An interesting week lies ahead …

Hello from Dublin, it’s Andrew M here again.

First up, big thanks to Andrew A, Lewis, and Tim for keeping things ticking here on the blog. Arseblog was basically my main connection to Arsenal while I was away. I tried to stay ‘offline’ as much as possible, with only brief checks here and there of other outlets, so the daily round-up was very useful.

I arrived back home yesterday and spent the day in a jet-lagged daze. It felt as if I had been away for a very long time, and I think I’m still finding my bearings a bit. As ever it was great to meet so many Arsenal fans across the US, and interesting to see how the team’s preparations were coming along.

Obviously you can’t learn too much from the earliest part of pre-season, particularly when there are so many senior players absent, but that also did provide an opportunity for some of younger players to make a mark. The lads have mentioned them in their blogs while I was away, but Ethan Nwaneri and Myles Lewis-Skelly were very impressive, and look closest to giving Mikel Arteta some thinking to do with regards their involvement in the season ahead.

I also thought Ayden Heaven stood out playing at centre-half, and I was most impressed by his reaction to the goal we conceded against Man Utd. It’s clear that he can play, but that he also has the kind of personality that could give him a chance. At the moment though, with Gabriel, Jakub Kiwior, Takehiro Tomiyasu, and new boy Riccardo Calafiori ahead of him in the pecking order, his chances of first team football seem a bit slim, so it’s about continuing his development and working hard to make the kind of progress required.

This week should tell us a bit more about where we are, with our final two pre-season fixtures. First, Bayer Leverkusen (with former Gunner Granit Xhaka) are in town for a game on Wednesday, before Lyon (with former Gunners Alexandre Lacazette and Ainsley Maitland-Niles), rock up for a Sunday kickabout. After that, it’s Wolves on…

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Author : arseblog

Publish date : 2024-08-05 07:03:10

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