Arsenal’s 2023/24 squad is starting to come together and a team likely to be very close to the one that Mikel Arteta could name for the Community Shield against Manchester City at Wembley next month took to the field against Manchester United at MetLife Stadium.
Kai Havertz, Declan Rice and Jurrien Timber each got their first starts in Arsenal colours, adding more than £200m worth of new signings to Arteta’s XI.
With Martin Odegaard and Gabriel Martinelli also staring for the first time this pre-season, it was arguably only Oleksandr Zinchenko and Gabriel Jesus that could make the team any stronger.
Arteta also opted against changing his entire team at half-time, unlike Erik ten Hag, and went for substitutions in two more slightly realistic blocks in the second half.
But it is clear there is still some work to do as Manchester United raced into a 2-0 lead before half-time and kept it that until the end of the game. The Red Devils, who had also played two warm-ups ahead of this meeting, additionally won the penalty shootout held afterwards.
Arsenal still have Barcelona to play in Los Angeles on Wednesday, before heading back to London for the 2023 edition of the Emirates Cup.
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Jurrien Timber
The cheapest (least expensive) of Arsenal’s three new signings is the one who appears to have settled most quickly. Timber showed defensive strength to contend with any marauding runs from United left-back Luke Shaw and equally demonstrated his own quality on the ball by the way he operated the inverted full-back role and moved into midfield.
Honourable mention
Bukayo Saka
Saka started th egame brightly and appears to already have a good understanding with Timber on the right-flank. That relationship will only go from strength to strength the more they play together, with this the very first time they have shared the pitch.
Kai Havertz
Although only three games into pre-season, the limited nature of Havertz’s performance here was concerning given his price tag of around £65m, his first start and the first game against meaningful opposition. The Gunners didn’t make the German one of the most expensive transfers in their history to get the same version of the player that Chelsea were happy to let go after just two years.
Dishonourable mention
Aaron Ramsdale
Ramsdale played the full 90 minutes in this game, having been replaced at half-time by Karl Hein in each of the two previous friendlies. More match practice before the season begins for real is going to be important because the opening goal scored by Bruno Fernandes was definitely very saveable.
LISTEN NOW TO 90MIN’s ARSENAL PODCAST: THE CHRONICLES OF A GOONER
On this edition of The Chronicles of a Gooner, part of the 90min podcast network, Harry Symeou assesses the pre-season defeat to Man Utd, discusses the midfield balance, plus Havertz, Rice, Balogun, Partey and Timber. If you can’t see this embed, click here to listen to the podcast!
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