HK NLD – will Big Vik get a run out?

Morning.

Arsenal are in more pre-season action today in a North London derby taking place in Hong Kong. Speaking ahead of the game, Mikel Arteta said:

I think to bring football tradition, a rivalry, but at the same time to do it in a completely different country, I think it’s brilliant. I think it’s an opportunity for everybody to feel that and for us as well, because for our preparation, increases the competition level again and it brings a different challenge to the game and then we’re going to be so lucky to play in this incredible stadium with 50,000 people that I’m sure they’re going to be super loud and passionate.

If you’ve seen any of the clips of training that have been doing the rounds, that point about the fans being loud and passionate seems spot on. I know it’s only training, but the ‘Ooooooh’ that rang out when Viktor Gyokeres pinged one into the top corner was really something (video from @gunnerblog). The question is whether the Swedish international will make his debut later on, and on that the manager said:

He’s only done today’s session, yesterday very little. We’re going to assess tonight how he is. If the medical staff are happy as well with his condition to participate in tomorrow’s match, it’s a possibility. We’re going to discuss that tonight.

While I’d personally be as cautious as possible, I’d think I’d be a bit surprised if he didn’t get a bit of a run out. In James’ interview in The Athletic (£), he talks about keeping his fitness up during the summer, although gym sessions and so on are no match for intense, competitive training – especially in the heat and humidity of Hong Kong right now. Nevertheless, if he got 15-20 minutes it wouldn’t shock me.

He also talks about the concern some people have about the gap between the Portuguese league and the Premier League, and how some players have struggled to bridge that:

It’s difficult to compare one player to another, and how they’re performing in a different league, because there are a lot of different factors: not only a better league, but if you play in a better team, that also makes it easier — especially if you’re an attacking player. So we’ll have to see.

There was another interesting snippet in The Athletic piece about how Gyokeres’ desire to run in behind, something that made him a big success at Sporting, demands a bit of a shift in style from Arteta. I think there are myriad reasons why we became a bit predictable last season, but I also believe it’s not something the manager just stuck with blindly because he believed in it. In many ways his hands were tied due to the injury list, it wasn’t him just being stubborn, and if you go back to the start of the previous season, Arteta spoke openly about the desire for his side to become more unpredictable.

After a busy summer with six players signed, and a large squad at his disposal right now, he can have no issues with depth. So then it becomes an issue of style. What qualities can these new players bring that we didn’t have before? I don’t think you get it from all of them, obviously. A back-up keeper and a solidity signing to add depth to central midfield won’t do it, but a brand new 6 in the shape of Martin Zubimendi, a fleet-footed winger like Noni Madueke, and a striker like Gyokeres certainly can give you variety and different ways of playing.

Maybe he has to adapt to Arsenal, maybe we have to adapt to him, and it’s not always smooth straight away. Given our fixture list though, we need to get everyone on the same wavelength as quickly as possible, which is why I think the sooner he plays the better, hence some involvement today. After which there are two games next week, and then it’s Man Utd to kick off the new season.

Other snippets ahead of today’s game include the absence of Gabriel and Riccardo Calafiori, which should mean a start for Jakub Kiwior alongside William Saliba. Next week should tell us a bit more, but it might well be a case that the Polish international is in the frame to start the season as the others shake-off their injury niggles. I’m also interested to see if Martin Odegaard starts today having been a second half introduction in both games so far. I’m not reading anything into that, by the way, just curious.

Anyway, we’ll bring you a report and the post-game stuff on Arseblog News a bit later on. For now, have a good one!