Attacker’s resurrection, areas to improve, other takeaways from Arsenal’s pre-season

Arsenal have done well so far in the pre-season games despite playing without some of their key players.

Although they were beaten by Real Madrid and Lyon, Emery’s side looked convincing in their wins over Colorado Rapids, Bayern Munich, Fiorentina, and Angers.

With their clash against Barcelona for the Joan Gamper Trophy on Sunday being their last pre-season fixture, here are three significant points from the Premier League outfit’s pre-season so far.

There is a decent pool of young talents at the club

The north London outfit have perennially emphasised the growth of the youth players, and it is good to see that Emery has stuck to the ethos.

While Eddie Nketiah has shown killer instincts in the attacking sector, Joe Willock has been brilliant in the middle of the park. Besides, Tyreece John-Jules has also been really impressive.

Emiliano Martinez and Matt Macey have been decent between the sticks, and the duo could be used as a backup for Bernd Leno under the bar next season.

It has also been intriguing to see that Arsenal’s summer signing Gabriel Martinelli has adjusted well in Emery’s setup, and the winger might play a big role in the coming seasons.

Arsenal’s defensive woes are still existent

Despite receiving Emery’s backing, Shkodran Mustafi appeared sloppy at the back in the pre-season games and was far from convincing.

His lack of awareness and defensive deficiencies were evident, and his passes were all over the place. Simply put, Arsenal cannot rely on him in the upcoming campaign.

Left-back Sead Kolasinac might have impressed while going forward, but he left his defensive duties unattended on many occasions.

Laurent Koscielny is set to leave and it goes without saying that the Gunners need a proven central defender by hook or by crook.

Emery seems to have a preferred formation, finally

While operating with a 4-3-3 or a 4-4-2 formation, Arsenal struggled to play a fluid brand of football. However, things changed every time they switched to 4-2-3-1 formation.

With a 4-2-3-1 setup, the wingers showed greater intent of pushing higher up the pitch and the likes of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Henrikh Mkhitaryan were impeccable.

Besides, it also allowed Mesut Ozil the leeway in attack, with two holding midfielders behind him, and the former German international linked up well with Alexandre Lacazette.

Ozil made the most of the pockets of space around him to create goal-scoring opportunities for his teammates , and Emery might prefer the same formation when the season begins.