Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang shines on positive pre-season tour

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The first block of pre-season games are over as Arsenal fly from Singapore to Dublin to continue their preparation in Europe.

For those of us not lucky enough to be in Singapore, the JW Diaries is a great read.

Whilst it is just pre-season, and therefore the usual disclaimer of not reading too much into it, there are some very clear positives to be had.

The first is the togetherness of the squad.

Everyone seems to be enjoying themselves, getting on with each other, having a bit of fun. In the middle of it all is Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.

The Gabon strikers attitude has stuck two fingers up at the press who labelled him a flashy arrogant party boy when he signed. Clearly talented, and clearly humorous, he is bringing the squad together.

There will always be cliques in every squad. Arsenal have 3 big ones – the English lads, the French lads and the German / Bundesliga lads.

Aubameyang was born in France, lived in Italy for 4 years, and Germany for 5. He is multi-lingual, speaking English, French and Germany. He is able cross over all 3 groups, bringing them together with his personality and positive attitude. He is the centre of attention.

The players seem to be freer, and hopefully this continues when the players turn out in front of the home fans at the Emirates.

We also saw Mesut Ozil captain the side against PSG.

Whilst I do not expect him to be club captain this season, he is a senior professional, a leader, and making him captain against PSG was a masterstroke after everything he has been through.

Ozil is, and always will be, a player who needs an arm put round him. He needs to feel loved. Arsenal and Emery have gone on the charm offensive since the Germany fall-out, making it clear that Arsenal is his home, that the players are his family.

The idiots on social media slating him 24/7 need to take a look at themselves. They are the same people who slated Arsene Wenger 24/7 – and still do. They are the same people who complain about Aaron Ramsey, Alex Iwobi, Danny Welbeck, Granit Xhaka and now Mesut Ozil.

These people are not Arsenal fans. They never say anything positive about the players or the club. They are a minority, probably actually just a dozen or so idiots, but their energy is not wanted at the club these days. Any real Arsenal fan will be getting behind the club, getting behind Ozil.

The performances by some of our youngsters is also something to get a little bit excited about.

New boy Matteo Guendouzi put in a mature performance in central midfield against PSG, where he was Man of the Match.

He dominated the play, breaking it up and moving the ball on.

He only turned 19 in April and at 6ft 1in still has some filling out to do. It is way to early to be calling for him to start against Manchester City, but it is going to be exciting to watch his development in the Europa League and League Cup.

At £7million, Guendouzi could be one of the signings of the summer, and just shows the benefit of having Sven “diamond eye” Mislintat in change of recruitment.

With Lucas Torreira at 22 and Ainsley Maitland-Niles turning 21 in August, we have an abundance of talented young central midfielders – of all who bring something completely different to the side.

The progress of some of the young English players has also been enjoyable to watch.

Emile Smith Rowe and Eddie Nketiah have both looked good pre-season. Reiss Nelson has also shown flashes of his talent, and the aforementioned Maitland-Niles has continued his progress.

These guys will be important for Arsenal’s future due to restrictions on home grown players.

Whilst it is perhaps 12 months to early to be talking about them taking over from Alex Iwobi and Danny Welbeck, Smith Rowe, Nketiah and Nelson will know that there are regular first team squad places up for grabs in 2019.

All in all, a good start to pre-season. It is Chelsea in Dublin on Wednesday before Lazio in Stockholm on Saturday.

I expect that we will have news about both Aaron Ramsey and Ivan Gazidis this week, as both the transfer deadline day and start of the season hurtle towards us.

The Championship starts this weekend!!!!

Keenos

JW Diaries: 5-1 to The Arsenal

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With no fan events today, I was able to catch up on some sleep. After spending most of the day around the pool, I headed to the stadium going to the usual bar near the ground meeting up with friends from the UK, America, Australia and most of Asia.

For regular games in England my familiar routine is to get into the ground close to kick-off; yesterday, following the usual bag checks, I got into the ground an hour before kick-off.

Once again the teamsheets were delivered to my seat close to the start as Arsenal arrived 35 minutes later than they should have done which annoyed the organisers of the tournament.

We played really well in the match coming away with a 5-1 Win; it could have been 7 or 8 with the chances we missed!

Even though there was the usual multiple substitutions made, I’m starting to see the fruits of the extra training; a couple of goals were scored at the end, with the players working for the full 90 plus minutes.

In my opinion, Mesut Özil was outstanding and Hector Bellerin is becoming the unsung hero who always seems to play the full 90 minutes. Once again all our young players covered themselves in glory; a perfect match all round.

Afterwards, myself and a friend was invited to the stadium managers office and along with some of his colleagues, we stayed drinking to gone 3am!

My final full day sees me catching up with an Aussie mate and an earlyish night for tomorrow’s flight home. I get back about 4pm UK time and Tuesday I’m on a 8am to Dublin!

No more diary posts from me, I will give you my usual weekly updates starting once again after my visit to Stockholm.

JW

JW Diaries: Green kits and £30 for a pint !

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As ever on these tours it was another day of Arsenal related events. The hottest day so far, with temperatures reaching 35 degrees greeted us at the 3rd Kit Launch which was attended by a number of players.

Due to the heat, the launch started 30 minutes early whilst we were still in the bar! Many are already mocking the kit, but seeing it up close, I rather like it!

The event was held at the trendy Promenade area, which is a Quay overlooking some amazing sights; due to the heat, we left early and went to a local bar where I paid 37.50 Singapore dollars which equates to around £30 for 2 beers which were just over half a pint each!

From there, we went back to the stadium to watch an Open Training session. Unsurprisingly, nothing was given away, but it’s always interesting to watch these with the different styles and techniques delivered by the new Head Coach.

Today sees the 2nd game of the tour against Paris St Germain; fortunately there’s no fan events today, therefore I can spent the morning catching up on some much needed rest!

JW