Genclerbirligi 0 – 3 Arsenal + We’ve signed a Brazilian
549 comments July 20th, 2007
As the final tome in the Harry Potter series is leaked throughout the web, viewers of ArsenalTVonline will yesterday have caught an advanced glimpse of our own boy wonder, Theo Walcott, firing on all cylinders. The teenager scored the second and layed on the first for Robin van Persie in an impressive 3-0 victory.
The players who had been involved in International fixtures returned to the squad yesterday, most prominently in the case of Bacary Sagna, who started at right-back. Indeed, he was the only change from the game at Barnet.
It was a Sagna through-ball that set Walcott away to cross for Robin van Persie to tap in the opener. Then in the second half, an Adebayor pass was dummied by the Dutchman, and Walcott produced an accomplished finish.
A third was added late on, when more good work from Adebayor culminated in him laying the ball of for Robin van Persie to score with his right foot, of all things.
With twenty minutes to go, a flurry of substitutions saw Eduardo make his debut, and gave Niklas Bendtner his first Arsenal appearance in over a year. There’s a match report here and all the goals are viewable here.
It’s always hard to guage performances in friendlies, but Eduardo looked lively and showed unsurprisingly good technique. Sagna seemed solid enough at right-back but wasn’t really tested, and Adebayor and Van Persie combined well – we’ll need them to if we’re to have any success this season.
Afterwards Arsene denied he held any interest in signing Nicolas Anelka, and said the purchase of Eduardo meant that no more strikers would be coming in. Annoyingly, he wasn’t asked about whether or not he might pursue a wide midfielder. Although this interview with Eduardo intimates that he can play wide, I suspect he means in a 4-3-3 rather than a 4-4-2.
Theo Walcott showed glimpses of his potential yesterday, but I personally don’t believe he has the maturity to hold that position all season long. Neither do I believe Alex Hleb or Freddie Ljungberg to be penetrative enough. I don’t mind if we bring in someone on the right, or shift Rosicky out there and sign another left-sided player. It feels like we’re one player short of a very solid squad, and I hope Arsene ammends this before the season starts.
Well, at least we’ve signed someone: 17-year-old Brazilian (yes, a proper one – no Broatian or Crazilian splices here) left-back/winger/striker called Pedro, who was presented at Salamanca yesterday. They were the club who took Carlos Vela on loan last year, and it seems that they might become quite a useful “parking” club whilst we wait for South American youngsters to become eligible. Although it’s as yet unconfirmed, Pedro could be joined by Angel Di MarÃa, a 19-year old Argentinian midfielder who is obviously a bit special.
ps. I like the white kit. Sue me.
UPDATE 9.33am: according to this Swedish newspaper and some people who understand Swedish, Freddie is staying. My dreams of a new winger are slowly dying.
