The Community Shield gets a Arteta lot of criticism and there was considerable debate as to whether or not the 2020 competition should go ahead, with good reason. It’s been a year like no other and football has been drastically impacted. However, for the clubs involved, its essentially a win-win. The winner gets another addition to their trophy cabinet. If you lose, it was just a glorified pre season friendly and good run out for players fitness. On Saturday, it was Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal side who were celebrating lifting the trophy for the 4th time since their 2014 FA cup win. The players and staff did the usual winning a trophy stuff and the scenes were in fact very similar to those a month ago, when Arsenal beat Chelsea 2-1 to win their 14th Fa Cup. This time, however, Pierre Emerick Aubameyang didn’t drop the trophy. It was a good way to start of what’s going to be a long, hard season for the Gunners.
Arsenal once again relied on the immense quality of star striker Aubameyang who finished of a beautiful move-not too dissimilar to the buildup play we seen for the Gabonese forwards first strike against Manchester City in the FA cup semifinal. Arsenal probably aren’t playing the type of football Mikel Arteta ideally wants us to play on a consistent basis at the moment, but the buildup to the opener at Wembley on Saturday was an example of the new managers philosophy being put into practice. Arteta has been praised for instilling a greater degree of mental strength to his side and we seen this side of their game in their reaction to Minamoto’s equaliser with the Gunners holding strong defensively and even pushing for a winner. Joe Willocks headed chance was, thankfully, not costly. Penalties are a nerve racking experience for players and fans alike but all five of all Arsenals takers showed calmness under pressure and stepped up when it really mattered. Reiss Nelson, who took and scored Arsenal’s first penalty was very eager to take one having missed out as a 17 year old. Speaking to the clubs official Nelson, still just 20, said:
‘I really wanted to take a penalty (in 2017) but I think I was 17 at the time and the boss didn’t let me take it’
“So I said to myself if I ever get the opportunity to take one again then I’ll be the first one and I’ll be confident and just pick a spot and pick it.
“I got an opportunity, went to Mikel and said I’ll take it, then I was brave and he let me take it.’
Its quite impressive that a player of that age is willing to put himself forward in a situation such as this and speaks to the character of the player. In the past, it’s been said that Arsenal’s players shy away on the big occasion. You could certainly argue that the Community shield is not exactly a big occasion but it’s silverware and the players showed mettle to achieve what they did.
Arsenal also continued their defensive improvement on Saturday with Rob Holding, David Luiz and Kieran Tierney making a pretty formidable shield in front of Emiliano Martinez, who started in spite of reports suggesting that Arsenal would be open to letting him leave. When this shield was breached, and it was towards the end of the game as the player tired, Martinez was there to keep Arsenal in the game. The Argentine made two really good saves from Sadio Mane. Granit Xhaka was impressive at the heart of midfield, as was Mohammed Elneny. The Egyptian spent last season on loan at Besiktas and it was generally assumed by most that he would be either sold or loaned out again this window. However, having started against MK Dons last week and again on Saturday, he may yet stay. Maitland-Niles, another player who has been strongly linked with an exit also played the full game and was hugely impressive on the left hand side. It was reported by Sky Sports just days previous to the game that he was close to joining Wolves on a permanent deal. It’s difficult to know exactly what’s going on here but he’s certainly a player who has the ability to really add something to this Arsenal team. Hector Bellerin was generally decent but looked pretty exhausted and was replaced by Cedric. Aubameyang was excellent once again. The array of goals he’s capable of scoring is just incredible. Hes such a rare talent and the sooner his contract renewal is announced, the better. Nketiah worked hard up front and perhaps should have done better with an effort just inside Liverpool’s box shortly after Aubameyang’s opener. Saka once again showed his quality with a sumptuous pass for the goal and caused problems for Andy Robertson. Overall, this win and the performance that went with it should give the team big confident boost. No, its not the most celebrated trophy in the world but its another addition to a bulging cabinet. ‘Winning is a habit’ and the players will learn and benefit from this experience.
Areta and co won’t have much time to enjoy this win with the opening premier league fixture just under 2 weeks away. There is also a way to go in the transfer window and Arsenal are expected to finalize a new deal for Aubameyang in the coming days. The transfer of Brazilian centre back Gabriel Maghaeles is seemingly imminent while rumours continue to circulate about the possibility of Lyon midfielder Houssem Aouar and Thomas Partey of Atletico Madrid joining the club. So far though, we have heard nothing concrete. In terms of outgoings, David Ornstein reported on the eve of the community shield that Rob Holding was close to signing for Newcastle on loan while there’s the aforementioned Maitland-Niles and Martinez stories. Meanwhile, Italian outlet RAI report that Sokratis is close to joining Napoli. There continues to be questions surrounding the futures of Lucas Torreira, Alexandre Lacazette and Sead Kolasinac. Finally, the club confirmed today that Henrikh Mykitaryan has left the club to join Roma on a permanent deal.
TheGoonerStation 