Preseason Roundup

I will try to be succinct and direct instead of the usual ramblings and deviations from this site in order to give a short account of the 'minor' matches that Arsenal faced in preseason, from Barnet to Hannover 96. I divided in a very arbitrary and subjective way, Arsenal's preseason; from 'minor' games here reviewed to 'major' ones such as the Emirates Cup and the Orange Cup against Valencia. The new feature for blog posts in the new season are the extended photo research as well as credits given every time, triple grammar and spelling revision, triple space between items in posts and the division of paragraphs into more narrow and less tiring columns. Enjoy!



Barnet v. Arsenal 2-2 18/Jul/09


[Photo: The Sun]



With a frugal demonstration of unfitness- prolonged by holidays and summer tournaments- Arsenal drew two goals against Barnet, in the now traditional first preseason match at Underhill. The main objective of this match was pretty much to reunite the team, get everyone a kick in the arse and start the preseason.

Immediately the lack of fitness due to interminable parties and holidays in sunny beaches was shown, but the principal milestone was to watch the new boy Tomas Vermaelen, Jack Wilshere and the return to the pitches, as captain of the team, of Tomas Rosicky.

Also among the highlights of the match was the inclusion of the new formation; the popular 4-3-3. It seems to work rather well with certain strikers that can open as winger but the problem is the industrious work that the full-backs have to male in order to cover the sides. The key for the proper function of this tactical display is the midfield.

The lead came through Arshavin- two minutes from break, who fired at pint blank after a combination with Wilshere and Sánchez Watt. Right after Arshavin's goal Yakubu equalised. IN the second half the remaining goals arrived; for Arsenal, Barazite and for Barnet, Charles.



SC Columbia v. Arsenal 1-7 21/Jul/09


[Photo: Arsenal Highlights]



Arsenal trashed in their second start of the preseason, as it was expected from the previous game at Underhill, as the Gunnners visited SC Columbia in their second game of the preseason. Braces from van Persie, Bendtner and Ramsey raised the tally to eight goals this preseason, while Gallas headed past Taschwer to raise the tally to seven. The lone goal from the home side was by a purely defensive error by Almunia and Gallas.

This kind of mistakes are the ones that should be avoided, since many of those goals gave minor teams- Fulham, Stoke, Hull- the kind of upperhand for robbing precious little points from the Gunners last season.
The opposition showed no clear signs of persistence and the class and style showed by even the youngest of the Londoners were sufficient enough to give Arsenal a six-goal advantage.



Szombathelyi v. Arsenal 5-0 27/Jul/09


[Photo: Daily Mail]



The game against "Zombie Citeh" proved to be Arsenal's first clean sheet in preseason, with a display of five goals, and bagging a discreet amount of goals- considering that the preseason standard requires large numbers of goals against weaker teams. Tomas Vermaelen looked solid again, still it is too early to make a judgement of the sort.

Bendtner accomplished his successful spell in front of goal with yet another two goals as well as Eduardo.
The displays by Armand Traore and Jack Wilshere were the most noticeable, aside from the opposition's dismal exhibition. Van Persie's penalty, superbly taken, sealed the scoresheet on five.



Hannover 96 v. Arsenal 0-1 29/Jul/09


[Photo: Telegraph]



The first 'real' game that actually tested the Gunners' patience was in the visit to central Germany. It was a "one half-time game" and the only goal came from skipper Cesc. The Gunners were not as resolute and resilient as in the previous practices yet the win is more of a reward than an actual achievement. In any case the different roles and the new adaptation of the 4-3-3 were among the interesting topics to highlight in that evening.

From the German point of view it is curious how the crowd reacted: should the home boys reacted and taken their chances, surely a a goal was to be found. Instead the ramblings and defensive facilities gave by Cherundolo saw no idea, less the game, to test for extended periods of the game a team of the stature of Arsenal.

Indeed it is early in preseason as the matches progress and even if we venture to make a foreground it is quite obvious that these practices serve as mere introductions to what the Emirates Cup could bring. Proper preparation matches come thick and fast before the Champions League Qualifiers, and for that date, as well as the first away trip to Liverpool, all things should be in place for the real contention for silverware.