee is a £20million+ swing for the club. That’s not an insignificant amount. And for a player who has missed 80 games for us since he joined, and found himself a peripheral player this last season gone, you have to be happy with that.

Gabriel Martinelli

Whilst this hasn’t happened yet, I think we all know it probably will, and at £60million I guess that’s decent enough. The hyperinflation of the Premier League and dodgy dealings of some of the clubs in this league has distorted the pricing for players, because before all of this nonsense kicked off with Elliot Anderson, you’d have probably have said £60million for Martinelli is good work. He has served his time, we all still love him, he was a hard worker, but his output in domestic competitions fell through the floor last season and I think that’s why the club have decided to take this deal, despite it clearly leaving us short in attack. Which brings me to the final discussion piece for today…

The transfer window as a whole – for fans and for me

Personally, I’m quite chilled about everything. I think we’re stronger in defence with the arrival of Konsa, I think we’re stronger in midfield with the arrival of Bruno, so it is just that attack that might be problematic. The options on that left wing are the biggest challenge and risk, because in total when you look at the numbers from last season, we have Martinelli and Trossard’s minutes that equated to a combination of 5,306 minutes across all competitions, 19 goals and 18 assists across the two players. That’s what supposedly needs to be found, but I don’t think it needs to be as analogue as that, because whilst Tzolis and Eze will share those minutes, we are all also hoping that Havertz, Saka, Madueke, plus Merino, can all contribute more than they did last season. If you take the attacking group as a whole, and just those players who played in the main attacking positions (so I’ve included Martinelli, Trossard, Saka, Havertz, Jesus, Gyokeres, Merino, Madueke) – you’re looking at 16,347 minutes, 72 goals 40 assists. We have to better that. If you’re moving Eze to that left-wing position, he’s got to better his seven goals and two assists last season. I think he does that, easily, but I also think Saka – if fit – beats his seven goals and five assists, too. I think Havertz – again, if fit – beats his seven goals and five assists. I think Tzolis should at least be able to match one of Martinelli or Trossard’s outputs, plus we have Merino who – again, if fit -will surely better his four goals and three assists. I haven’t even factored in that Max is a year older…

The point I’m trying to make is that whilst we all know we need to strengthen, whilst I wanted a high-profile left-winger to come in, I am not minded to spend cash on players just to make up numbers – Fofana, as an example, probably would have been that guy.

We have a talented squad that can cope with the new season. They just need to stay fit. I’m hopeful many of them will.

Catch you all tomorrow.

Quick PS – we did the Same Old Arsenal pod last night, which you can re-watch on YouTube (or wherever you get your pods) here if you are so inclined.

We all know that Villa have been decimated. We know they have lost a chunk of their first-team players, and that those Villa fans would be up for a night under the lights as their first home game of the season, so perhaps we needed to also temper any hopes of an absolute battering. That was never feasible, and yet as I sat there watching the match unfold, I still had that expectation. We were the settled side, the unchanged side, the champions. We should have put them to the sword.

It’s true that they barely threatened. Even the Buendia chance off the bar wouldn’t have counted, because there was clearly a foul on Tzolis in the build-up, but conversely, it felt like we were equally sluggish. In that first half, we struggled to find an answer to Villa’s high line and compacting of space between defence, midfield and attack. We retained the ball, had two-thirds of it in the first half, forced Suzuki into one good stop and had four shots, but it all felt a little stodgy to my eyes. Problems of breaking down teams from last season felt like they were being rehashed from 2025/26.

I thought a lot was being made of commentary about our set pieces, for which one header from Gabriel was massively off target after Suzuki had flapped at the ball, but we didn’t quite get the opportunities that we normally do. Is that because of this new rule on holding? Perhaps. I saw basically every team do it this past weekend, but if there’s a team to make an example of with this rule, then it’ll be Arsenal before anyone else, so perhaps that’s why we’re deliberately being extra non-holding-y after the first two games?

Whatever it is, the set pieces were not going to be our avenue on the night, so we had to rely on a really well-worked open-play goal to be the difference. And Bukayo Saka – so often the guy who was missing or didn’t quite look at it last season- once again stepped forward and delivered ned product when we needed it. It was a proper poacher’s finish from Saka; getting into that spot in the six-yard box after the ball was worked well by Eze and Calafiori on the right. If we can keep him fit for most of this season, he – and we – will surely feel like he should be good for around 25-30 goals and assists. He’s already bagged two in the Premier League so far, so it is a good and positive sign based on what we have witnessed. I loved his little tap to the gold Premier League badge too. Nice.

There’s not a ton of other things to talk about based on the evening. It feels very much like an early-season ‘functional’ win that Arsenal needed. But there were some individual performances and maybe a tactical question or two for Mikel Arteta to ponder before we play Chelsea next Sunday. Firstly, on the tactical side, and it’s easy for me to sit here today and pick holes with the benefit of hindsight. But I did think that we perhaps didn’t quite have the right personnel on the pitch for the game. Villa’s high line needed to have somebody from deep acting as a quarterback for runners in behind. Havertz got in twice in the game – both times flagged offside – but failed to slot the ball into the net. Big Vik can be clunky; we know he’s not the most technically gifted, and he’d certainly have been caught out with a few offsides last night, but he also would have just kept on making that run again and again. And eventually those runs are timed well, and he’s in. And whilst I love Kai and think he’s the better all-around centre forward, I would probably have given Gyokeres minutes. Maybe even 30 minutes in that second half, because he’d have kept on making those runs. Then it’s on somebody to distribute from deep, and I think somebody like Zubimendi (assuming Bruno wasn’t 100% fit) could have been that guy. I’m nitpicking, though, because ultimately we still dominated in practically all metrics across both halves.

I thought Kai also had a pretty poor game. His two big chances may have been offside, but you still have to put them away. He was also quiet. If I’m going to call out Gyokeres when he is anonymous in these types of games, you have to do the same for Havertz. Likewise, I don’t think we saw enough of Odegaard on the ball. He put a nice ball in to Havertz for one of the offside chances in the first half, but other than that I don’t remember him dictating the game as he did in the Community Shield and last week against Coventry. Some of that might have been because of the congested nature of the game in the middle of the park; Odegaard is best in between the spaces of defence and midfield and last night there was essentially zero space there, so it kind of negated him a bit. But that’s perhaps – and again I’m nitpicking because ultimately we won and were the dominant side – where you realise it and try to switch his profile out for another earlier in the second half?

Tzolis too, didn’t have a great one, and found himself on the periphery after he picked up a yellow for Cash falling to the floor easily in the first half. John McGinn did John McGinn things by trying to get a fellow professional sent off after going down under a Tzolis challenge when he was already on a yellow, but it was never going to end up in a second yellow for the Greek. Nevertheless, Arteta rightly hooked him at halftime and his replacement Eze had a much improved performance. It’s perhaps ironic, because last season it was Eze who got hooked at Villa, who came on and looked like he should be taking the jersey off Tzolis for next week. He was involved in the goal, he was drifting into the right spaces, and I think it will certainly give Arteta food for thought. I know we are linked with Fofana from Lyon, but Eze deserves a shot on the left I reckon – let’s see what he can deliver because based on last night’s second half, he’ll offer something different to Tzolis. And that’s not a bad thing.

It’s Transfer Deadline Day today, so there will no doubt be some stuff to talk about – whether we sign anyone or not – so I’ll leave it there and be back tomorrow with some post-window thoughts. We’ll also be doing a pod towards the end of the day today, so come and check out the chat tonight at 5.45pm if you fancy it.

I watched bits of the Chelsea game and, whilst going forward they did look good to be fair, cutting Brighton open on several occasions, at the back they look shaky as heck, and if they are like that against us next weekend, I’d 100% back us to pick up the points. But there’s no doubt they have a wee bit of momentum after those wins, so The Arsenal need to build theirs this evening with a team that has been a bit of a thorn in our side in recent years. In the last four games, we’ve won two and lost two. If you use the COVID period as a line in the sand, it’s four wins for Villa versus three for us, and the defeat last season was in incredibly late and dramatic fashion.

For some reason, a bit like Newcastle fans, Villa seem to have an irrational hatred for us. Perhaps it is because we continue to insist that Unai Emery is not that great, whereas they point to his trophy haul in his career, having delivered the Europa League to Villa once again. But in tonight’s game, we see a Villa side who have had the bulk of their stars taken away from them. Morgan Rogers, Ollie Watkins, Ezri Konsa, Youri Tielemans, Donyell Malen, Emi Martinez, Lucas Digne, with Douglas Luiz and Jadon Sancho also returning from whence they came upon the expiry of their contracts. In return, we will find ourselves up against plenty of familiar names (as I went through yesterday), but not in a Villa shirt. And it is my hope that our consistency of team can therefore have the edge over the uncertainty of the Villa side, who are still working out their own automatisms. I will begrudgingly admit that Emery has done a good job with Villa; they finished in the Champions League places last season, they massively outperformed metrics like xG, and they have plenty of talent who can hurt us (Cash and Buendia both got the goals for them against us last season). The stats that day told of a fairly even game, with both teams sharing a roughly equal amount of possession, shots on and off target, fouls, corners, etc. But it was an Arsenal team who were makeshift at the back, with Gabriel and Saliba both out that day.

Tonight, we know that Saliba won’t play, so for me it’s time to give Konsa his debut. He’s a big boy, he’ll be well aware of the pantomime booing that will come his way. He’ll know that it is just part of the spectacle, but he’s a professional who was bought because of his experience and abilities, and so I say we have to chuck him in alongside Big Gabi. It’s harsh on Mosquera, who I thought did well against Coventry, but you don’t spend £50million on an experienced England international to see him not play in big games. And this is a big game. So for me I’d have the following as my line up this evening:

Raya

White – Konsa – Gabriel – Calafiori

MLS

Odegaard – Rice

Saka – Havertz – Tzolis

With Gabriel Martinelli due to be confirmed as departed the club any time soon, Tzolis is basically the defacto number one choice at left wing, but I wouldn’t be averse to seeing Eze there more too. I’ve also chosen Calafiori as the one I’d want in there because he has started the season really well, he seems to already be striking up a good rapport with Tzolis, taking up positions that enable them to find each other with regularity, so whilst we all love Hincapié, that feels like the right thing to do to kick off this game.

And the good news for Arteta is that he has so many options. Mosquera is a great cover for White or Konsa, Hincapie covers both Calafiori or Gabriel, whilst Zubimendi is an World Cup winner that could equally start instead of MLS. We don’t have 100% certainty over Bruno, but there’s no need to rush him back when you also have Eze and Merino available, whilst up top Viktor Gyokeres can be used in the second half if Kai isn’t working. And if Saka is to be protected, then Madueke is there too. We have such depth and I expect Arteta will certainly want to use it at some stage this evening.

Villa will look to press high and be compact in that midfield area of the pitch; Unai likes to leave a little more space with a higher line, so weirdly, if that happens, it’d be the kind of game that Big Vik might thrive on. But with Kai having scored two in two if you count the Community Shield, you can’t be dropping him. Maybe there are options in the second half, but the way the initial skirmishes go in this game, I’d expect Villa to try to go from back-to-front as quickly as possible as soon as there is a transition, looking to spring traps on us as we build up as we usually do through the likes of Odegaard. So we’ll need to be ready for that and I do think that’s why you have to start Konsa, because I think I read a stat/heard a stat that he was one of the most difficult people to get past last season – he’s a duel winner and therefore good with one-on-ones. If you’re coming up against a team who want to spring transitional traps, then you need individuals to win their battles. If he is that guy, if he does it in an Arsenal shirt, he’ll be a fan favourite. But he’ll also be very valuable in games like this.

It’s a game we lost last season, yet still won the league, so you can’t say that a defeat or a draw tonight is a massive problem for this Arsenal side, but given that last season we lost five games, the season before Liverpool lost four and the season before that Man City lost just three, it shows you that the Premier League is usually not won if you pick up a couple of defeats so early in the season. So tonight is one that we need to win and lay down a marker for the rest of the league. Last weekend’s 3-0 win was fun, but it was against a Coventry side who have already shown that they will struggle this season. So we need to be showing against a quality opponent that we are favourites for a reason.

I’ll be back tomorrow for a match review, maybe a word or two about those exiting players (Gabby’s Jesus and Martinelli), but for now, enjoy your bank holiday Monday (if you have one) and I’ll catch you all then.

It’s fair to say that so far, there are a few nice surprises that have popped up, whilst equally there are a few not-so-nice consistencies we’re having to deal with, like the fact that Man City appear to be doing alright. After we gave them a bit of a humbling in the Community Shield, they’ve popped up with two wins from two, although by the looks of the Bournemouth game at home, they weren’t exactly sparkling, were they? Against Palace I think they played a team that I think might be an outside bet to be one of the relegation candidates, so perhaps we don’t need to think too hard about it, but usually Friday night under the lights brings a big atmosphere at Selhurst Park; it doesn’t seem like that has happened this time around.

The fun stuff, however, has to be Liverpool and The Scum, with the latter finding themselves rooted to the bottom of the table after two games, and some of those Spurs fans who tried to argue that they had an outside chance of competing for the Premier League now find themselves wondering how they could have spent over £300million and still be in the mud. De Zerbi saying about mentality too is funny; it’s like he’s already warming his vocal cords for a Conte-style rant further down the line. I love it.

Equally, Liverpool about to sign Barcola, without realising that defending is an important part of football, is funny too. The more points those two teams drop, the better.

Today, with us still not playing until Monday night, we’ll probably see Chelsea beat Brighton today, but it will still be interesting to watch them play, I think, because despite their goals and attacking threat against Fulham, they still looked a little dodgy at the back in match week one. So whilst I am expecting them to be much better than they were last season, and I expect them to win today too, if we can get some signs of them being a bit sh*t defensively, then that’s definitely a positive we can take from the weekend.

From our perspective, what we’re interested in is whether Arsenal sign anyone by deadline day, with Andrea Berta apparently working on multiple options. We’ve also heard that Martinelli won’t be allowed to leave until Arsenal have found a replacement. If that replacement is Julian Alvarez, then fine, although I think like many of you, I’m a bit reluctant. There’s not a desire on his part of clamour all the way to The Arsenal; he hasn’t played wide left much in his career, plus I think we’re already stocked. So even if we lose Martinelli, we should still be giving Eze more time there. I think he can play it. I don’t think we need a touchline winger who will just hug the white lines; I think his version – which would be drifting inside to central spaces – would work well, especially in games where central spaces are compact and we have teams who want us to get the ball into wide positions and whip it in. Eze can get a shot off in small spaces, and I could see him drifting in as a good option for us, as well as Tzolis.

So I’m pretty chilled ahead of the transfer window closing on Tuesday evening. If we end up signing nobody and Martinelli leaves, I think no doubt we’re probably a little weaker, but maybe the clarity over roles in the team and the question mark over who gets those midfield minutes becomes a little clearer, because you can give Eze a shot wide left, then let the others fight it out for those midfield positions.

Tomorrow’s game will be interesting though, for sure, because we’ve got a Villa side that are at home and under the lights in a boisterous atmosphere, but equally it is a side quite unrecognisable from the ones we played last season. Let me read out the team lineup from this exact fixture last season, then put a note as to their current status:

1. Emi Martinez – currently finalising a deal to Chelsea (an annoyingly good deal for them, actually)
2. Ian Maatsen – still there and will probably play tomorrow
3. Pau Torres – same as Maatsen
4. Matty Cash – as above
5. Boubacar Kamara – as above
6. Ezri Konsa – an Arsenal boy now – and I’d probably play him tomorrow night
7. Amadou Onana – injured in the World Cup
8. John McGinn – captain – will play tomorrow
9. Tielemens – gone to United
10. Rogers – gone to Chelsea
11. Watkins – off to Saudi Arabia

In the return leg at the Emirates there was also Digne and Sancho playing, neither of whom are at the club anymore,

So basically, six of that starting XI definitely won’t be there tomorrow night. In their place, there will probably be Suzuki in goal instead of Bizot, Lindelöf, Ross Barkley, Bogarde (or maybe new signing Wan Bissaka), Buendia and Nicholas Jackson – who can, to be fair to him – blow a little hot and cold, but he will play. But it’ll be a debut and whilst I don’t expect Villa to be as bad as they were on the opening day against Brighton away, the home backing behind them and a couple of new signings on show, might spark a bit of a reaction. We have to be ready.

I’m going to save any more match previews for tomorrow, I think. Suffice to say, however, that their fans are not usually as buoyant as I’ve seen before, like in the Villa fans’ forums I had a look at last year. This year they’re all pretty universal in thinking we’ll win – with a smattering of the usual fans who will always predict a home win for their side, whichi is fair enough I guess. An interesting side note I’ve just read about – they have one stand – the North Stand – which will be empty for the whole of this season, as they renovate it to bring it up to a 50,000-seater capacity, from the 43,000 it was previously. That means they’ll have a 37,000 capacity this season, as that stand took up 5,000 seats. Will that impact the atmosphere? I think we have to hope so.

Back tomorrow with some pre match musings. Catch you all then.

We kicked off with a lovely, comfortable, impressive 3-0 win at home to Coventry on Friday, then yesterday were treated to Man United losing the early game of the day to Hull. Lovely stuff.

I hope this doesn’t come back to bite me on the arse, because hopefully we beat Hull home and away, but losing to them and having their fans do that embarrassing ‘mauling’ gesture has to be the footballing equivalent of having your nose rubbed right in it. What the hell, man, that’s just cringe on levels that I didn’t think of before. And seeing Man United fans having to endure it is absolutely amazing.

On the pre-match preview of the season pod we did on Thursday, Cookie talked about United coming second. Yesterday the guys did a post-match pod to discuss the Arsenal win, but if they’d have waited a few hours longer and not podded in the morning, they could have had double-bubble fun, both celebrating our win, as well as laughing at both United and The Scum. You can check out the pod here though if you’re looking for something Arsenal-related to consume.

Our attention now turns to seeing what’s going to shake out in terms of transfers this week, and you’d have to think that there will be a Martinelli exit and a left-wing incoming. I have to say I agree with what Wrighty was saying on Friday night about the respect needed to be shown to Martinelli. Here we have a Brazilian international, somebody who scored a winning goal to put them through to the next round of the competition in the World Cup, who has bagged important goals for us and been a brilliant servant for many years. Yet he’s not even making matchday squads. Hey, we didn’t need it on Friday night against Coventry, but you can’t convince me that we won’t need him this season if we’re not signing a replacement. And if that happens, I’m fine with it; Martinelli is a good player. Yeah, he’s had a bad season from an output perspective last season, but he’s also had good seasons too. We know the type of player he is, we know his limitations, but we also know that there isn’t exactly a wealth of options out there at left wing. Julian Alvarez has played as a left winger six times in his whole career, so he isn’t that guy. Plus, I don’t want a guy who is only interested in Barca; stick around at Atleti, mate, if that’s what you think about The Arsenal. We’re nobody’s second choice these days; we’re champions of England and Champions League finalists. We need players who see Arsenal as a dream move.

So for me, like I already said last week, I’d be more than happy to keep Martinelli and have him and Tzolis – who everyone is rightly raving about – share the minutes on that left-hand side. But to basically ostracise him from the group is a strange one, because Arteta has always loved to use Gabby, he’s always been appreciative of his work rate, so I would have thought he’d be happy to have him in matchday squads as an option.

Perhaps it’s a diktat from Berta and the club? I know Arteta is the main man, that whatever he decides, he can have, but if Berta has told him he’s going out and getting him a left winger, but we can’t risk a possible injury to Gabby Martinelli, so to just leave him out of the Community Shield or the first league game of the season, maybe Arteta is complying on a short-term basis. Because if we can’t get a player in, I find it hard to believe the club won’t integrate Martinelli back into the team when the window closes. You’d have to, because the other options away from Tzolis are all square pegs in round holes. He’s been reluctant to use eze there, Madueke has failed to impress and it’s not his favoured side, Ethan seems to be no longer seen as a wide forward, and Max is probably too young to be fast-tracked into a position he hasn’t played there yet as, either.

One way or another, at least we’re coming to the end of the window this week, the end of the nonsense, so we can focus on the proper stuff that happens on the pitch. Maybe we get some noises todday about some movements, but I’m happy enoough to see us easy winners, see those Spurs and United fans unhappy, and we can all just drink it in knowing that we’re looking like we’re in good shape.

Right, I’m going to call time on today, I have to get out into the Portuguese sun and enjoy some R&R. catch you all later.

Back in the 90s, there was a programme called Hangin’ with Mr Cooper that I used to watch as a kid. Loved it. There was one episode in which the main character, Mr Cooper, got a chance to play at the top level of the NBA, and there’s a bit in it in which Charles Barkley dunks and knocks over Mr Cooper and drops the line:

Welcome to the NBA

That’s what Arsenal did to Coventry yesterday, because it was pretty much a schooling that happened on the Emirates turf last night. From minute one until the end, Arsenal were in complete control, and Frank Lampard’s lads must have known they were in for a long night the second that Kai Havertz swept home the first goal on 15 minutes. It was a silky finish in which, having rewatched it a few times, I’m still wondering how it went in, because it seemed so effortless to sweep the ball in from around the penalty spot. But I guess that’s what the best players do – they make the difficult seem easy – and last night Arsenal did exactly what was required with them.

There is, it has to be true, an element of “yeah but what about the opposition” yesterday. We all have to admit that. But if you need to lay down a marker, you do it with whatever is in front of you, and I thought Arsenal did that with aplomb against a Coventry side who were all too happy to oblige. I saw a stat doing the rounds that Coventry were the first side in god knows when to have an opening season game in which they didn’t have a touch in the opposition box. Maybe it is just the calibre of opposition, but that sort of stat is very familiar to us by now; Arsenal make it very difficult to create chances against their defence.

But the attack was purring too last night. I thought Tzolis was excellent throughout, and I really hope that in him we have found ourselves the bargain of the summer, like Liverpool did when Salah rocked up all those years ago. Imagine if he can continue his pre-season and last night’s form throughout the season…we’ll all be chanting “Vini Jr who??”!! He had a couple of shots, he was impressive all game, plus afterwards he was compared to Alexis Sanchez to Arteta, who clearly was pleased, but keeping grounded, repeating what he’s said previously about how Tzolis has been so impressive in his actions when it comes to being within 30 metres of the goal. Loved it.

I’m hoping he is credited with the assist for Saka’s goal, as he deserved that, but let’s also give some flowers to Ben White for his assist on Martin Odegaard’s mis-hit third on 49 minutes. Four years ago this was a staple of what we were feeding on as Arsenal fans: Saka on the ball, Ben White overlap, cut back, GOAL! It was rolling back the years and a little like how I mentioned in pre-season, it’s kind of nice that we’re seeing Ben White strut his stuff on the turf, because when he limped off with an injury at The London Stadium, many (including me) wondered if we’d ever see him in an Arsenal shirt again. He’s answered that in the way that all of us have loved, and personally, I hope he stays fit and stays in the team for at least the next couple of months. We all know Jurrien will eventually take his place, but it’s nice seeing Ben show us just what he offers to this Arsenal team.

This Arsenal team, who, with almost an entire half left yesterday, were essentially in a set of training drills. It’s the perfect way to kick off a new season and, whilst there will be tougher days to come for sure, it showed that they are up for this title defence.

Also, let’s have a word about open-play goals, eh? Rival fans will be choking down their Frosties this morning, because there will be nothing about that performance they can pick holes in, and it is delicious.

It was a one-sided affair in all manner of speaking. I’ve just looked at the stats:

• 19 attempts on target ot their four
• 65% possession to their 35%
• 590 passes to their 343
• 93% passing accuracy to their 79%

I could go on and on, but you get the picture, because this was domination.

On the 13th of August five years ago, we had a Friday night game in which we lost away at Brentford, and Carragher and Neville were dancing on the touchline with the home fans. I was on a stag do in Edinburgh that weekend, and it made the weekend a little bit of a drag, as I constantly found myself thinking about the game, whilst watching as all the other big sides went about their business and won over the course of the weekend. Not so this time around. Now we can all just watch our rivals play out their games, safe in the knowledge we’ve got three points tucked under our arms, have seen Arsenal look good, scored open-play goals and delivered on our part of the weekend’s action. It was delicious.

There’s now over a week until we play again, which will be away to Villa, in which new signing Ezri Konsa will find himself back on an old stomping ground. That’ll be interesting for sure. But for now, from me in sunny Portugal, I hope you have a great day, and I will see you all tomorrow.

The Champions – that’s us, by the way – kick off the Premier League season tonight with a home game against newly promoted Coventry City, and whilst I am looking forward to it, I’m also gutted that I booked a holiday to Portugal, where my plane leaves at 4pm this afternoon. Thankfully, I will get to watch the match, as we’ll be touching down by 7pm, but I’m still going to miss the atmosphere, the noise, the euphoria, as well as seeing the Premier League trophy being proudly displayed. The ground is going to be rocking, because for many, it will be the first time we’ve seen the trophy in our own stadium, given that the title lift was actually at Selhurst Park, which was something we talked about on yesterday evening’s pre-match Same Old Arsenal preview show.

All of that, of course, pales into insignificance in comparison to what goes on on the pitch this evening. It goes without saying that tonight’s game is an absolute ‘must-win ‘. If Arsenal want to win this Premier League title for the second time in a row, for the first time back-to-back since the 1930s, these are the types of games you simply have to win. And whilst we’d all love to get an absolute hammering under our belts this evening, with players still feeling their way into the domestic season, any kind of win would be fine.

We saw last season that grinding out games was just the way we were built; that Wolves home match stands out as one in which we played a pretty terrible team at home, but really made quite a meal of what should have been low-hanging fruit, so we can’t take anyone for granted. And in Coventry City, we have a bit of an unknown quantity; they’ve come up as Champions of the Championship under Frank Lampard, they scored the most goals, they conceded the fewest, they were easy victors, and they did it with a playing style that was aggressive and vertical, rather than being possession-obsessed. Which I think makes for an interesting side note for this game, because the question is whether Lampard is going to stick to those principles of pressing higher, having fullbacks higher up the pitch, getting players close to his striker, and trying to have a go at us today? Or is he going to be more pragmatic, realise that you can’t out-gun the Gunners on home turf, and therefore revert to what we see a lot of at the Emirates: The dreaded low block?

Obviously, from our perspective, we hope he comes and has a go. We hope that because it’s the first game of the season. They have nothing to lose, because they know that they have a whole season to make it up if they get beat today; he pushes forward and leaves more space. If that happens, then you’d hope that we have enough quality to see off Coventry under the lights on our own turf.

The question we all have is what the starting XI will look like. Mikel had his pre-match press conference yesterday and the only real question mark around this appears to be Bruno G, who Mikel said “Let’s see how he is. He’s evolving really well, but let’s see for tomorrow”, but some rumours were circulating last night that he’d picked up a hamstring injury in the Community Shield. It would be the absolute most Arsenal thing ever that our new signing has picked up a knock, though; Welcome to The Arsenal…here’s the medical department…

James suggested last night on the pod that he thought he’d be fine, and if he is, then there are some real questions over who starts in that midfield, because we are absolutely stocked with players, and there’s gonna be some unhappy campers in that team tonight, because some aren’t even making the bench. If I had to guess, though, with the Community Shield still fresh in Mikel’s mind, I wonder if he’ll go with the same XI from that game? Myles at the base, Bruno left, Martin right, perhaps? We’ve all talked about ‘easing’ Rice back in, and this feels like the type of game where you could do that. Alternatively, if you think we’re going to get chances against Coventry (which you’d hope we would), then why not try Eze and Odegaard in the two eights, with Myles anchoring the midfield?

Alternatively, you could even give Zubi the nod, after Mikel publicly said yesterday that he’s an important part of his plans. He also said the same for Myles, though, too, so either starting is a-ok with me.

So, let’s pick a lineup then, shall we? For last season, it felt impossible at times; such was the plethora of options Mikel had across his whole squad. It feels even more difficult today, but I’ll give it a go not based on who I think Mikel might go with, but rather who I would like to see. So for me, I think a fun team to line up against Coventry could be:

Raya

White – Mosquera – Gabriel – Calafiori

MLS

Odegaard – Eze

Saka – Havertz – Tzolis

I’d be interested to see if Martinelli makes the team squad for the night. If not, you’d have to think something is going on there, because with eight subs allowed plus a ‘keeper, you’re probably going with Hincapié, then Zubimendi and Rice (who I’ve only left out because of the ‘easing’ that I mentioned), you need Gyokeres as your striker, Madueke will most certainly be there, then you’d think Merino for end product. Max Dowman has been in the squad, which is six, then you have probably another defender, which would be Marli Salmon I’d expect. So there’s a spot for Martinelli, but not for Ethan. If both are supposedly being touted out, then maybe neither makes the squad? So it’ll be interesting to see the subs bench more than anything else.

Whatever side he picks, they will – and should – be heavy favourites to win this. The pundits think so. Sutton’s going for a 3-0, the BBC AI has gone for 3-0, their guest has gone for a 3-0, Lewis Jones on Sky Sports is going for a 3-0, and Sports Mole goes for 2-0. I said 3-0 last night the pod, so I think there’s a universal acceptance that we’re favourites for a reason. But I go back to the first game of the 1995/96 season after we’d signed Dennis Bergkamp, thinking we’d absolutely smash newly promoted Villa and he’d have a field day, but it ended up 1-1. So you never can tell!

Anyway, I’ll leave it there for today. I have some packing to do!

Catch you all tomorrow for a review blog.

Ornstein confirmed it, tap-in merchant Romano confirmed it, then the major outlets like Sky Sports confirmed it, with HandOfArsenal going the next level with his Tweet:

Deal agreed between Arsenal and Aston Villa in the region of £50m. Medical scheduled tomorrow. pic.twitter.com/wab9PPsidh

— HandofArsenal (@HandofArsenal) August 19, 2026

So we’ve got ourselves an experienced, duel-winning, central defender, who will slot in, be as ‘plug-and-play’ as you can get in this division, until Saliba returns. And even then, he can be eased in, knowing we’ve got an England international who is holding the fort until our Rolls-Royce defender is fully recovered from his back injury.

And when you put it like that, it’s a good deal. Arsenal were indeed only a Ben White/Mosquera injury away from being in a spot of bother at the back. Both had injury problems last season; both missed a combined 23 games for Arsenal (White with 13, Mosquera with 10), and so if that were to happen early in the season, we’d really be in a spot of bother. If Timber’s injury needs a lot of nursing back to full health – which I really feel like that’s the case – then from a footballing perspective I totally get it. Konsa can play right back; he’ll predominantly play centre back, we have hopefully got a lot of games to play this season, and the young Spanirad will get matches.

But if I’m Christian Mosquera right now, I’ve got questions, because this feels like a pathway is being blocked in the short term. If I’m Christian Mosquera, I’m a young, 22-year-old who had outside aspirations of making the Spanish national team for the World Cup. But it’s ok, because I’ve got two international caps; I’ve got time; I just need to prove myself by playing football. Last season I got 35 appearances under my belt at a total of just under 2,000 minutes. That’s an average of 57 minutes per game over 35 games. So I’m looking for more minutes than I got this season to ensure I continue my development.

Last season, Arsenal played 63 matches in total in all competitions. So basically, Mosquera played in 55% of matches, averaging under an hour. He played the full 90 minutes in (according to Transfermarkt) four Champions League games, five Premier League games (six if you count 85 minutes at Liverpool), three FA Cup games, and two League Cup games. So he was a starter in 14 matches of the 63. Now, when you think about it like that, you’d think there must be enough football for him to up his numbers. But I’m also thinking about what this says to him as a player. Arteta will manage him, we know that, by explaining that the club can’t take the risks with Big Bill and Timber out. And he will know that. But if Konsa is fit – and we know he probably will be because he didn’t miss a game for Villa last season – then he will play. And if Big Bill is back in December, with Timber back as well, Mosquera finds himself in third choice for both full-back and centre-half positions.

The other part of this transfer that makes me go “hmm…” is the fee. £51million for a 28-year-old is a fair chunk of change. Hey, he’s a good player, Villa still have two years left on his deal, they could still drive a bit of a bargain, and with Arsenal apparently going in at £30million to start off, Villa were never going to let them get one of their best players for cheap. They have to sell this to their fans too, just like Newcastle did with Bruno. But for me, having been told all summer that Arsenal might need to sell, and with Richard Garlick coming out this week and admitting that if offers came in for one of the Hale End lads, we’d have to take a look at it, I’m putting two and two together here, guys, and I’m not liking it.

I like the Konsa deal from a footballing perspective, that it covers us with our current injury problems, and I’m sure he’ll be great when he joins. But let me put a hypothetical scenario to you. Konsa signs for £51million. Ethan Nwaneri goes to Chelsea, Newcastle, or maybe even Villa for £50million. Hard not to make a correlation between the two, right? And maybe I’m just too high on our Hale End boys, or the fact that we have players like Declan Rice who can play centre-half if really needed, or even that Calafiori is somebody I’m sure we’ve seen play some nominal minutes at right back at times, but I just wanted to see us keep Ethan, because I think he could explode within the next couple of years. I want him doing that at The Arsenal, not in the colours of another club’s jersey.

That’s where my apprehension over this deal comes from. It’s nothing to do with Konsa, or the fact we need a player in that position; it’s purely the worry that we might be losing a massive talent before his true potential is reached.

Who knows, maybe the club has a master plan to sell off all of the deadweight for more than just peanuts. There’s Nelson, Fabio Vieira, and Gabriel Jesus, who might all fetch us close to what we might be paying for the Konsa money. I saw a rumour that Gabriel Martinelli is on a shortlist for a potential Saudi deal too, but the problem there is that you have to use that money to fund a replacement. So we’re going to lose somebody – it feels almost inevitable now. And that’s the reason I’m not super excited for this to happen.

But, when it does, I will support him; I will be 100% behind him; I’ll be very glad we have him at times; and I’ll be hopeful he can play his part in hopefully another glorious season.

We’ll be discussing that deal and more in our pre-season pod tonight at 8pm on the Same Old Arsenal podcast. So if you fancy joining us you can here. Otherwise, I’ll be back on here tomorrow for a match preview.

I don’t know about you, but I immediately put two and two together and made myself four. That sounds to me like Arsenal are gearing up for an exit of either Ethan or Myles, and after Myles’ performance in the Community Shield on Sunday, coupled with the fact he broke into the side in midfield and played in the Champions League final, I have a bad feeling we’re losing Ethan Nwaneri this summer.

That would make for sad times for me, because I think we’re missing a trick. I listened to the Arsecast Extra this morning on my run, and James and Andrew were talking about the situation with these two players. James’ point about Myles kind of forcing the hand and making him kind of unsellable by the way he’s played. Hey, that’s how all of us want Arsenal players to play, because if they’re all doing it, it makes for an amazing headache for Arteta, and it will almost invariably mean we’re winning football matches. But what is frustrating, I think, is how we seem to be prioritising the financial side over the football side. James and Andrew talked about the fact that both Zubimendi and Madueke, as examples, would not actually bank much cash in terms of the financial regulations, because their amortised values are still so high (i.e., the book value hasn’t been spread out over several years because they only signed last year). If that’s true, that the club is thinking about how they have to make this kind of ‘pure profit’ sale so they can give themselves headroom for other signings, it just makes me more frustrated about the Madueke deal last summer. He got eight goals and four assists from 43 appearances and 2,200+ minutes. In 2024/25, Ethan bagged – from the same position – nine goals and two assists in 37 appearances and 1,300+ minutes. Nearly 900 minutes less for Ethan, and he delivered one fewer goal/assist.

There’s nothing you can do about the past, this is all hindsight, but I’m just looking at the data, the two players, where they are at, and the fact that we wouldn’t bank much regulatory headroom for new signings because we decided that Ethan wasn’t a right winger (which I still don’t understand) and that Noni was a better output and outlay at £50million. I think Noni did alright for us last season; my issue isn’t personal to him. I just think we made what is perhaps not the right move there – to my very untrained eyes.

I guess we are where we are. But for me, if somebody gives me the option of not signing another player this summer, which means we keep Ethan but send him on loan next summer, I think I’d be ok with that. There are probably a few people who would choke at that, but I’m looking at what all of the pundits are saying with their predictions, and most are saying we should be favourites for the Premier League title by a mile. Now, last season, because Liverpool spent the GDP of a small island on players, everyone had them down to walk the league. And for the first five games, they won all of them (including against us) and Liverpool fans in particular were already booking days off after the season had ended for a blinder of a bender in Liverpool. But it didn’t pan out like that. So I understand that you can’t hang your hat on pundits’ predictions, but I think pundits got too hung up on the transfer business, and not enough on some of the other factors that impacted Liverpool’s position as defending champions. Slot had ridden the crest of the Salah and Van Dijk wave; at their ages, the age curve was always going to hit. They also picked up injuries – like everyone else did last season – and found out that Slot’s “injuries are excuses for losers” chuntering on from the season before was suddenly a crutch they wanted to lean on. Plus, and I remember saying this multiple times in his first season, I just don’t think Slot was really that great from a tactical and man-management perspective. Why bring all of this up? Well, think about where Arsenal are now compared to where Liverpool were:

• Where are our ageing players who just had a blinding ‘season for all seasons’?
• Where is our litany of mega signings that are going to over-index our ability to walk this league?
• Where was our season of having barely any injuries last season?

None of the above applies to us going into this season. On top of that, there are a host of new managers who are unknown quantities. One or two might end up being the second coming of Fergie or Wenger, but as of right now, there’s a lot more uncertainty on that front. We have the continuity manager, the settled squad, the team that everyone thinks is going to win the league. It doesn’t mean we will; things might conspire against us, but we’ve got a squad that is already championship-winning, plus we’ve added one of the best midfielders in the league and a Greek lad that many think might be the surprise package for the season. So yeah, when I think about it like that, I don’t want to roll the dice by exiting Ethan and using that money to fund a random left winger that could just end up being the left-side version of Madueke (i.e., good, but hardly massively needle-moving).

We’re in good shape. Let’s not blow it up by exiting one of our most promising youngsters.

But that game at the weekend will have been watched by a lot more people than our friendlies. We watch all of those; rival fans just see goals on Sky Sports, but what we saw on Sunday was a televised game in which the world was taking note. It’s a glorified friendly, of course it is, but it’s also the first time our whole squad was available. The absence from the matchday squad of Nwaneri and Martinelli was a worry, I will admit, but with only 18 players allowed in the matchday squad, and with Arsenal having a deep squad now that Arteta would call on around 22 players, this was always going to happen.

What I don’t want to happen is for that to be a signal that we’re going to lose those two guys. I’m even at the point where I’d say that unless somebody amazing shakes loose in that left wing position, we should ‘stick’ rather than ‘twist’ with a big money gamble. Barcola looks destined for Liverpool, Kvaratskhelia isn’t leaving PSG, Vini Jr signed his new deal, and if you pay attention to websites like this one, or TransferMarkt, the options are hardly mouthwatering. It’s Doku, it’s Gakpo, Yildiz, Raphinha, or Luis Diaz. The latter two are 29, will cost a pretty penny, and I don’t think either of their clubs would want to sell anyway. So Yildiz seems the only one worth having a look at. And he’ll by no means be a sure-fire success transitioning from Italy to the Premier League.

That’s why I’m kind of thinking we have a go at Martinelli and Tzolis fighting it out for that position. I also watched this video by James Allcott, and I gotta say, I’m liking the idea of Bruno G being able to unlock more from our attacking players with his progressive passing. I said it on the Arsenal Opinion Podcast with Johnny several weeks back, that I thought Bruno might be a more transformational signing than if we were to get Vini Jr, and whilst I was given a bit of gentle ribbing online for that ‘hot take’, I did believe it then, and I still believe it now. And this ain’t no jilted lover “didn’t want you anyway, Vini Jr” stuff either – I do believe that more incisive and progressive passing from deeper in midfield could release some of our attacking players more.

Which brings me back to Gabriel Martinelli. Think about where his best moments have come from – running in behind. Martinelli even said himself back in December that in the Champions League teams don’t play as deep as in the Premier League, which is why he finds more space to run in behind. Now, that isn’t suddenly going to change this season domestically, but I do think that we have wasted opportunities to play in players when teams have ventured into our half. We need quick back-to-front situations, and last season I think we dwelt too long on the ball when there were opportunities to play in rapid players. Much like with Martinelli, I think the two players who would be excited to have Bruno G pick up the ball deep and distribute are the Brazilian wide forward and Big Vik. If he’s being played in by Bruno more often – which won’t always come off – then he’s going to get more of the chances that we just didn’t see from the Swede last season. Martinelli will also make those runs in behind, from out to in, and if Bruno is looking for him (he found him for his goal in the World Cup, by the way), then I think we should see if we can have a go at giving Martinelli a chance.

There will be plenty of you reading this who will roll your eyes. I get it, he’s had several seasons to prove he has the ability of that 2022/23 season and just hasn’t shown it, but watching that Community Shield (for which Myles was also very progressive in his passing too, by the way) and seeing how freely some of those players were moving the ball, it’s got me thinking twice about some players. And it’s exciting.

What do you think? Give Martinelli another go if nothing really spectacular doesn’t work out? Or do we just need to cut our losses, move him on, and try something….anything…different?

Let me know your thoughts in the comments.

Before I left for Italy, I was starting to feel like my daily musings were getting a bit repetitive. We had the Vini Junior to keep us sated for a week or so, then the announcement of Bruno G, which was edging closer until it happened, but that was about it. I never really felt like the game against Dortmund and Como could be seen as anything else other than fitness exercises; there were still so many players to come back, the team looked inevitably rusty, and there was a lot of chopping and changing in the line-ups. But yesterday was very different. Yesterday was an Arsenal side who had the stars returning, up against a City side who – Rodri aside – was also at full strength. This may be a showpiece friendly to kick off the domestic season for the big clubs, but both managers took it seriously, and so yesterday was the game to get a handle on how ready we are for the big kick-off next Friday.

We got a resounding answer on that front.

I thought Arsenal were superb yesterday. There were just so many positives to pick out and, in a summer in which a lot of Arsenal fans are a little nervous going into the season given the areas we haven’t fully addressed yet, an ACTUAL game of football quelled a lot of the nervousness – for me it did, anyway.

It also helps when you get a goal inside the first minute. I thought that Madueke looked offside when the excellent Christos Tzolis crossed the ball in, but the goal as allowed to stand, and Calafiori and Myles Lewis-Skelly will take all the plaudits for that one, as they should. Myles’ ball was sensational, and the run by Calafiori was perfectly timed. This was the sign of things to come, because by the time the first third of the match had been completed, we’re two-nil up and looking every bit the value for it. I think we’re going to hear his name a lot this season, but Christos Tzolis getting on the assist sheet for Havertz’s goal needs to be mentioned. I do wonder if Donnarumma fumbled it a little, but let’s focus on the build-up play and the man who got the assist. Havertz gets the goal with a good header, but Tzolis was superb all afternoon and must be a shoo-in to start against Coventry now. He looks like a very efficient player; it’s not about flicks, tricks, beating three men and then an action (which is a little more like Doku), but instead he is about being direct, looking for the pass/shot/header that gets you closer to goal as quickly as possible. In an Arsenal team that perhaps last season was accused of a little bit of profligacy, slowing down the play a little, having somebody like that to complement how Saka is also as efficient on the other side is really positive.

So much of our play yesterday was positive too. We know how good we are out of possession; this Arsenal team is well-drilled and gets into its shape when it doesn’t have the ball, making it hard to break down. But in possession, there was a fluidity of movement that wasn’t as evident at the back end of last season. We got over the line to win the league, but we found it tough going in those last few months; what I saw yesterday was slick interchanging of passes in build-up and spaces found by players regularly. Central to that was the skipper, who bagged the third goal early in the second half by sitting down the City goalie, but his all-round game was like peak Odegaard. If we get that version this season for most of the season, then we’re going to be a lot more silky in build-up and attack, methinks.

Three goals. Three well-worked goals. Good shape out of possession, good in possession, first official debuts for the new guys Bruno G and Tzolis, captain pulling the strings, plus we had Raya making several very smart saves to just let everyone know that we have the best goalkeeper in the league. It was the perfect way to get us ready for the new season.

Of course, we probably should add in a small caveat, which is that City looked a little undercooked in my eyes. They’ve played a couple of games less, I believe, plus they’ve been travelling to far-off lands, whereas we have deliberately kept ourselves closer to UK shores – so we looked more prepped. But whilst that might explain their performance a little, ultimately the Premier League kicks off next week, and so all teams need to see signs that they are good to go. If you’re a City fan waking up this morning reminding yourself of that performance, you’re hardly going to be jumping for joy.

I’d also say that given the strength of the squad we had, it was a little sad to see that some players didn’t even make the matchday squad. Gabriel Martinelli and Ethan Nwaneri were not in it, which will only add further fuel to the potential of them not being at the club come September. I can understand Martinelli moving on, but we can’t be having that happen for a low-balled price. At a time when clubs are paying £30million for players who have never played in the Premier League before, the idea that we’d sell a Brazilian international who has just played and scored at the World Cup for £38.5million is surely laughable. We might as well just keep Martinelli. I know his contract is due to expire next summer, but there’s a one-year extension that could be added on, and if we can’t find somebody better than him, then I’d be fine keeping him. For Ethan, I’m just hoping the club finds a good loan in England. Arteta has already said he needs to play, and I suspect that means he’ll not be at the club come September, but if it is because he has gone on loan for a year, then I’d be ok with that. Let’s have him develop in the Premier League, and then if we really are going to persist with giving Noni another crack, then by next summer we’ll know if he’s actually able to shed the ‘headless chicken’ part of his game, and hopefully Ethan will have stepped up and we can know if he can fulfill the understudy role to Saka. Cards on the table from my side – I think I’d rather that than persist with Madueke, personally.

But let’s not end on a sour note, because yesterday was pretty much all positive, and those Arsenal players got to celebrate another trophy – which for that winning mentality, really helps. Now, bring on Friday night, under the lights, to Frank Lampard’s Coventry.

I found a way to watch the game last night against Real Betis, and by the time I’d switched over to watch Live at the Apollo at about 9.45pm, I’d kind of wish I hadn’t bothered.

Now, what we all have to say is that it is a friendly, so whilst I’m not exactly going to wax lyrical over performances today by those Arsenal players, what I will say is that this is friendly number two, it is about fitness, it is about minutes in legs and getting to see a few youngsters too. It is almost literally a zero-stakes game. That being said, I don’t think it is without merit to objectively critique some of the performances, because we are defending a Premier League title here. We made it to the summit, so we need to see that some of these players can keep us there, and pre-season is an opportunity to view who might play a big role.

I think it is also important to drop the caveat in there that this is a Betis team who are on friendly number five now. They’ve got three extra games compared to us, so there’s no doubt they came into this one fresher, with players more prepared, looking to make a little bit of a statement against a team who had the Premier League trophy on display in Dublin last night. And I think that does play a part in what unfolded; they were quicker than us, they took their chances, they were gifted some chances. And Arsenal looked exceedingly sloppy in the defensive third. Uncharacteristically so, a fact for which Arteta was clear in pointing out after the game. This wasn’t a side that delivered on the same fogging standards that he – and we – are used to. In fact, I would say that all Arsenal’s conceded goals last night were due to our own brain-fart moments that you just don’t expect. So let’s go through them.

Kepa’s blunder

Yep, in a repeat of the League Cup final, Kepa got done on a cross, this time from a corner, and within 10 minutes and their first real opportunity, Arsenal found themselves one down. We really should have been one up. If I’m being generous, I’m saying that Big Vik is rusty, because in one minute he should have buried a chance that normally you expect him to put away. We all know his limitations; we know he struggles with controlling the football at times, but when you get him in or around the six-yard box, he’s normally bagging. But it was Betis who were gifted the opener and, I’m just going to say it, so far Meslier has looked a little more assured than Kepa has so far. If Raya is in goal, that goal simply doesn’t happen.

Close your man

You have to hold your hands up and say it was a superb strike from Betis for goal number two, but there were a couple of moments about 30 seconds before the goal in which we gave the ball away sloppily.

Kai snoozing

Silly and lazy from Kai for the third, and he’ll be annoyed with himself for his pass that led to Betis’ third.

We were gifted a little present from the Betis ‘keeper to pull it back to 2-1 in the first half through Hincapie, but other than that first-minute Gyokeres chance, you can hardly say we looked worthy to be even level at the break. There was plenty of possession (we ended the game with 56 to their 43%), but there was no real penetration, with just two of nine shots on target compared to Betis’ seven from ten. And a lot of their chances came through counterattacks, or through individual defensive third errors from those Arsenal players. The errors were all over the pitch, though; it felt like we had a ton of offsides where players could just be looking along the line (in fact, it was only four), we had players who just couldn’t find the final ball, and I thought there wasn’t really a single player on the night who we can say massively impressed. I was hoping to see good stuff from Ethan, but we got a slightly spikey performance from him, clearly worked up and annoyed by something the Betis players were doing. Max never really got into the game; Tzolis was quiet, and Kai/Big Vik I’ve kind of already talked about. If there was anyone that you might think could say “yeah, I wasn’t too bad,” it was probably Calafiori, who was finding pockets of time and space in between lines at times as he does, but that was about it.

Perhaps that is a concern, but when you look at who we ended up finishing the game with, I think it’s just best if we just put this game in a box and forget it ever happened. The final XI included Fabio Vieira, Reiss Nelson and Gabriel Jesus – all of whom I think most of us expect to leave this summer. Vieira certainly looked like he was just going through the motions for me. I saw a social media message that said that three years ago today we won the Community Shield against City, with Fabio Vieira getting the winning penalty – shows what a difference just a few short years can make in football, eh?

Arsenal, Arteta and the team head back to London now, and will no doubt be greeted by Bruno Guimaraes, who signed his four-year-deal having done his medical yesterday, I believe, as reported by HandOfArsenal first thing today. It’s a fantastic signing, and I suspect he’ll be at the Emirates on Sunday to be welcomed by the home fans as we take on Dortmund. I’ve said quite a lot about him already, and £75million is still a little bit of an overpay, but it could have been a lot worse, especially given all the posturing from the Newcastle-based journos saying the number had to start with an ‘8’ to get the deal done. So I suspect all parties are happy. Now we just need to wait for closure on Vini Jr signing his new deal with Real Madrid, and Arsenal can look to pivot to other options for that left wing spot.

So for all of that posturing about figures well north of £80million, that it’s going to have to be close to the near £100million the Scum paid for Tonali, it appears as though the fee is ‘relatively’ more reasonable for the player. It’s probably more than Arsenal would want to pay; the original links that came out made it sound more like £60million, and if you go by TransferMarkt, that’s his realistic value. But we know that in this window, this summer, those two utterly wretched clubs Man City and Chelsea have inflated the market with their grossly overpaid fees for players. And so I guess we were always going to overpay a little for this one.

It feels like – as Ornstein reported yesterday – we’re nearing ‘end game’ here and, frankly, I’m sure we’re all glad. Get it done, let’s have some pics by the weekend, maybe have him paraded at the Emirates for our friendly against Dortmund on Sunday, then let’s start to look seriously at what we do on that left wing position. Because by then, we should have an indication on the Vini Junior situation, for which I suspect it’ll end up being a renewal on better terms.

Certainly, if you listen to a few of the Madrista vloggers, like this John Terry-looking guy, they’re starting to get twitchy. The Madrid official social media accounts are doing their best to put their fans at ease though; Vini Junior interviews, “day in the life of training” clips, interviews on him talking about the new season, etc, etc. There’s two ways you can look at it; one is that they’re confident he will sign, or two is that they’re pumping out this content so that if it comes out he won’t sign a new deal, they can turn to their fans and give it the ol’ “we tried” narrative. That’s fair enough, although I suspect he will ultimately bow to the pressure no doubt being exerted on him and take the deal.

For Arsenal, that means getting the Bruno G deal over the line should result in Berta focusing the mind on who we can get instead of Vini Junior. Where’s plan B, C and D? That’s what I want to start hearing rumours of the second we hear that Vini Junior is staying. Let’s not have any protracted chase of him all summer. Madrid have supposedly said they want an answer this week, and I think Arsenal should push for that too. No deadline day shenanigans, please.

Speaking of shenanigans, how about those RB Leipzig jokers, eh? Just offloading Diomande for £100million, now they supposedly want Ethan Nwaneri for €40million. That article i’ve linked to also references the possibility of a buyback clause, which I’m sure we’d be fine with, but if Arsenal countenance selling him for €40million/£34million, I’d be pretty cheesed off, I have to say. Let’s remind ourselves that we had to pivot away from Sesko last summer because RB wanted too much. Well, this time the boot is on the other foot, motherf*****s, so pay up. And pay well. Or you can get in the bin.

As can, it appears, the Arsenal IT technical team, as the club has announced they are refunding everyone who bought a pre-season pass, following the technical difficulties on the website at the weekend. Eek. And in a move that may well cheese a lot of fans off, it doesn’t look like the Betis game in Dublin tonight will be televised either. man, I’d hate to be in the team that is trying to fix that mess. I suspect they’ll record the match and make it free to everyone tomorrow if they can’t get it working today, but if you’re going to the game tonight, you might be in one of those rare privileged positions to be watching a game that very few people can see live in the flesh. I guess that’s a little like how we used to feel when we had a 3pm kick-off on a Saturday. Very novel indeed.

I’ll be plenty of people are annoyed, but I can’t get too wound up about it, if I’m honest, because I don’t really watch these friendly games. I mean, I will if it’s on one of the many TV platforms I already pay for, but with a season ticket that also sets me back a grand, I’m not forking out over a tenner (or whatever it is) to watch pre-season matches. Sorry, that’s a ‘hard no’ from me.

The club has released some images of the players training, and I suspect we’ll get a bit more of a smattering of involvement from more of the first team regulars. I’m interested to find out how many minutes Ethan and Max get, but I also want to see (probably in hindsight after the game) what Kai’s looking like. Let’s not forget that he spent most of last season injured, plus half of the season before that out, so having him fit and firing for the new season is something I have everything crossed for.

Right, that’ll do me for today. I’ll be back tomorrow, hopefully having been able to watch the highlights of the Betis game, for which we can all completely over-index the significance of. You have yourselves a good one.

All of the preamble on kits is because, let’s face it, there’s still a lot of quiet around stuff that is happening from an incoming and outgoing perspective. Real Madrid are playing happy families on their socials with Vini Junior, with ESPN Brazil saying yesterday that he’s been offered a €22million-per-annum (£18.85million) contract, where he’s currently on €17.5million (£15million), and wants €30million (£25million) per-annum to ‘Sign da Ting’. In language we all understand (because that’s how we’ve been taught to think as football fans):

• Currently gets £336k-per-week
• Real have offered £355k-per-week
• He wants £577k-per-week

How do these footballers survive?

Quick caveat: wages are rarely truly accurate, and I’ve got a link below which demonstrates this, because the article talks about Vini’s current contract being € 25million per annum. And in the link below it also states that Forbes says his ‘on-field income’ – in other words, including bonuses, Brazilian National Team appearances, etc – amounts to closer to $40million (£29million) per annum.

Jebus – I don’t know about feeding his family, but there are small Islands he could feed with that type of cashola.

That is an obscene amount of money. I get it, ‘Brand Vini’ is big business, which is why Madrid don’t want to lose him; there’s what he can do on the pitch, but he also gives them cash for image rights, as well as global eyeballs. Kids/fans have been supporters of ‘players’ since the Messi/Ronaldo wars 10-15 years ago, so Vini Jr is just part of the wave that sees some kids supporting individuals as much as they support a specific club. It’s big business and big brands compete to get those big names to endorse their sh*t. But to a rapidly middle-ageing man like myself, even though I work in marketing, I still find time to be utterly bemused by those eye-watering numbers.

Arsenal clearly aren’t. They have run the numbers and clearly feel that ‘Brand Vini’ could be a nice little earner for them in terms of extra eyeballs and potentially knock-on effects in merch, awareness, etc. This article sets out Vini Jr’s full expected earnings – scroll straight to section nine to get an idea of the non-Real stuff. It’s difficult to really put a true figure on this stuff, but let’s take what is in that article as an idea on what he could be earning, and suddenly you see why this potential Arsenal deal is at least making him stop and think – at least before doing what I think he will do, which is ‘Sing da Ting’. If Madrid take 50% of his image rights, and he earns €20million off-field, then €10million goes to Madrid. If Arsenal have told him “you can have it all” then he’s bumping his salary up instantly by €10million-per-annum. So suddenly, with those back-of-a-fag-packet maths, if we assume Arsenal have told him they’ll match his wages at Real (we don’t know they have, but I’m speculating), in English pounds, according to the article and not ESPN Brazil (so I can keep consistency), the numbers (according to Forbes in the article) look like:

• $50million (£37.23million) at Madrid now – because Madrid take 50% of his image rights and endorsements
• $60million (£44.7million) if he was on the same deal at Arsenal now

So regardless of what Madrid put on the table, if he wants that sweet, sweet moolah, Arsenal become a preferred destination.

I still personally put this deal at around 25% chance it happens for us. The reason why? I think these levels of money are so crazy, that I’m really not sure that it matters too much for these footballers at that peak of wealth. I think footballers do use wages as a benchmark for how they are valued, so if that’s the case, then the image rights stuff will, I think, be swallowed by Vini Jr and his representatives. They’ll be annoyed with it, but ultimately the player gets a deal which means he can see another four years at his peak at Real Madrid, before probably heading off to Saudi aged 30 to get another mega payday – just like Neymar, Benzema, Ronaldo et al.

It says something about us as Arsenal fans though, eh? What I mean by that is that I’ve just spent circa 800-words putting together a case for us to land what would be the biggest transfer in Premier League history. Absolutely mental.

But, as I said, that’s because there’s bugger-all to talk about other than a shiny new yellow kit. And it’d be difficult to get to 1,000-words as I meticulously talk you through the ‘Arsenal State of Mind’ and ‘Blissful mentality’ that the Ad copy boys and girls and put together on the official site.

Still, at least there’s a friendly to overreact to tomorrow evening.

Back tomorrow as usual. Maybe something has happened by then. Where’s that meme of the drawing of a guy prodding a rock? Ah, here it is…

Makes sense; Arsenal have an unhealthy obsession with getting that stain of a football club out of jail with big transfer fees. We did it with Noni, with Kai, we took Davidf Luiz off them, plus Petr Cech. So that wouldn’t have surprised me at all if we’d have had a little nibble at that one. He’s signed a new deal at Chelsea though, so that’s that one off the table – which I’m very ok with, if I’m honest.

I thought about it though. I mean, he certainly looks a lot more of an aesthetically pleasing footballer than, say Viktor Gyokeres. I tend to sway towards the Joao Pedro-type player, because I can ‘see’ what he does when he’s not bagging. But if you look at the two players’ numbers respectively, if you’re telling your striker to bag 20+ goals in a season, you’re probably saying that’s more likely with Big Vik. Last season, in 3,694 minutes, Joao Pedro bagged 20 goals. In 3,481 minutes – that’s 213 minutes, which works out to be just under two-and-a-half full 90-minute appearances, by the way – Viktor Gyokeres got 21 goals. Big Vik registered three assists to Joao Pedro’s nine, so perhaps that gives you an insight into the differences between the players, but it does show you what the identities of the two footballers is. Big Vik does goals and pretty much nothing else. There’s a little more to Joao Pedro’s game. The second question I had when thinking about this, is that Joao Pedro was in a pretty crappy Chelsea team, so does he bag more in a title-winning Arsenal side? Possibly.

As Arsenal fans, it’s really interesting to see that relationship between Big Vik and the fanbase. Some think he’s just a wardrobe that is useful for bundling in tap-ins against weaker sides; others see a player who is ultimately all end product, which is exactly what we missed the season before last. At 28 there’s not really a lot more for him to evolve into, and I’ll be honest he wasn’t my preferred choice last summer, but I do think he grew into the side more after the Christmas period. From January onwards he registered nine goals and an assist in the Premier League, including a brace at The Scum. In all competitions it was 14 goals and all three of his assists, so you could tell that after the initial bedding in period, he found his place, and his teammates were able to get him into positions to score. So for next season, we should definitely be looking for an uptick in the volume of goals if he’s able to contribute from the start.

Unless of course he’s moved on. It’s quite surprising – unless you’re somebody like Chelsea – to be moving a player on after one season. But with the departure of Norgaard for Everton, I don’t think any of us can rule it out, and there’s certainly been one or two rumours about Big Vik being used as a makeweight for certain clubs. Personally, I think he’ll stay. Arsenal are, as we all know, going ‘all in’ on Vini Junior and if that somehow does happen (I don’t know any Arsenal fans who are more than ’50/50′ on that one by the way), then I doubt the club are going to be looking to disrupt too many positions. But if we get noises this week that Vini Junior is set to stay at Real Madrid and sign a new deal…well…I do think Arsenal will pivot to Alvarez. Mikel Arteta will be sad if the Vini Jr door closes, but if you offer him a player he previously worked with, and Arsenal just decide to go big on the Argentinian, then I suspect one of the more regular players from last season is getting nudged out the door.

I guess the question would then become “Who?”. I think most of us thought it would be Gabby Martinelli who is on his way. His career seems to have plateaued, his goal contribution domestically last season wasn’t good enough, plus there seems to be a very public courting of left wingers this summer. But Julian Alvarez played almost exclusively as a number nine last season. Yes, we know he can play across the front three, but if you’re spending that kind of outlay that Atleti are demanding, you need to have a proper plan for the player. If that plan is centre-forward, then surely Martinelli has to stay and duke it out with Tzolis on the left? If it’s to be on the left – which I highly doubt because he’s played there a total of four times in the last four seasons by the way – then you would look to move on Big Vik. So despite some of these rumours about the Swede’s potential exit, it doesn’t feel very likely to me.

I do wonder how many minutes Gyokeres will get though. We saw Kai bag a very tidy goal in Girona on Saturday night, and the German was favoured for the Champions League final. If he can finally stay fit for most of the season, then it feels like he’s going to be Arteta’s main man for most of the bigger games, so what will that do for Gyokeres’ chances of hitting 20+ goals again? I’d wager it would be tough for him to bag that volume of goals with 1,000 minutes less in the season, for example, but if you’re looking at the Everton game at home as an example of where he can be dangerous – off the bench to grab the winner late, before the now-legendary Dowman goal – then maybe he can be the kind of marksman who finds a place in this Arsenal side as a rotational gunman? I think if you’re telling the Arsenal fans who are still a bit unsure on him, that he’s going to be used in that way, I think a lot of us would therefore prefer to keep Gyokeres around for another season.

One things for sure, though, I do think we need to keep Kai fit. If so, I think that’s massive for our chances of retaining the league.

Back tomorrow.

I liked Dowman’s performance, who assisted for Kai’s smart finish, then also bagged a good effort from the edge of the box. For all the talk of new signings, yesterday was a timely reminder that we have a potentially generational talent coming through into this team this season. Dowman is a year older, a year wiser, a year stronger, and he’s going to take somebody’s minutes this season for sure.

Speaking of new signings, Christos Tzolis also got on the scoresheet, with what feels like it might be a bit of a trademark goal of his that we will hopefully see more of. I, like you, I’m sure, did the whole “watch ALL the YouTube comps” of this fella when he was rumoured to be signing, and his finishing from distance was certainly something that stood out. He knows where the goal is and wants to run at his defender and get a shot away. That’s exactly what he did with his finish yesterday, and I hope it is more to come.

I am always wary though, because I remember seeing Gervinho bag two goals for us in his first game for The Arsenal – I think it was against FC Köln – and I remember thinking then that we’ve got a baller/killer on the flanks. That obviously didn’t work out, with the culmination of that being the now-famous horror miss of an open goal at Bradford City in the League Cup. So whilst it’s still great to see Tzolis (unofficially) open his account, we need to be mindful that one pre-season goal does not make a career. We’re going to need to see it on a more regular basis from our new Greek winger.

One player who was on the scoresheet, with whom I don’t think we’ll be seeing a lot of, is Gabriel Jesus. It sounds like all parties are up for a move this summer, and certainly he’ll find himself very far down on the pecking order if he were to stay beyond August. His finish had an element of fortune about it, as he pounced on a tackle won in midfield to be put in on goal. It was a smart finish, it was a tidy finish, and it’s one that I think will be good for a shop window or two, but I can’t see him wanting to replicate last season, in which he made 27 appearances but only 988 minutes in all competitions. He’s a guy who is 29, will only have a few more years of a playing career left, and has already won titles at Man City and The Arsenal. What use – other than money – is there for a player of his pedigree and with the career he’s had? He’d be far better suited to getting himself back to Brazil, or to a European club who want to make him first choice. I could see him do well in a less-intense league; perhaps Italy? It’s somewhere that he would be able to at least get another two to three years playing, I would have thought – just look at how Giroud got on after he left the Premier League?

I didn’t watch the whole match, because I refuse to pay for pre-season friendlies, but I’ve seen people talking up Ethan and Myles as well, which is really good. I spoke about Ethan in Friday’s blog, and Mikel had some nice words to say about his maturity too, and with the Community Shield happening next weekend, as well as a friendly in Dublin in midweek, it does feel as though we need to be seeing him get some more minutes and continuing to impress. Maybe even a start in the Community Shield? With Martin still not back, and Kai and Gyokeres only just being eased back with the first 30 minutes, there’s a spot there for both Ethan and Myles. And with Norgaard on his way to Everton, there’s more space available in that midfield, because even if we announced Bruno literally this second, I don’t think Arteta would through him in next weekend after just one week of training with the team. If I was to guess, I’d think that it’ll be a lot of youngsters starting next week’s showpiece opener.

Scratch that – just seen it’s the week after that the Community Shiled kicks us off, but there are still three games to play between now and then, and if I’m ethan I’m looking to play plenty of minutes to impress the boss.

That’s probably all I can give you for today. I suspect today or tomorrow we’ll get more Bruno noises, as Norgaard completes his Everton deal, which will free up space for the Brazilian, and when that is confirmed, you can’t say we’re not now in a stronger position than at the start of the transfer window.,

Catch you tomorrow – if you want some bonus content, we did a summer pod with Gooner HIllsy yesterday on the Same Old Arsenal podcast. Watch that here.

Yes, there’s a game on today as Arsenal take on Girona, but you and I both know that isn’t the first thing that popped into your mind – was it?

Step forward our guy HandOfArsenal:

EXCL : Arsenal Football Club have personal terms agreed in principle with Vinicius Junior. Roc Nation will go armed into negotiations with Real Madrid with a monstrous offer from the English Champions…….over to you Vinicius Junior. Story W/ @MrArsenicTM

— HandofArsenal (@HandofArsenal) July 31, 2026

I swear, that guy IS Berta, right? Or maybe…..

I’ve got it – it’s his daughter Paola.

I’m using the homogenised version of ‘guy’ now….

How else would you get such scoops?

Anyway, that doesn’t matter, but what does matter is that alongside Ornstein, HandOfArsenal has proven themselves to be somebody who is pretty accurate with their intel, they clearly have approval of the club to do this, and they have delivered another side to the Vinicius Junior to Arsenal story that we didn’t know. A knew angle. Fresh #Content. Grade-A5 Kobe beef wagyu ribeye flavours delivered into our eyeballs courtesy of social media platforms. And naturally all of our Arsenal timelines blew up.

Of course, this means nothing, and is far from ‘a done deal’. But from the initial “that’s ambitious from Arsenal – love it” through to “well, it probably won’t happen”, then “ahh, shame, it definitely didn’t happen”, now to “Wait….is there an outside chance here?”

This is a potentially seismic change that could impact Arsenal Football Club in so many facets. And what we’re going through on this change curve varies with who yoiu are and where you are:

We got the Ornbomb last Saturday – shock.

I think most of us hit ‘denial’ on Sunday, as we realised it probably wouldn’t happen.

Then came the “Arsenal are only doing this because of the inactivity – FFS!” – frustration mode activated.

Getting bantered by rival fans as Sky Sports’ Jose Mourinho mouthpiece Gary Cotterill said “He will stay at Madrid” came out around Tuesday, I think – that was the depression.

Hand Of Arsenal last night shifted most of us back up that graph above.

Experiment? Is that the part with which we all start working out what our team will look like? How we’re going to function and drawing up First XIs using various lineup apps? If I speak, I am in trouble…

I guess the Decision part, as HandOfArsenal says in their tweet, is all on Vinicius Junior. Arsenal have done all they can. They’ve run the numbers, they’ve debated the impact, they will have considered how this affects squad composition, they’d have thought about what might be needed in terms of sales to be generated, there’s the other players and what that does to wage negotiations they’d have factored in – and all of this still points towards the most ambitious move in the history of the club. That’s not even hyperbole; this is a peak-age, top three footballer in the world. This is a brand that will instantly catapult Arsenal even further globally than they’ve ever been. KSE aren’t doing this because they found an extra £500million down the sofa; they know that a brand like Vini Junior’s could be a massive statement for their whole franchise. They know that it will make the world sit up and take note. And as the USA rides the crest of the World Cup wave (good to see that parasite Infantino has backed down on his FFE money-scheme now – if he can just ‘step down’ next, that would be great), KSE know that the right move now could mean big cash value added to their already huge asset in Arsenal Football Club.

Heck, I’m not knocking it, because we’ve been living in an age of people realising the importance of personal branding for at least the last 10 years. But right now, with image rights being at the centre of this whole discussion, I think we can see why Arsenal’s chances might just be up to about 40% of this actually happening. And even that feels mental compared to a week ago. KSE know this. Arsenal know this. Vini Junior and Roc Nation (his agency) know this. And most importantly, Real Madrid know this. Which is why it is a sticking point. Because Madrid knows the knock-on effect the outcome of these discussions could have. In the same way that Arsenal fans and the English media are speculating over Vini Junior’s potential arrival at The Arsenal, meaning big changes in terms of our wage structure, if he stays and Madrid give him what he wants (higher percentage of image rights), then they open the same Pandora’s box, but for image rights of their big names. Which is why we’re in this position right now. Arsenal have gone big, they’ve gone bold, they’ve gone hard.

And as Arsenal fans, you can’t knock it.

I also think that the fact we’re getting this sort of information is really good, because it shows a little more on the inner workings of these big transfers. Also, hopefully, if it doesn’t come off, we’ve all been given enough of a sneak peak into how this deal unfolded. So if it doesn’t happen for The Arsenal, we all know why – and it isn’t because of Arsenal. It will simply be that Real Madrid blinked, or maybe Vini Junior just decided he would blink and simply couldn’t leave them – which I understand.

The Spanish media mouthpiece of Real Madrid – Marca – are leading with ‘sign it or leave’ – and although that was from yesterday morning, I’ve seen a screengrab of the back page of Marca today which also leads with the same news lines – so this is clearly at a stage in which briefings are happening. And hey, he may still decide that he wants to stay, even on those Real Madrid terms that aren’t exactly what he wants. But if that happens, then you won’t hear me complaining about The Arsenal’s moves – they just need to know sooner or later so we can move on if needed.

Is there a downward bit to the change curve if that happens? Asking for a friend.

At this stage, despite the noises of him being up for sale and Arsenal looking for a left-wing replacement, even Gabriel Martinelli being back is good news. With Leo gone, he’s now the de facto left winger. If Arsenal have a bit of a faceplant on the new left-wing signing, we have to look to him to up his output for next season. And whilst I am sure I am like you in thinking it’s probably best for him and the club to move on, I still have an affection for the player. I still want him to be successful. And if he has some pre-season games in which he performs well, maybe bags a goal or two, I think it helps all involved. It will help to put him in the shop window for prospective employers, might bump a fee up a little (as, we hope, will his winning goal in the World Cup knockout stages), but at worst it shows that he’s ready to be part of the team for the start of the new season. I’d have him playing this weekend against Girona – even though he’s only just checked in with the squad.

Hincapie is in there, Dowman, Big Vik, Ben White, Kai, Gabriel Jesus, Tzolis…heck, we’ve even been treated to a bit of Nelson and Viera. Getting the band back together boys and girls!

One person I will be interested to see a bit more of this summer is Ethan Nwaneri. I had a chat with Johnny about it on the recent crossover Dugout episode on the Arsenal Opinion Podcast (you can check the full episode out here), and it’s a curious case with young Ethan. I’m not sure any of us really know what to do with him. We all want him to succeed at The Arsenal; he’s a Hale Ender, he burst onto the scene with BANG BANG goal threat and an explosive dribble over 15 yards, but then last season became the forgotten man after he signed his deal last summer. The loan move to Marseille was a disasterclass in planning; anyone who’s anyone could have told you there’s an outside chance that De Zerbi could go thermonuclear at any moment, so whilst he’s a good coach, it was always going to be volatile. And so we didn’t get what we wanted, which was an Ethan Nwaneri with 20 games, five goals and five assists in France to his name, but rather a man that Habib Beye just said needs to train a little harder.

I’m not sold on Noni, and neither was Johnny on the pod, and I personally would give Ethan a go on that wing. The central spaces are just too congested, and if we have Bruno G landing on our doorstep any day now, then what does that say for Ethan? If Arteta only sees him as a central player, then his days look numbered. And that would be a real shame.

So what we need is for him to get hella minutes this summer, and maybe there can be a touch of the Saliba’s 2022 for him as he tries to wrestle a place in the squad from a more established guy. And why couldn’t he? Arteta has shown willingness with the likes of Saliba, because before that Ben White was our centre-half, plus we have a history of senior pro’s being displaced before we thought they might. Saka effectively ended Pepe’s career. Before him Bellerin took advantage of Debuchy’s injury. We have seen that if you are good enough, then you can push others out, and that’s what I’m hoping for Ethan. It might mean that somebody else sees less game time, but it is what it is.

I would try him at right wing, though. This summer, I mean, because Noni posted a picture of himself boarding a plane to get to pre-season training, which means he won’t be ready for Grona. Saka won’t be there; maybe Martinelli is just going to be able to do a 20-minute cameo, and besides, I already mentioned that he’s the left-wing guy, so why not Ethan on the right? I read/heard somewhere that internally at the club they don’t view Nwaneri as a winger; I would argue differently given what we saw two seasons ago. Try it again. He’s older, he looks like he’s filled out even more, he knows what Arteta expects from a pressing a defnesive duties perspective, so give him a chance to prove himself.

What I would say is that Arsenal shouldn’t feel the need to sell this summer. If there’s no space right now, let’s get him a good Premier League loan where there are clauses that mean he has to play 30 games. If he gets that, I think he could bang, and if he does, if we get another season of inconsistency from Madueke, then we have ourselves a ready-made understudy to Saka from 2027/28. It all feels too simple, right? That’s what happens when you play football on apps/PCs, I guess. But one thing’s for sure from my perspective: I really don’t want to hear that we’ve agreed a fee with another club for his servcies this summer. That would be the worst outcome for me as a fan.

Right, I’ll leave it there. I have to paint a brick wall and a back gate. Catch you all tomorrow. Think we’re going to do a Saturday morning Same Old Arsenal pod.