If KT could have stayed healthy he is likely still our starting LB.

Agree on MLS. Think he still has a solid future but this preseason he has shown his inexperience at FB.

Little more on the positional stuff.....



- OZ & MLS are playing LB like CMs (per Arteta's instructions) but a healthy Cala (or similar player) is likely better for Marti.
- Saka may be hurting himself by receiving in the same spots all of the time. How much better could he be if he was forcing defenders to follow and/or switch off.
- Think there is a significant issue that our ST (Havertz) was near identical to MO and completely outside of the box.

chjoak said:

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Little more on the positional stuff.....



- OZ & MLS are playing LB like CMs (per Arteta's instructions) but a healthy Cala (or similar player) is likely better for Marti.
- Saka may be hurting himself by receiving in the same spots all of the time. How much better could he be if he was forcing defenders to follow and/or switch off.
- Think there is a significant issue that our ST (Havertz) was near identical to MO and completely outside of the box.

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It would be interesting to compare ST heatmaps for other top class strikers. I would not be surprised that a lot of strikers receive most passes outside the box. What I find interesting is we do not seem to occupy much space in the center of the field. To many players are wide to receive passes.

Couldn't find Passes received for Gyokeres but I found a sight that would let you do 2 player comparison on touches. Here is the 24/25 season maps for....

Gyokeres vs Havertz


MO vs Havertz


sofascore.com if you wanna play.

chjoak said:

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Couldn't find Passes received for Gyokeres but I found a sight that would let you do 2 player comparison on touches. Here is the 24/25 season maps for....

Gyokeres vs Havertz


MO vs Havertz


sofascore.com if you wanna play.

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touches vs the passes received does tell a different story but still not great for Havertz. Also shows how over crowed the right touchline is.

still overlapping with MO WAAAYYY too much

chjoak said:

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still overlapping with MO WAAAYYY too much

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agreed hit post too soon then got distracted by work.

Pretty much the starters today

wangus12 said:

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Pretty much the starters today

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On tv anywhere?

I think you have to pay and watch on arsenal.com

Emirates Cup so I assume it's gonna be only on Arsenal for the paid service

wangus12 said:

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Emirates Cup so I assume it's gonna be only on Arsenal for the paid service

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Kind of silly how much they charge for a preseason friendly.

There are some pirate streams. Google "arsenal stream". Warning..... they do have a bunch of popups when you are getting to your video and some are porn related. Been using such streams to watch Arsenal for 2-3 yrs and haven't gotten any virus or malware yet.

Sweet goal between two new signings.

#2 is a great quick, direct team goal with a heads up final pass by Marti to give Saka the wide open shot

I like seeing Ricky. Hope he stays healthy

HT subs....
White for Cala (Timber to LB)
Noni for Marti

wangus12 said:

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I like seeing Ricky. Hope he stays healthy

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I think he is the better LB for Marti. Given his ability to play LCB as well, if/when we sell OZ I think we need to add a young traditional LB so we also have the flexibility to start moving MLS to MF, especially in cups and mop up duty.

And Timber steals a likely tap in for Big Vik from a corner

Damn...... Big Vik hits the post on diving header with a cross from Noni

Vik has looked pretty good. a bit awkward with his pressing but the effort is there. hold up play and distribution has been solid considering this is his 2nd match with these guys.

And as I hit "post", Vik comes off for Havertz.

Kai with a nice fast break goal from Saka

Havertz looks like he's gotten faster

Lots of speculation that Kiwior is out the door due to his overall lack of min this preseason and zero min in our final match.

No minutes for Trossard either.

Trossard might be banged up. He came off against spuds after only 15ish min and wasn't on the bench this game or last. Possible he is headed out as well but I think his may be injury related.

Before the season starts, you can pay 9 for the entire preseason pass. So all the preseason matches on the Arsenal app. Well worth it in my opinion.

He was in street clothes on the side of the pitch.

chjoak said:

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Lots of speculation that Kiwior is out the door due to his overall lack of min this preseason and zero min in our final match.

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I don't think I buy that. He could move, I don't doubt that. But he played 45 against Milan, 41 against Newcastle, 77 against Tottenham, and 62 against Villarreal.

Today, we had to get Gabriel, Timber and Calafiori minutes for fitness, and Gabriel certainly needed a good run alongside Saliba before our first match.

wangus12 said:

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Havertz looks like he's gotten faster

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Yep, and just looks like he's improved in all the physical aspects. I hope we put him and Gyokeres out there together on a decently regular basis.

I hope those two force some more variety and creativity from Arteta. For all the great things Rice does, he's probably never going to become big scorer and I don't think his style is helping the situation over on the left. I'd like to see what happens if we can't drop Rice to the 6 and let Havertz play the left 8 in some matches or game states, or let's try a 4-4-2 or 3-5-2 periodically.

Brace yourselves for the meltdown when Eberechi Eze signs for Tottenham

🚨⚪️ Eberechi Eze, keen on Tottenham move as Palace are informed of his desire to play Champions League football.

Deal now depends on club to club talks but Spurs are seriously working on it, as reported earlier. pic.twitter.com/cVhC0VLPUw

— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) August 12, 2025

Prepare for the meltdown if Spurs get Eze and City get Rodrygo.

Nothing we can do if we don't get some sort of inflow of money. Just aggravating as hell that other teams like Liverpool or Chelsea can sell their deadwood or reserve players for substantial money with like 1-5 appearances and we can't move anyone on. Just doesn't make any sense. I realize players like Sambi or Vieira didn't make it at Arsenal, but they aren't bad players nor are they too old.

Rodrygo was never happening, but Eze (even if I don't really see where he fits) would 100% turn down Spurs for us if he has the choice. I do think Palace will want the 68m for him which is a **** ton for an older squad player.

Athletic prediction for season finish.....