A) What makes Sokratis' cards all the worse is that they came after the team was a man up and winning, at exactly the time the players should NOT be doing anything stupid. B) I think at 10v10 it favors Madrid by opening the field more and forcing more 1v1 marking by Arsenal. Gunners have been sloppy in that regard tonight. Surprising, I know.
Considering the competition and who he's working with I think Jenkinson has played pretty well this evening. Clearly slow, though.
Nketiah had the game on his foot. A 1-v-1 with Courtois and he held it too long. Reminded me a bit of Roger Federer serving for the Wimbledon trophy.
87' and Nketiah wastes 2 chances to give Arsenal the lead. 1st a breakaway on a lovely long ball by Granit that he lets get too far ahead. Really should've done better there.
Didn't exactly cover ourselves with glory in that shootout. Oh well. Not a bad USA tour. That's a wrap!
Opportunity wasted tonight. Hopefully the players sense that and work to not let it happen again, but what cost Arsenal tonight is a familiar concern - Defensive lapses that come in bunches.
Agreed. Looked like he was maybe the 6th taker. As soon as Monreal hit the post I knew the game was theirs.
Every time I start to think maybe Emery’s not so bad... Why play Mkhitaryan in central midfield after the introduction of Monreal? Why not keep Willock on and swap Monreal for Mkhi? And what the fvck was the shape supposed to be after that anyway? It was only after putting Burton and the rest of the kids on that there was a clear idea of where everybody was supposed to live. It’s a preseason friendly, and it was a weird game, so I shouldn’t get too worked up. But I have concerns.
For me it's tough to pin this on Emery. For one it's essentially a scrimmage, with both sides featuring players and tactics that might not otherwise be seen in the regular season. More importantly, for tonight everything changed after each red card, especially the one for Sokratis. I can't imagine Arsenal would use the players they did after that incident had it been a regular match.
Was at the match. Not sure why Emery left the starters out for so long, they looked dead that second half. Thought Ozil and teh strikers played really well. Martinez looks like an elite shot-stopper. Nketiah has elite movement off the ball. Reiss Nelson is a rockhead. Sokratis is a card magnet, but that second yellow was a joke. I would also start Willock. He is good.
Seems like there were more Arsenal fans at the game today than Real Madrid. I was at the game in LA and it looked like there were more Arsenal fans at that match too