Good game.

Santi was imperious.

We back! Feels like an eternity.

Was a thoroughly enjoyable game. As good as it gets for pre-season games, really.

Kudos for the Mexicans for not rolling over at 0-3.

Debuchy and Walcott are still garbage.

If we can get rid of Theo this window it would be a blessing.

theo was embarrassing - if anyone should be playing like his life depended on it, it's him. he doesn't appear to give much of a fuck

xhaka, santi, and oxlade were all tidy

holding look good defensively, but pretty 'old school' on the ball, looks a bit basic in that department

There is no way in hell Theo will be more useful than the likes of Jeff and Akpom this season. What a waste of space he is.

Other than him, I thought the rest did well. Match was a bit too fiesty for a friendly though for some reason.

Santi was superb, looks like he has lost none of his quality despite his injury. Debuchy was poor in defence but good in attack, linked very well with Campbell. Campbell produced one of those amazing passes again which Debuchy should have scored from.

Ox goal was brilliant, playing himself into the start lineup against Liverpool.

I like our third kit btw.

Yeah, looks sexy.

Ox's performance in preseason further conform to me that it's a confidence/mental issue with him. He needs to relax in competitive games and just do his thing rather than overthinking everything.

Theo has produced 3 F- performances on a trot now.

Getting £15m for him would be a great deal.

Pre-season Ox is best Ox.

As soon as I saw pictures of Ox with a girl before pre-season I knew he'd get going on the pitch too.

How was Xhaka? Hoping he is allowing other players to play higher up the pitch.

I've just seen Ox's goal. Another player not reaching his potential at Arsenal in my opinion. I hope he keeps it up at the start of the season, the way things are going, we're going to need him!

Where was Wilshere? Crocked already?

invisibleman18 wrote:

Where was Wilshere? Crocked already?

Crocked and out for week. Add a few months and it'll be about right. A slight problem with his patella.

Ah well, thankfully the Xhaka signing makes him a luxury and we're not counting on him playing 50 games anymore.

I'm liking the look of Xhaka a lot, he pings his passes around crisply and with plenty of pace. Doesn't seem too mobile but that shouldn't be an issue if he plays deeper.

Jeebus, was Debuchy repeatedly roasted by their no mark left winger! Was embarrassing to see, and I dread to even think about what will happen if we have to play him in proper games.

Xhaka will work well with Elneny I think. Elneny is all about mobility, and Xhaka can sort of sit beside/behind him and tackle the players Mo is hassling. I think with a full starting squad around him, he will slide into that holding role nicely.

Ox is having a good pre-season. Lets hope he kicks on from there. Theo... oh dear Theo.. he looks so lost out there. Akpom has played half his minutes and has scored twice.

Holding looks decent, but needs a bit more composure on the ball. I don't particularly think Debuchy was all THAT bad yesterday other than giving away the penalty (which was somewhat dubious, but can see why given). Had a nice assist on Akpoms goal.. I dont think he was "roasted" that much.. their winger got the ball a lot, but not much more happened from that side (a couple poor crosses perhaps).. then again, i was tired and half falling asleep by the middle of the second half...

Overall, team has played fairly well in spurts in pre-season so far. Some of the youngsters look ready, some dont.. Akpom seems to have something about him that could be useful.. The Jeff is the Jeff, but i dont know if he's ready for a full role - maybe a sub here and there... Willock isnt ready, should go on loan.. Zelalem isnt ready, needs to go on loan again to a Championship team.. needs to get himself stronger, he's good with the ball, but looks way too lightweight for the Prem ATM...

Overall, pre-season going about how i thought it would.. rusty play with some brilliance thrown in and beating inferior teams. Real test will be against Citeh.. i fear that with a lot of first teamers out for the first game or 2, we may struggle to beat Pool.. (not quite as concerned with LC, even though they are defending champions)

Ox scored a good goal, but I'm not convinced at all. We've seen him do things like this before and then fizzle out for the rest of the season.

He has not shown that he can do things like this consistently for the duration of a single game, talk less of an entire season.

Lets get serious - Get rid.