Arsenal's pre-season is concerning but fans shouldn't be worried just yet

Arsenal's preparations for the 2026/27 season have been pretty concerning, but there is no need for supporters to be worried just yet.

The Gunners have played three games so far, winning one and losing two, with their defeats causing plenty of panic among the fanbase. A 3-1 loss to Real Betis in Dublin came from a very sloppy performance filled with errors while a 3-2 defeat at the hands of Borussia Dortmund in the Emirates Cup continued the pre-season woes.

Despite showings looking quite poor and way below expectations, there is still time to go until the campaign begins and fans don't need to go into panic mode because of two meaningless defeats.

Arsenal fans don't need to be worried despite poor pre-season

Most clubs use their pre-season campaign as an opportunity to give their players minutes in the legs before getting down to business in their respective league, and Arsenal are one of those, but this year's preparations have been slightly different.

The Gunners saw 16 players travel to this summer's World Cup and with football's biggest competition taking place from 11 June to 19 July, the club were forced to begin their pre-season later than usual, not contesting their first match until 1 August.

With plenty of Mikel Arteta's international representatives making it to the last stages of the tournament, a number of key men are yet to return, forcing him to field second options, academy stars and players who look set for a departure throughout the friendlies so far.

Bukayo Saka, Declan Rice, Noni Madueke, Eberechi Eze, David Raya, Martín Zubimendi and Mikel Merino are all set to return to full training tomorrow, having had an extended period of rest following the World Cup, while William Saliba remains absent with a long-term injury and Jurrien Timber prepares for a comeback in a few weeks. Bruno Guimarães is also awaiting his debut after joining from Newcastle on Saturday.

Arsenal have clearly missed these players and that has been evident in their performances with the likes of Kepa Arrizabalaga and Fábio Vieira not really meeting the standards set by their superiors.

With one more friendly to go against Cesc Fàbregas' Como, the Gunners can turn their pre-season around before beginning their campaign with the Community Shield against Manchester City next Sunday ahead of their Premier League opener clash with Coventry City.

The key players will likely be given somewhat of a runout on Wednesday ahead of making their full returns in the season's curtain-raiser at the Millennium Stadium so they will be ready for the real business to begin as they look to defend the league title.

Nowadays, pre-season results never really reflect how a team's campaign will go, especially when games that have already been decided have a penalty shootout for the entertainment factor. Cue Sean Dyche.

Last summer, Arsenal lost two of their five friendlies and went on to win the Premier League. Tottenham lost just one of their six and barely survived by finishing 17th last season. That says it all.

Arteta's pre-season record with the Gunners is not incredible and is surprisingly somewhat inconsistent. Having managed 29 matches, he has failed to win 12 of those, but despite falling in short in preparations, the club's trajectory under his leadership has been mostly positive.

While this summer's pre-season has been poor and quite concerning, fans can't read too much into it and get worried. There has been less time for preparations due to the World Cup and Arsenal have been without several key players due to the tournament so reliance on squad players, academy stars and those heading for the exit door was never going to paint the picture of the season ahead.

Once the whole squad is back and in their full flow, the Gunners will return to their best and will be ready for the Premier League title defence that awaits them in the 2026/27 campaign.

Add us as a preferred source on Google