Arsenal faced Lyon in their final pre-season friendly of the summer, winning 2-0 at the Emirates Stadium on Sunday.
First-half goals from centre-backs William Saliba and Gabriel sealed a comfortable victory over the French visitors, while there was excitement in the second half as Italy international defender Riccardo Calafiori played in Arsenal colours for the first time.
The Athletic’s Jordan Campbell breaks down some of the key points from the game.
Arsenal’s set-piece threat is as big as ever
If Lyon arrived at the Emirates expecting a peaceful afternoon, the sight of Arsenal’s two centre-back giants trundling into their penalty area for the seventh corner of the first half surely spoiled that notion.
Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta does not do half-measures. His team pressed Lyon like demons and executed their corner-kick plans with military focus.
🎶 Du du du du du du du du 🎶
Don’t forget the game is LIVE on https://t.co/4KJlfKW7rt, Gooners 👇
🔴 1-0 ⚫️ (15)
— Arsenal (@Arsenal) August 11, 2024
Declan Rice took a couple of deliveries to get his eye in but, once he did, Saliba and Gabriel both scored with headers courtesy of smart routines which dragged everyone to the front area.
For rival teams hoping set-piece coach Nicolas Jover had enjoyed a summer off from choreographing such moves, it appears he spent it plotting yet more of his elaborate schemes.
🏁 Back underway in the Emirates Cup…
Don’t miss the second-half action on https://t.co/4KJlfKW7rt 📺
Let’s keep this going, Gunners ✊
🔴 2-0 ⚫️ (46)
— Arsenal (@Arsenal) August 11, 2024
Welcome, Riccardo Calafiori
He looks like he could be a movie star and the Italian received a rousing reception befitting one when he made his Arsenal debut here in front of the home fans.
It has been a careful introduction to Arsenal life for the defender signed from Bologna in a £42million ($53.6m) deal but he played the final half-hour against Lyon, which will help get him up to speed and adapt to his new team.
As Arsenal’s big buy of the summer (so far), the excitement around Calafiori following his classy performances for defending champions Italy at Euro 2024 was palpable. He already has a pair of fans’ songs about him that were belted out on Sunday, and he played with the calmness of someone completely at ease despite the spotlight being on him.
While it was not a long stint, he came on initially at left-back and later moved inside to left centre-back in a back four once Myles Lewis-Skelly came on for the last 10 minutes or so. That will accelerate his understanding of Arteta’s system, even if he did not have much to do defensively.
Calafiori pressed aggressively and showed his composure when he plucked a long ball out of the air with two Lyon attackers at his back.
(Catherine Ivill – AMA/Getty Images)
The midfield conundrum that Arteta still needs to solve
Arteta went with the midfield trio that finished the final five league games of last season: Rice, Thomas Partey and Martin Odegaard. Could it be here to stay?
Partey missed much of last season with injury, which is why it took until late April for him to come into the team at the base of midfield.
Arteta strives for the perfect balance but has yet to quite find it with Arsenal’s pursuit of Real Sociedad and Spain midfielder Mikel Merino a sign he believes there are gains still to be made in this department.
Will Rice feature more as a No 6 or No 8 this season? (David Price/Arsenal FC via Getty Images)
It is why the option of Partey has perhaps been forgotten but Arteta never had the chance to pair him and new signing Rice together at the start of the season. Against Lyon, they were able to overpower the middle of the pitch and allow Odegaard the freedom to drift.
Their physical presence as a duo elevates Arsenal but does it make them more secure compared to when Jorginho plays as a No 6 or Kai Havertz plays as a left No 8 with Rice deeper? It is a question of trust and, while Arenal had almost complete control against Lyon, there were a couple of occasions where the Ligue 1 side were able to counter after Partey had given the ball away and left a gap to be exploited.
Has Bukayo Saka added a new weapon to his, er, Arsenal?
When you think of Saka, you think of the Arsenal and England winger cutting inside onto his left foot and curling a shot into the far corner, or even his new trademark finish on his right, high at the near post. But against Lyon, did we see a sneak preview of the latest tool in his arsenal — the back-post header?
Three times on Sunday, he was found with an inswinging cross after timing his run late to rise above his opposing full-back. Twice, he produced a spring Cristiano Ronaldo would have been proud of in his prime — but he did not use the air-time efficiently, putting both attempts wide.
(Angel Martinez/Getty Images)
However, it did look like a deliberate ploy and, as each season of his senior career has proven, Saka comes back with a new way of beating the previous one’s goals tally.
With only a handful of his 58 career goals coming from headers, a significant improvement in that department could be the next lever pulled in the 22-year-old’s development.
In the final months of last season, Martinelli found himself playing second-fiddle to Leandro Trossard most weeks as inconsistency saw his levels drop off compared to what he achieved a year earlier.
When the Brazilian is at his best, he can torment opposing full-backs with his pace and directness, but the other side of the coin is that there is far more waste and variability in his game than in Saka’s on the opposite flank.
Against Lyon, he played with verve and boundless energy as usual.
There appeared to be an attempt to simplify his take-on style, with Martinelli shifting the ball once and then delivering rather than chopping and changing direction, which can sometimes allow the other team to crowd him out.
(Catherine Ivill – AMA/Getty Images)
Trossard may be more efficient in his decision-making but the hope is that this will come in time with Martinelli, who, it should be remembered, only turned 23 in June.
What he offers that no other attacking player at Arsenal does is blistering pace and a threat on the break. Martinelli was played clean through twice here, by Odegaard and Havertz, but the first time his touch took him wide and with the second he tried to cut across the last man and got muscled out of it.
If he can be more decisive in such moments, Martinelli will restore a lethal counter-attacking threat to Arsenal’s attacking menu.
What did Mikel Arteta say?
We will bring you this after he has spoken at the post-match press conference.
What next for Arsenal?
Saturday, August 17: Wolverhampton Wanderers (H), Premier League, 3pm BST, 10am ET
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(Top photo: Getty Images)
