What is the benefit of high-profile pre-season tours?

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By this time tomorrow, our pre-season tour of America will be over.

When I awake, it will be to either a victory over Barcelona or to loads of people losing their shit because we lost again.

The majority of our fans are sensible, though. They realise that pre-season is about fitness, integrating new players and new styles.

Earlier in the week I saw someone someone say “signing Gabriel Jesus and Olexsandr Zinchenko was a cheat code last season. They both knew how to play in our system so didn’t need time to learn”, and that goes some way to explaining how great we were 12 months ago.

Kai Havertz and Declan Rice have never played in a team like Arsenal, whilst Jurrien Timber has played at a less intensive level.

All 3 will take time to settle. Just like Dennis Bergkamp did, just like Thierry Henry, Robert Pires and more.

Just because they might not have a great pre-season, or hit the ground running, does not mean they will not become great players.

If Pires came to Arsenal now, he would get the same criticism Fabio Vieira gets. “Too lightweight, not strong enough, not a Premier League player”.

And if Henry joined Arsenal in 2023 it would be “he is an average winger and a poor striker”. Fans would be saying “the experiment of playing him upfront has failed. We should have bought Trezeguet” after just a handful of games.

But those days did not have 24/7 media and twitter (or is it X now?) analysts who think they are experts on the game whilst sitting jobless in their mums basement.

In 2003/04, we lost our first pre-season game to Peterborough 1-0. We drew our next game 0-0 against Barnet. A certain Yaya Toure played and was awful.

Two games, no wins, no goals. Imagine if this happened now!

The team then flew to Austria to undergo pre-season training. This really was a different world where teams would training in peace and quiet in some Central European country under the mountains, playing local sides.

Our first game in Austria was against SC Ritzing. The game finished 2-2. We then went on a nice winning run.

We beat Austria Wein 2-0, before destroy Besiktas 1-0. I then ignore the win over St Albans as this was not part of our senior players pre-season.

A little tour of Scotland saw us draw 1-1 with Celtic and then beat Rangers 3-0. In between, those not let of the senior set up went to Belgium and drew with Beveren.

7 senior pre-season games

3 wins

3 draws

1 defeat

9 goals scored

4 goals conceded

Certainly not an impressive pre-season considering the oppositions.

Imagine if social media was around now to witness those friendlies.

So called fans would be calling for Arsene Wengers head and complaining that we had only bought a single senior player – an average German goalkeeper called Jens Lehman – and a bunch of kids.

As you all know, we would go on to win the league, unbeaten. That average German goalkeeper would become a cult hero.

And as for those kids from Spain, France and Switzerland. They would grow up to be Cesc, Gael, Phillippe and Johan.

I do wonder sometimes if teams put themselves under pressure during pre-season these days with the high profile friendlies.

Is playing an aggressive Man U team with a point to prove in front of 60,000 in New York really worth it?

Ok, you get a few million for taking part in these tours and “build the brand abroad”, but they are all financial benefits. Would it not be better to sacrifice that money for a more controlled pre-season out of the spotlight?

A poor pre-season risks being blown out of proportion. The pressure is on before a ball is kicked.

Fans expect too much. They don’t realise that teams might have had a hard training session the day before, or the move of, the game. The opposition might have had a rest day the previous day. Prepared for it like a proper game.

If you are playing in the foothills of Central Europe against mid-level Austrian or Swiss teams, the games are a little bit less competitive. The focus is kore on fitness. Is this not better for preparation?

Of course, you still want those competitive run outs. Arsenal’s last two games in 2003/04 were against Rangers and Celtic.

We could easily have stayed in Germany training. Playing local sides. Then returned to England for the game against Sevilla before the final friendly (and it is a friendly) against Man City.

Some might say “Keenos, you are only writing this because Arsenal lost and you are preparing to defend tonight’s loss”. I am not. I have always thought this.

Pre-season is about preparing for the season. Wins, draws or defeats do not matter.

Enjoy the game if you’re going to stay up and watch it. I will be asleep.

Keenos

No Mesut Ozil, re-signing Cesc Fabregas – The alternative universe where Arsenal signed Luis Suarez

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The true facts of the case, as brilliantly laid out in this article, are that Arsenal did what every clubs do when it comes to a release clause. Bid £1 over expecting it to be activated and allowing for talks with the target player.

10-years ago yesterday was the day The Arsenal offered £40m+£1 for Luiz Suarez. A decade on and Arsenal still get criticised for the deal. But what actually happened?

Liverpool challenged the legitimacy of this clause, claiming it was not a release clause, but merely meant they had to inform Luis Suarez of the bid.

With all parties disagreeing over what the clause meant, the result would have meant that Luis Suarez would have to take Liverpool to the Court of Arbitration for Sport for breach of contract.

Now this would have been time consuming, with appeals and long drawn out legal proceedings. It is unlikely it would of been completed by the end of the transfer window.

This lead Arsenal to drop their interest fairly quickly once Liverpool established their stance and made it clear they would defend their opinion in a court of law.

In the end, Suarez decided not to tie himself him up in a costly, timely court case and signed a new contract. He would leave for Barcelona a year later.

Six months after the failed bid, Liverpool owner John W Henry would later admit that Suarez “had a buyout clause of £40m” and he simply refused to sell, despite Arsenal’s bid triggering it.

But what would have happened if we signed Suarez 10-years ago?

Having missed out on their number one target, Arsenal waited until deadline day before making only big signing of the summer – Mesut Ozil.

Money was tight that summer and up until deadline day, the only two senior signings were Yaya Sanogo and Mathieu Flamini. Less than £500k spent.

Had we signed Suarez, it is unlikely we would have had the funds left to also get in Ozil. And the signing of Ozil would also impact the next summer.

2014 former Arsenal captain Cesc Fabregas was looking to get out of Barcelona. His first call was to Arsene Wenger, his footballing father.

Fabregas wanted a return to North London, and Wenger was open to him rejoining. But the problem was we had one of the best number 10s in world football. Mesut Ozil.

We simply did not have the space for Fabregas in the squad, and the Spaniard joined Chelsea.

At the same time, another Barcelona player was out of favour. Alexis Sanchez. He would join Arsenal for a similar fee as to what Chelsea signed Cesc for. And I the ultimate irony, Suarez would go to Catalonia.

In the real world, Arsenal had Ozil and Sanchez. No real complaints.

But in another universe, Arsenal signed Suarez, didn’t have the money for Ozil, and then the next season signed Cesc.

Ozil and Sanchez or Cesc and Suarez. Which due would you have preferred?

Join the conversation on Facebook…

Keenos

5 things learned from Man U defeat

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Eric Ten Hag wanted to make a point

As we blogged yesterday, Manchester United treated the game as a competitive fixture, whilst Arsenal played it as a friendly.

Man U were aggressive and direct, and Ten Hag was certainly not “trying anything new”. The way Man U played against Arsenal will be how they play for the whole of next season.

One comment on the She Wore Facebook page summed it up: It was obvious Arteta had said “this is a friendly. Take no risks, etc.” Ten Hag had said “we need to make a point here”.

And I think that is a fairly accurate assessment.

Ten Hag would have been happy with his teams gritty, determined, aggressive win, but neither he or his players would have learnt much. Arteta and the players would have learned plenty. And you do not get any points for a pre-season friendly…

Havertz hate

Two games in, plus the mess around charity thing, and the hate from so called Arsenal fans towards Kai Havertz is also showing. I really do not know why.

Those that are hating on Havertz are clearly not Arsenal fans. They have an agenda to push. And that agenda is by throwing hate to towards Arsenal players for attention.

They are the same fans that hated on Granit Xhaka, that hate on Edu and Mikel Arteta. The same people that wanted PierreiEmerick Aubameyang to “bag goals for fun” for Chelsea so that it would support their anti-Arteta agenda.

I saw a quotes from one YouTuber from 12 months ago saying “people are hoping he [Auba] flops like they hope Chelsea do and also hope Arteta comes good”.

Auba scored 1 goal in 15 Premier League games, Chelsea finished 12 and Arteta’s Arsenal finished 2nd. He could not have been much more wrong. And that is why those sort of fans opinions are so easy to ignore.

They do not think Havertz is a bad player. They just want him to be a bad player for Arsenal.

Had Arsenal missed out on Havertz and he joined Manhcester United, they would be complaining that “Edu can not land top players”. Changing the narrative to suit their agenda.

Imagine if these fans were about when Dennis Bergkamp joined Arsenal, or Thierry Henry, or Robert Pires. All of these had very slow starts to their Arsenal careers, and yet each one became an Arsenal legend.

The fans hating on Havertz have also begun hating on Rice. It is just really odd behaviour to carry around so much negativity at all times throughout your life.

New boys will take time to settle

It is not exactly a genius view point saying that new signings will take a while to settle. Almost every player needs to adapt when they join a new club. And that is why I do not really get the over-the-top reaction to performances by Declan Rice, Kai Havertz or Jurrien Timber. And price-tag really does not matter.

Rice is going to have to get used to playing for a team that dominates posession, rather than a team that looks to defend first whilst battling relegation. He will be spending more time looking for forward passes, than the sideways and backwards football David Moyes plated.

He is also going to have to adjust from being the superstar of the team, the man that drives his side forward, to being a cog in Arteta’s midfield.

He is playing a similar role for Arsenal as he does for England, where he sacrifices his attacking game to allow others to flourish, so he has the game to do it.

Meanwhile, Havertz is having to re-learn his position.

He was signed from Leverkusen by Chelsea as an attacking midfielder. Various managers then shunted him around from position to position. His versatility counting against him.

Once he has got consistent game time in the left sides central position, you will see a superstar.

As for Timber, the Premier League is a huge step up from the Dutch league. Hoewever the signs are there already that he is a class player.

Guardiola has been known for slowly integrating new signigns into his team. It takes them a while to learn how he wants them to play. We are going to go down a similar path.

You will not see Havertz or Timber week in week out whilst they settle into the new way of playing. And those of you talking about fees, jus tlook how little Jack Grealish played for Manchester City in his first season…

The importance of Thomas Partey

When we signed Havertz, I called that he would end up playing as an attacking left sides 8. In pre-season thus far Arteta has utilised him there.

I also added the caveat that between Havertz and Rice, Arteta now has an option to go attacking or defensive in his midfield make-up.

When we play lesser teams in the Premier League, expect us to go with the midfield of Havertz, Rice and Odegaard.

Rice will control the game from deep as we dominate in posession, whilst Havertz will allow us to overload the box.

We have not seen much of Gabriel Jesus in pre-season, but hit movement is so important to how we want to line up.

As Jesus drops left to create an overload with Gabriel Martinelli, or right to join Bukayo Saka, it will be Havertz that will push forward from the midfield position.

Then when we play tougher games, I expect Havertz to drop to the bench, Rice to push further foward and Thomas Partey to come in.

Against Manchester United, we went for the more attacking midfield of Rice, Havertz and Odegaard. It is pre-season which is when new things get put into practice. But I am sure that when we face Man U in September, it will be Partey, Rice and Odegaard. That will give us a bit more defensive stability and control over the game.

That does not mean Havertz is to be dropped. I expect him to start the first 3 games of the season. It just gives us a bit more tactical fluidity.

You often see Mancester City change things up depending on the opponent.

Pep Guardiola would go with Kevin de Bruyne, Jack Grealish, Bernardo Silva and Riyad Mahrez against weaker teams. Then in tough games, Ilkay Gundogan would come in providing them more defensive awareness and control.

It will be so important next season for Arteta to have the option of Partey and Rice to go more defensive where required.

Chelsea and West Ham fans more invested in Arsenal than their own teams

It was interesting following social media as the game went on. It seemed like opposing fans were more invested our performance than we were.

Arsenal’s tweet replies were filled with West Ham and Chelsea fans (and some odd Aston Villa fans that are still trying to create that rivalry) mocking us for losing a friendly.

West Ham fans who spent a month telling us Rice was the best defensive midfielder in the world and how we should pay £120m or shut up, now saying they had our pants down over him, we overpaid, he was not that good and carried by Tomas Soucek. The same Tomas Soucek who their fans slated throughout last season for not being good enough.

Chelsea were also celebrating Arsenal’s struggles, pointing out that Havertz was a poor player, whilst ignoring that he has been their best player over the last couple of years.

On the Chelsea fans, had we won 2-0, they would have been all over Man U’s tweets making the same comments about Mason Mount.

The game was 10pm on a Saturday. Why were they spending their time indoors, watching a friendly on a dodgy stream that was not their side, whilst posting on social media? What sad little lives they must live! Get out on a Saturday, get down the pub, out for a meal with the misses. But of course, we know that they probably don’t have mates, don’t have a misses.

Arsenal have a similar fanbase as mentioned above. Odd incel fans that need to get out more.

The Chelsea and West Ham incel fanbases are going to be heavily invested into Arsenal this season. They will probably get more delight over us losing a pre-season friendly than they do their team winning an actual game.

Note: I understand social media tends to breed these wierdos and, like with Arsenal, the match going fans are very different. Those that go to Stamford Bridge or the London Stadium and do not live their lives on Twitter have already moved on from Rice and Havertz.

Keenos