Gooner’s Verdict: Arsenal vs Villarreal 2-3 Preseason Match

Our post-match analysis will now be called "Gooner's Verdict", starting with the match yesterday, where Arsenal lost to Villarreal 2-3 at the Emirates Stadium, marking Arsenal's first back-to-back losses in preseason. Fortunately, it’s only preseason, so it’s important to still be measured in our analysis. While there were several negatives/concerns that we will cover, let’s start with the positives.

Gyökeres starts his first match for Arsenal

No matter how much or how little time in training he had to this point, it felt like a majority of fans were going to want to see him star in this game. I find that reasonable because we are now a week and a half away from the opening match of the season, and we want to see how he looks with at least a full half of playing time, especially since there are only two more games, this one included, to do so. The first thing that stood out was that in the absence of Odegaard, Gyökeres led the press, which makes sense given his quickness and to work him up to match fitness. Throughout the first half, he didn't touch the ball much. Players rarely even attempted to pass the ball to his feet, not that he is the best at beating a man with the ball, but he didn't even get many chances to get touches to work himself into the game.

He started to drift into the left channel toward the end of the first half, where he received the ball a bit more, which I'm not against, because it's a great angle to cut inside and get a shot off as a right footer. We have so many left footers in the team, who rarely use their right foot, that having another right-footer in attack will be a benefit to all because Gyökeres can drift into different pockets now and still be able to get shots off with his dominant foot. This should open up more forward passing lanes from the midfield and progress play. He did attempt to make a few runs to try to get in behind, but was never found, which I believe is partially an issue with other players not being used to someone making those runs. It will be an adjustment for them as well to be more direct, to break the lines, and find him. The one time that he was finally found was from a through ball from Merino in the 59th minute, where Gyökeres got off a good shot from his right-hand side that the keeper saved. Gyökeres is not going to pick the ball up, turn, and carry the ball to beat his man. He's not that kind of striker, so we need to make adjustments to the playing style and be much quicker and direct in our play, which will benefit most players on the team and should finally bring a spark to our attack.

The Midfield 8's & Left Wing

I thought Nwaneri looked very sharp throughout his time on the pitch and has all preseason. He started quite narrow and central in the midfield in the first half, along with Merino, and connected with Saka and White well on the right-hand side. He was always receiving the ball on the half turn, turning, scanning, and looking forward instead of sideways. He positions his body to receive it already on the half turn, so he can either drive forward with power, or shift directions and create space for himself to make his next move. He still did cycling the ball when necessary, like Odegaard typically does, but he had much more conviction and decisiveness to get the ball forward. I hope this directness is not something coached out of him, but the team looks much more aggressive with him in central areas than Odegaard does, and I think it's important to have different profiles in the midfield.

Speaking of Merino, I thought he had a very busy game, playing in both the midfield and striker at different points in the match. We have already mentioned he was the only one to really find Gyökeres in behind, but his passing was also very harsh overall, and he looks more comfortable as an attacking 8 so far in preseason. His time playing as a striker last season appears to have given him more confidence in the final third, and he’s showing himself to be a very intelligent player.

Max Dowman continues to impress as a substitute for Saka on the right-hand side. One of my key things to watch for this week, in the previous post, was whether Dowman would still get minutes, in any position, as we get closer to the opening game of the season, and with Madueke returning to training. Well, not only did he get play, but he stood out again, consistently driving past the opposition full back and winning another penalty that Odegaard converted. He keeps standing out, not because he is good for a 15-year-old, but because his ability to beat a player in one-on-one situations is rare throughout the team. I truly would only feel confident in Dowman, Saka, Nwaneri, and Madueke beating players in attack on a consistent basis. That’s 4 out of 22-25 squad players! Either way, Dowman did as Dowman does, which is excel at the senior level and literally became the lone attacking outlet after he came on, just like Saka does, on the left wing. Surely we will not, can not, should not, would not rely on Dowman to the same extent during the season, because that would be extremely worrying, but it's great to see him continue to get minutes and gain experience against top-level teams.

As for the negatives, there weren't any new problems that stood out, which, on one hand, is a good thing because we aren’t getting worse, but it’s problematic because they don’t appear to be getting better.

Raya and MLS

Raya continues to look sloppy and somewhat delirious in goal. He made one or two good saves during the game, but he seems to constantly be scrambling and behind the play when goals are scored. I don’t know if it’s just taking him long to get to match sharpness this preseason, or if the arrival of Kepa, his National teammate, has anything to do with it, but he hasn’t looked like his usual self all preseason.

Miles Lewis-Skelly was targeted all match today, and while he had decent performances against Pep one-on-one on the left-hand side, teams are clearly going to target him more this season. It’s natural that at 18 years old, he will make mistakes, but he has to be prepared for teams to make adjustments for him now that they have a larger sample size to strategize against. In a way, opposing teams are treating him like they did Zinchenko, exploiting the space behind him when he tucks into midfield. Miles is a better defender and faster in recovery than Zinchenko. In my opinion, he is better equipped to recover, but he just has to be more mindful. It may be a very challenging season for him ahead, but an opportunity for growth once he embraces it.

Cross and hope

There was noticeably a lot of aerial crosses into the box in the first half, which was bizarre because one of the most consistent criticisms of Gyökeres' game is his heading ability. If we know it's not one of his strengths, then surely the Arsenal players know too. Gyökeres, unsurprisingly, didn't connect with any of the crosses. I understand there will be an adjustment period to playing with him, but I found that a very strange tactic. There were also lots of crosses on the ground, typically sent in from the wingers after beating a full back, which almost always were blocked by the opposing defense or collected by the goalkeeper. I'm not against cut-backs into the box because it can be very effective, but players weren't even looking up to pick out a man before crossing it in. The sheer volume of unsuccessful attempts made it feel more like a hit-and-hope tactic rather than a strategic plan. We need more players that can beat their full back one on one, so I don't want us to move away from this completely, but I do want to see more direct play so that the wingers don't have to start so wide that by the time they beat their man, they have no where to go but to cross it to a crowded area.

Martinelli and Rice

Neither of these players has looked sharp so far in the preseason. Martinelli looks exactly as he always does, in terms of always going on the outside, never cutting in to look to shoot or add a different threat. He always runs towards the corner flag to then pass back to the left 8 or full back, or to the touch line for an empty cross. It's so predictable and has been for going on 3 seasons now. He doesn't appear to have added anything to his game, nor does he seem to feel the pressure to stand out with the arrival of Madueke. He looks so damn comfortable, and it's now becoming scary because he is not contributing to the team's improvement.

I don't have the same doubts about Rice and his desires to improve and be a key player, on the other hand. He simply looks out of form, and hasn't had any standout moments this preseason. In the 86th minute of this match, he received the ball and passed it wide, and that was the first time I realized he was on the pitch despite him coming on in the 62nd minute. It hasn't been good enough, and Merino has looked far more active and threatening in that left 8 than Rice has. However, it's still a position Rice is adapting to, and he ended last season strong, contributing with goals and assists, so like I said, I don't doubt he will have a good season and is motivated to do so, unlike my concerns about Martinelli.

My final verdict is that Arsenal are a very tidy, technical, crisp passing team that lacks bite in goal-scoring positions. The best finishers, Saka, Nwaneri, Merino, and Gyökeres, rarely receive high-quality shooting opportunities. They usually have to work hard and rely on individual brilliance to score goals of higher difficulty, which simply won't be sustainable for the course of a season in multiple competitions. So far this pre-season, Arsenal look like they should be as good as last season, but I’m not convinced they will be much better, which is unlikely to be good enough to achieve our ambitions.