Match coming up with Bayern, wonder if we can steal Gnabry off them before we leave with a 10-2 aggregate loss.
Nelson. Holy shit. So close. Also, Mustafi in great form this preseason. Drops off some young unknown striker for Bayern named Lewandowski and pays him no respect, gets into the wrong position, ball is chipped over him for an easy header from Lewandowski. And first thing he does is hands in the air and yells. Because he wasn't marking and was in the wrong spot. We need to sell him asap. Or we end up with more of last season dropping points.
So besides the fact we have lead Bayern for 70 odd minutes, had chances to score more and been pretty good V Bayern, the commentators were going on about not being able to keep a clean sheet away from home. In a preseason match. Against one of the best 5 teams in the world. Staggering.
True about Mustafi, but I thought we had a good game collectively. Cheered me up a bit, given the transfer news this summer. We were at it right from the start. Lots of desire and energy. Especially from Auba & Ozil. I guess with their German connections, they had something a bit more to prove than usual? Or maybe it was that LA hair-coloring that Mesut squeezed in before the match? Eddie came on showing he really wants to earn a spot. And he earned us the victory. Seriously if we played with that intensity and desire every game, including against the Evertons of the world, I'm convinced we would bag more points. A lively match, with virtually our whole first team. Any of y'all that made it out to Carson tonight should feel it was worthwhile.
And the kids get the goal! Unreal take in the box by what might have been John-Jules, cross to Nketiah for the finish.
I agree that Mustafi had a good game...by his low, normal standards. My new (albeit small) hope is that a German club sees how he played against Bayern and wants to make a splash in the transfer market and bring him back to Germany.
And just so as not to exclude this option, it would be nice to think that the players might actually use this preseason to learn how to play with more fight and focus. You know, actually try to get better. Maybe?
I wouldn't classify his performance as a good game. We've had endless discussions about how poorly he reads the game defensively, including Lewendowski's goal last night, but he doesn't read the game very well offensively either. His passing too often puts teammate's under immediate pressure.
https://streamable.com/njd6r Also Mustafi didn't have a good game. He still had his Mustafi moments and did enough to suggest he will cost us a goal every 2 games.
https://streamable.com/71bon https://streamable.com/k8c1b https://streamable.com/5xktn https://streamable.com/6hhxg The last video is my favorite because you see 3 Germans hating on Ozil in front of me. They boo'd his every touch and didn't get on any other player at all, just solely focused on Ozil. You can hear me calling them dedicated haters lol The little kid in front of them kept looking back at them like ..."what's wrong with these guys?" --- I took some crappy videos....I was enjoying the game too much. Re: some players, Xhaka, after seeing him in person...I dislike him even more now. He has zero lateral movement, let alone speed, he will always be too slow to react, and can only turn in one direction. He is far too easy to mark and will continue to cost us some goals. There were many instances where an opponent was about to receive a pass, I could see Xhaka scanning the area, I know he saw it, but he chose not to react. When he finally reacts, it's 3 seconds too late and the player or ball has already moved. It's that little window that kills us. AMN, against top teams, with top attackers, cannot be played at fullback. "He was getting burned" is an understatement. Maybe versus smaller teams or Europa league, but he can't play vs top teams. Try him more in midfield. Auba, moving out wide, why? He has zero moves, our best hope is he retains possession and gives the ball to someone else. He looked better running down the center countering then going out wide. Keep him central. Ozil, looked like he was trying to prove some people wrong. Maybe didn't 'produce anything', but he had a great game imo. If we have that Ozil for the rest of the season, I will be very happy. Fun game to attend, great crowd, both sides missed "easy" chances, and both Arsenal goals were scored on my end. Best $55 ever spent.
Do any of the DC area gooners know if the breakfast with Arseblog is open to the public (aka non-DMV Arsenal fan club members)?
Meghan Rapinoe doing the coin flip at Charlotte tonight p.s. The 75000 seat stadium looks about 40% filled at most. p.p.s. Eddie on form again... the opener... 1-0!!!
It's kind of funny seeing all these guys used to English weather deal with American summer. It's only 87 in Charlotte right now. They would have literally melted in Chicago's 100-degree temps today.
Starting at 70' our fans have been yelling "we want Auba!" Not sure that was in Emery's plan... seemed like he was saving him for Madrid. But maybe he'll cave into the fans' demands and bring him on for a late cameo? Edit: Nope, he sends on Ozil at 80' along w/ others. Disappointing the fans a bit I suspect.
Arsenal kids ripping it up on their USA tour! 3-0!! Eddie scores his 2nd, then after our new Brazilian kid flubs a 1-on-1 vs keeper, Joe Willock shows him how it's done. We're on a nice roll going into the big match Tuesday at Landover. Maybe, just maybe...
They announced 45k in attendance in Charlotte. Not bad considering the whole Roma / Fiorentina replacement. There were about 100 Fiorentina fans by my count. Good atmosphere, not a whole lot of singing in the stadium, but the march to the stadium from the bars was very lively, given only half the people marching had any idea what we were singing! The players all seemed well prepared and focused, despite the relative informal nature of the game itself. There wasn't a whole lot of pagentry to it. I thought it was interesting that the only players who actively sought out opportunities to interact with fans were Hector (before the game) and Nacho (after). Both spent time taking selfies and signing autographs with fans near the tunnel. Is that a Spanish thing? I have no idea. But it was cool that they did, and the fans loved it. Great showing by all the 'kids' in the team today. I loved that Ozil played the ball to Martinelli as early as he did. Even though he missed the sitter, it likely gave him confidence. Ozil could've easily dribbled the length of the pitch and played the ball to him in the box, but he gave Martinelli the chance to shine instead. Class act.
This just put a smile on my face... https://www.arsenal.com/news/team-play-baseball-dc-arsenal-x-nationals p.s. Rob Holding's got some potential!
Good start in DC at 10'... PK, Nacho sent off (theirs not ours!), and 1-0 by Laca... off both posts. .
Pleased that the lads appear hungry. May be pre-season but it's getting closer to opening day and this team needs to learn how to win and play with ferocity.
So Sokratis can't suppress his thug-like nature and picks up 2 yellows in 2 minutes. Now it's a "fair contest" at 10-v-10 I guess. Bonehead move though.
Arsenal go into a defensive shell trying to protect a 2-0 lead, and guess what happens? 2-2 within 60' I am SO sick of my teams playing that way. It HAS to stop.