Defeat in a pre-season friendly was never likely to provoke fireworks from Mikel Arteta, but reading between the lines, it’s fair to say he wasn’t exactly thrilled with what he saw during Arsenal’s 3-2 loss to Villarreal.
Sloppy at the back and disjointed in attack, the Gunners turned in another stodgy performance that suggests there’s still plenty of work to be done on the training ground ahead of the Premier League opener against Manchester United in 10 days.
Supporters at the Emirates had turned up hoping to see new signing Viktor Gyokeres give them something to get excited about. Instead, it was Nicolas Pepe, back to haunt his old club, who opened the scoring for a lively Villarreal side that, until now, hadn’t won a game all summer.
On a day when an ex-Sp*rs player, Arnaut Danjuma, scored what proved to be the winner, the positives were few: a competent (and goalscoring) performance from Christian Norgaard, another fearless cameo from 15-year-old Max Dowman, who won a penalty, and return-from-injury minutes for Gabriel Magalhaes and Jurrien Timber.
That was pretty much that. Even an unnecessary penalty shootout, a chance, at least, to give the fans something to cheer, ended on a sour note, with new boy Noni Madueke missing the decisive kick.
“We’re disappointed with the result,” Arteta told Arsenal.com. “I think we were a bit naive, especially the way we defended open spaces and the counter-press in a few moments – I think they had three shots, three goals.
“In that sense, we’re not happy, but in a lot of things that I saw, very, very happy. Our efficiency in the final third has to improve, that’s for sure, but a lot of the things we do in all departments, I think we are in a good place.
“But again, that pain in the belly about losing a game is necessary, and is something positive we can use for Saturday [against Athletic Bilbao] and the start of the season.”
For Norgaard, a first chance to play in Arsenal colours at the Emirates made for another memorable experience. He even demonstrated his penalty box prowess, converting a header from a deep Gabriel Martinelli corner to reduce the arrears late in the first half. We’ll be hoping to see more of that this season.
“It was fantastic of course, walking onto the pitch, knowing you’re an Arsenal player,” Norgaard told Arsenal.com.
“I’ve tried a few times being in the opposing team and it’s more fun to wear the Arsenal shirt! It was a big moment of course.
“It was a big moment as well (to score), but I couldn’t really enjoy it as much as I would have because of the scoreline at the time. And also, not being able to win of course this game at home. But there’s still some things we need to improve before the season starts.”
He added: “It’s just the final execution in both ends. They had two or three chances, and they scored on all of them. And we had so many almost-chances like that where we just didn’t execute well enough.
“So that’s what we have to work on the last 10 or 11 days before the season starts. And if we get that right I’m sure we will be fine in the season.”
Here’s hoping!