Hopeless in Hong Kong?

Playing Tottenham Hotspur can never really be considered a friendly as there's always that bit extra. But, take away the emotion, and it is just a friendly. Designed to keep improving fitness and easing the players back into the new football season, as well as incorporating the clubs global fanbase. But, losing 1-0 to them is still such a kick in the teeth.

Unfortunately I wasn't able to watch the game due to work commitments, but have since caught up on the highlights and I'm certainly struggling to take some positives away. Having said that, I'm not going to cancel the whole season based off of one sub par performance and loss. It is what it is, Spurs defended very well and caught us out with the goal.

I think for Spurs, that starting XI that begun the game is probably the team they'll use going forward. I think Dominic Solanke will replace Richarlison and Dejan Kulusevski/Mathys Tel will likely replace Wilson Odobert. For Arsenal; they're still missing Gabriel and Jurrien Timber. But, realistically the only swaps they'd make from the starting XI is Christian Norgaard for Martin Zubimendi and Kai Havertz for Viktor Gyokeres. Otherwise, what we began with is what we should expect to see.

On the game itself. A story so similar to last season, all the chances and no goals. 1 shot on target from the 16 we took (stats from Flashscore). That is an eye raising issue we saw far too much last season. Then to round it off, a totally avoidable concession, carbon copy. In terms of individual performances, I'm not sure many can claim to have had a good game. More importantly; Bukayo Saka, Myles Lewis-Skelly and David Raya looked especially off the pace. Now, you have to give the benefit of the doubt, but it's concerning still.

Next up for Arsenal is home fixtures against Villarreal and Athletic Bilbao, before our curtain raiser against Manchester United in just over two weeks. For contrast, United beat Bournemouth 4-1 in their most recent fixture and looked good for it. You'd hope that Gabriel and Jurrien Timber will be back for that one and that Noni Madueke is up to speed. Manchester United away is always a tough fixture no matter what state United are in and we need to be firing on all cylinders going into it. Will we be? Doesn't seem that way based on the Spurs game

So, what can Arsenal do between now and then to improve? Mikel Arteta is a stubborn man, but I think he needs to tweak a couple of things. Declan Rice and Zubimendi should be our double pivot, not a defined 6/8 role. There's too much on Rice to be one of our creators as well as the ball winning midfielder we love to see. When in possession and inside the opponents half then yes, Rice can push up, but I think it prevents the full back from making an overlap because Rice has darted into the box and left a big gap for a counter attack. You give too much responsibility to Rice who can do it all, but can his replacement? Keep his role simple, but allow him to maximise that role.

The same goes for Odegaard, he's a creator, not a funnel for Saka. He gets the ball on that right side and it's always straight into Saka and then gets lost in the crowd of defenders because he's done his job to get it to Saka. So often it ends up at Saka's feet and he has three players in front of him, and because Odegaard is so tight to him he has to go back to Timber or Thomas Partey. Then Timber is looking around for someone, but there's no one centrally unless Havertz dropped deep, so he shifts it into Rice and onto Lewis-Skelly. Rinse and repeat, all the while, the opposition have got everyone behind the ball and closed off the gaps creating this illusion that every team plays a low block against us.

This is why I think Eberechi Eze would be such a good signing for us, he's a transition monster and does the unexpected. Too many in the team can be comfortably predicted in terms of what they'll do next, this is why I think Madueke will be an underrated signing as he also does the unexpected.

If the team selection was up to me; I'd have Raya in goal, Timber and Riccardo Calafiori at full back. William Saliba and Gabriel. Zubimendi, Rice and Odegaard. Eze (if he signs) Gyokeres and Saka. Leo Trossard if Eze doesn't. Ben White is better going forward, but Timber has everything to his game. I still want Lewis-Skelly in more of a midfield role, and I think Calafiori is way more dangerous going forward. Zubimendi and Rice need to be a double pivot with Rice playing the box-to-box role. Odegaard to move more centrally and play actually between the lines. Timber/Zubimendi/Saliba to support Saka. With Odegaard more central it'll force Gyokeres to hover in and around the box, where we need him. Then Trossard left as he's technically superior to Martinelli. Calafiori, Rice and Gabriel to support Trossard.

This would mean we have our presence back in the box. A stable midfield that would be hard to counter and players maximising the roles they're playing in. If we need to counter we can with Trossard, Gyokeres, Rice, Odegaard and Saka. I'd obviously love Eze to sign, but I think we also need to look at the left back position. Lewis-Skelly is adequate cover, but his powers are wasted there and Calafiori can't stay fit. There are a couple of good options out there. Alvaro Carreras from Benfica, Andrea Cambiaso from Juventus and Antonee Robinson from Fulham. I think it's something to explore later in the window, but for now Eze needs to be priority and shifting some surplus names.

Onto to the next Gunners!