3 standout players in the pre-season defeat to Man Utd

Arsenal were dealt an unpleasant 2-0 defeat by Manchester United in their first-ever meeting on American soil.

United were very physical and seemed very intent on getting a result, more so than the Gunners. Bruno Fernandes, in particular, was excellent for the Red Devils.

Mikel Arteta named a strong starting line-up for the game, but considering it is pre-season, I’m not sure too much should be read into the result. New tactics and systems were being tried out with different combinations of players. That is the point of pre-season, not results.

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One massive positive is the quality and depth we now possess (you can read more positives and negatives here). That being said, there were poor individual performances in New Jersey.

Kai Havertz didn’t particularly look comfortable in his position, though he did drift into a good position and could have scored with a second-half header. However, for me, this game fueled the argument that Havertz will not be used as a midfielder by Arteta.

Declan Rice also had a weak performance and looked like he was struggling on the pitch. The two new signings weren’t bad necessarily, but they lacked cohesion with the rest of the group, something that you would expect.

3 standout players in the pre-season defeat to Man Utd

Let’s now get into the players that stood out for the right reasons.

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1. Jurrien Timber

In reality, it wasn’t the strongest showing from Timber either in the game. He made a brilliant pass to Bukayo Saka who then put in a cross that Gabriel Martinelli should have finished was his best moment of the contest, but it wasn’t a particular moment that made him stand out.

Instead, it was his technical security in the build-up phase. He seems like the most Arteta signing out of the three players as he looked so confident and assured on the ball.

William Saliba is one of the best and most confident defenders in the world on the ball, so this combination is going to be deadly over the next year – whenever Timber gets minutes.

At one point in the first half, Saliba and Timber were getting pressed by three United players and didn’t have many options. Still, as a fan watching at home, it felt like the United players were outnumbered.

Timber played an easy pass to Saliba, who dummied, turned and carried the ball away imperiously. The ease at which these two combine will make teams very hesitant on pressing high because, well, what would be the point?

The Dutchman already looks like a proper Arsenal player.

Continued on the next slide…