Martin Zubimendi: Page 6 - The Arsenal discussion forum and community: One More in the Tolly

Martin Zubimendi

MistaT

JazzG — I’m going to assume Rice had it too as he needs an excuse for that performance.

JazzG

MistaT Rice got taken off which I was shocked about, must have been carrying a small knock or fitness issues.

Qwiss

JazzG he looked dead on his feet. Hasn't really got going in pre season either. Just looks unfit.

Klaus

Qwiss Think the preseason tour was a really bad idea in retrospect. Lots of PR bullshit but it doesn't seem to have been enjoyable for the Asian fans nor beneficial for the team. Legs seemed very heavy all around. In preseason you should always make sure to play a couple of farmers that you can absolutely smash to pieces. Get some good feelings going in the team.

We look both fatigued and unfit now, and although the late arrivers have a good excuse the rest of the team follows the same pattern.

Panda

Forget it Klaus the game is all about money now.

Mirth

I’m not sure if pre season was the problem, we’ve been jetting all over the world for over a decade now.

Also most of our players have had the summer fully off whereas other clubs had the club World Cup nonsense to distract them

Klaus

Mirth Yep, but that might be what makes up part of the difference. The clubs that kept going all summer are in better shape right now, but will probably pay for it down the line when they start playing three times per week.

Qwiss

Mirth something went wrong with our prep because for the first summer in ages Rice and Saka haven't had stuff on and they've come back looking not 100%

JazzG

Time will tell over the season whether the pre-season was a success or not, need to ensure our players peak at the right time and stay fit!

Coombs

JazzG well, too late for that.

Burnwinter

JazzG Five minutes later: alright, our preseason was a disaster.

Sicario2

Is anyone worried about his lack of physicality? I worry about him at Anfield away when they could bully him. First half he was shocking today but picked up when the game opened up a bit.

Klaus

Sicario2 I think the midfield trio that started today were very disjointed, and the chief blame has to go to the two players who are already established when that happens. Ødegaard played within himself, Rice looked unfit, Zubimendi looked uncertain. One of those is completely understandable, the other two a bit more puzzling. It might not be a bad thing if Eze and/or Nwaneri come into the XI against Liverpool.

RocktheCasbah

Klaus Funny, I was saying to Jo a couple of hours ago that I was starting to think Ode might turn out to be the next area of upgrade for the team. And I've just listened to Clive doing his instant reaction on the Arsenalvision pod and he said he thinks people around him are starting to wonder about him too. Nwaneri certainly injected some directness into our game this afternoon.

To be clear, I'm not writing him off, at all, but I think his hitherto untouchable status may be drawing to an end. Especially with Eze also now here.

Lukazan

Should see more as he gets comfortable with his team mates but early impressions are he's nothing like Alonso or Fabregas, so not sure where those comparisons have come from.

awooga83

Lukazan yeah I hadn't watched a whole load of him but given what had need said I thought we would have seen more. Still needs to get used to everything I guess.

Klaus

RocktheCasbah Yeah I have a ton of time for a fit Ødegaard, but I do wonder if he trusts his ankle fully. Was that the injury he had last season? He looks way too worried about rolling the foot whenever there's an opponent nearby and you can't play effectively as a 10 with that fear, because you always operate in congested spaces. The Martin I know and love would thrive at being allowed to play between the lines, but there's that hesitation now.

Maybe he just needs to take it easy for a bit, I dunno. It takes a lot of time to get back fully from ankle and back injuries because they affect so much of your movement. Nwaneri and Eze are certainly capable of sharing the burden with him this season though, which is great.

JazzG

RocktheCasbah I mentioned this last season, it almost feels like the team is headed in a different direction to him. Partially why I was so keen on Eze joining was if that change happens sooner I think Eze could play there a lot.

Nwaneri is also a shout but he is 18 and don’t want to put unrealistic expectations on him. Hopefully Ode is just going through a bit of bad form and once his confidence picks up he’ll be back.

Qwiss

RocktheCasbah if he keeps picking up knocks it completely changes his importance. He has to be available almost all the time for his role to make sense.

Gazza M

the midfield 3 was totally lost in the first half, but it didn't look like a fitness or form thing to mr, it looked like it was under instructions. it was probably the loosest I've seen the midfield positioning under arteta. ode was rarely in the right half space like he usually is, he dropped deeper and roamed all over the place. rice also dropped deeper and calafiori took the higher positions. zubimendi just looked confused by the whole thing.

Rohit

Odegaard was the best out of a poor bunch last week and I thought he started very brightly against Leeds. He was great with the ball. He was dropping deep but he didn't start deep, he dropped because Rice, Zubi and Cala weren't being able to progress the ball. It's for Arteta to sort honestly.

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