Pain in the Arsenal
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3 positives from Arsenal’s Florida Cup demolition of Chelsea

By Adam Schultz

ORLANDO, FLORIDA - JULY 23: Gabriel Jesus of Arsenal celebrates with teammates Bukayo Saka and Granit Xhaka after scoring their side's first goal during the Florida Cup match between Chelsea and Arsenal at Camping World Stadium on July 23, 2022 in Orlando, Florida. (Photo by Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images)
ORLANDO, FLORIDA - JULY 23: Gabriel Jesus of Arsenal celebrates with teammates Bukayo Saka and Granit Xhaka after scoring their side's first goal during the Florida Cup match between Chelsea and Arsenal at Camping World Stadium on July 23, 2022 in Orlando, Florida. (Photo by Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images) /
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Arsenal were rampant against a disappointing Chelsea side as they blew Thomas Tuchel’s men away to go through their US Tour undefeated.

As far as performances in pre-season go, Arsenal’s 4-0 thumping of Chelsea was about as perfect as you can get. While there are no points on offer in the Premier League title race, it still gives confidence to the club about expectations for the upcoming season.

First-half goals from Gabriel Jesus and captain Martin Odegaard sent Arsenal on their way as Chelsea could not deal with the high-intensity pressing from Mikel Arteta’s men. Tuchel’s side could barely string two passes together for most of the half before Mason Mount saw his shot hit the woodwork on the stroke of half-time.

Tuchel made changes at the break, but aside from giving his team more possession, they did little to change the game’s outcome. Bukayo Saka followed up a Granit Xhaka shot (still mesmerised at his skill) to poke home Arsenal’s third, and Sambi Lokonga was on the end of a Cedric cross in injury time to head home the Gunners’ fourth.

3 positives from Arsenal’s Florida Cup demolition of Chelsea

There were plenty of positives from the 4-0 thumping of our London rivals. Here they are.

1. Gabriel Jesus and the forward link-up

We knew we would get high-intensity pressing from the 25-year-old Brazilian, but another thing is his link-up play with others around him.

Jesus was, again, sensational against Chelsea doing that exact thing. His ability to come deep to receive a pass, turn his defender to then lay the ball off to Gabriel Martinelli, Bukayo Saka, or Martin Odegaard was beautiful.

His pace, movement, and football IQ were off the charts as the Blues backline couldn’t deal with him. The little body feints, flicks, and tenacity to keep ahold of the ball before passing to a teammate to keep the move going forward were very noticeable.

The front four were just about unplayable, and Jesus was the primary catalyst for that. He does everything Arteta wants, and we can now see why the Spaniard was so desperate to get the Brazilian to north London.

For the first time in what feels like forever, Arsenal are heading into the league season with a number nine who will strike fear into every defence he comes up against.

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