What is the story about?
And
the 2026-27 season is underway! Arsenal downed Girona 4-1 to start their preseason slate of matches. Next up is a trip to Dublin to face Hector Bellerin’s Real Betis. Then it’s Dortmund in the Emirates Cup and a match against Como before the Community Shield on August 16th. Arsenal open the Premier League season (and their title defense) against newly promoted Coventry at the Emirates on August 21st.
Observations from the match:
- Tossup between who should get first mention between Christos Tzolis and Max Dowman.
- Tzolis impressed in his first appearance in an Arsenal shirt, scoring the second goal of the match by cutting in from the left wing and firing low to the far corner. Expect to see a fair bit of that this season. He’s direct and looks to shoot, as advertised.
- Dowman is fantastic. He’s going to be a semi-regular sub in the Premier League this season. He assisted Kai Havertz for the first goal, scored the third himself, and had a couple of good instances of tracking back to fulfill his defensive duties. You know that’s the real way to Mikel Arteta’s heart. Dowman did play a poor back pass that should have gifted Girona a goal.
- Kai Havertz looks spry. Having him fit (fingers crossed) will be Like A New Signing. He’s really good.
- Lovely to see Ben White back on the pitch. He and Riccardo Calafiori on the other side seemed to be making runs up the interior channel a decent bit, more than usual. Perhaps that’s a bit of a new wrinkle.
- Ethan Nwaneri didn’t really stand out, which is a bummer.
- Gabriel Jesus scored after good pressure from Ben White forced a high turnover. As Tim Stillman wrote, the Brazilian attacker could be a bit of an X-factor if he can stay fit (and isn’t sold). He’s a talented player that has been derailed by injuries.
- Marli Salmon is an excellent player. He’s flown under the radar a bit because of Max Dowman, but the other Hale End 16-year old spending plenty of time around the first team is no slouch. He’s composed on the ball, which is mandatory for a top-level CB these days. He looks to have bulked up a bit, too. It might be even more impressive that he’s standing out at CB compared to Dowman on the wing. Central defense is a tough position to learn.
- Illan Meslier made two excellent reaction saves minutes after coming onto the field. He got down well to both his left and right, including one against the direction of his momentum.
- Good stuff for all the academy younguns’ to get on the pitch throughout the match. Ismeal Kabia showed good pace. Louie Copley seemed to be on and around the ball frequently. Caedach O’Neill hit the bar with a header.
