Arsenal Preseason Position Battles to Watch
Arsenal have typically had a pretty settled hierarchy entering preseason this year it looks different
Preseason is often a fun but pretty chill time to be a fan. If you’re an overseas fan you might get the chance to see them in person and if not, you get to see the team again after a summer off. It’s the first chance to see new players and new kits and just a less intense time of year where optimism for the coming season is high.
This summer it feels like the level of anticipation and the stakes are way higher than normal. Normally, I don't care about the friendlies all that much and that is the general consensus for everyone expect Erik ten Hag but this time the matches really can help us learn about the team quite a bit.
Arsenal have five friendlies this preseason to gear up for the season:
Wednesday, July 23
Arsenal v Milan (Singapore)
Sunday, July 27
Arsenal v Newcastle (Singapore)
Thursday, July 31
Arsenal v Tottenham (Hong Kong)
Wednesday, August 6
Arsenal v Villarreal (Emirates Stadium)
Saturday, August 9
Arsenal v Athletic Club (Emirates Stadium)
This should give us some nice opportunities to learn about how the team looks after a busy summer and to start trying to make some calls on how the depth chart will shake out.
This is my current view of the Arsenal depth chart (with players who’s transfers look done on reports in green):
The team has come together pretty nicely but with so many changes it is still tough to put players into these spots with high confidence and that is something I hope to leave preseason with.
Let’s start out big looking at these position battles.
Striker
Arsenal have finally bought a striker so why are we considering this a battle?
For all of the excitement that the Viktor Gyokeres signing brings, and there has been a lot once the striker search coalesced around him as the choice, there are still nagging concerns. We don’t need to go through all of these again here but they are there plus there is the fact that for how maligned he is, Kai Havertz has been a very good striker for Arsenal playing from that position.
Havertz has also come into preseason in the Best Shape of His Life! A classic cliché for a new season and a player that has his spot under pressure.
What I am looking for in preseason from this battle:
Can Havertz more effectively generate his own shot, either through more relentless running, a few more selfish runs, or little bits of skill to create shooting lanes? I do think that if Havertz can add a shot to a shot and half to his game he can be a top striker.
How does Gyokeres look against better defenders? This one will still be tough to judge in preseason with the games are played at below 100% effort but I am looking at does he still bully them and have the ability to create enough openings for shots without them being blocked.
How do the left side dynamics look with Gyokeres? He is a player that likes to drift out to that side and how he can interchange and play off of the left pod will be key. If he can get that understanding down and help those players get more into the game it would be a major plus for him winning the position.
Prediction:
Before seeing a ball kicked my view right now is that Havertz has the edge.
I would have him starting against Manchester United and most of the games in the tough first part of the season. He is a known quantity that isn’t adapting to a new team and league, and he has performed well in Arsenal’s big games previously, these factors put him just ahead for me right now.
Right Back
The highest level of sports is very much a what have you done for me lately business.
This is something that seems to have struck Ben White pretty significantly with Arsenal fans. Last season he was only able to make 17 starts in all competitions on 26 total matches and 17 nineties played. He missed a significant chunk of this season finally getting a nagging injury that he had played through previously addressed.
In that time Jurrien Timber stepped in coming back from his own injury and showing us why he was so highly coveted coming out of Ajax.
This has put Timber as the main guy coming into the season in many people’s minds but I can’t help but feel that this is closer than many people are giving credit for.
These players seem to be highly complementary and perfectly suited to be a platoon at the right back position.
Timber is a better lock down defender against tough wingers. He adds in very good build play being able to invert if needed or play as a back three. His attacking instincts are good but in the final third his effectiveness is an area for improvement.
White can have trouble against the best wingers; he doesn’t have the elite foot speed and burst to stick with them. His overall defending is quite good, he can read the game effectively helping him to be proactive in limiting those compromising situations. On the ball his strengths shine, he like Timber can play inverted into midfield or as part of the back three but is also more comfortable playing at the touchline. His final third play is also more developed and effective, with his absence last season being a bit underrated in analysis for Arsenal’s drop off.
What I am looking for in preseason from this battle:
How does White look holding a high line and needing to do a hard sprint in a recovery run? When he came back at the end of last year, this still looked like a major issue for him and my hope was that it was building back fitness but with a knee injury maybe he’s lost the step he needed there.
How often and how effective can Timber look making overlaps from right back? Can this become a consistent threat for him in his game.
How does the delivery of crosses from Timber look? He is a bit of a reluctant crosser (less than 1 attempted per 90) and it hasn’t been overly effective with just a 22.5% completion percentage on those attempts.
Prediction:
I think that this is probably the position that is closes to a true mix and match depending on the opponent with both players really sharing the minutes. This is a pretty bold position to stake out given that Arteta has been reluctant to do this (the closest might have been Gabriel Martinelli and Leandro Trossard) but I think this makes Arsenal the strongest version of themself.
I want to be a bit contrarian here and say I think White might have the edge here but still think that isn’t the case, Timber with his defensive solidity will probably get the nod more often as the starter for Arsenal.
Left Wing
As Arsenal prepare to kick things off for their preseason tour this is still the big item that was on the wish list of many fans to be upgraded where Arsenal have not done much or anything if you don’t include Noni Madueke as a left winger in the transfer market.
There are still rumors circulating here about potential additions (Eberechi Eze still seems plausible, Rodrygo is looking over, others could pop up in the last month) but the likelihood of a deal seems to have decreased significantly. I am reading the tea leaves and looking at the squad size here, but I also strongly believe that if there was an incoming here it would also include an exit of one of Gabriel Martinelli or Leandro Trossard.
Even without an additional signing there is the wildcard of Madueke playing off of the left as a way for him to pick up more minutes compared to him being solely a right wing rotation and backup to Bukayo Saka.
What I am looking for in preseason from this battle:
Will Martinelli show more growth in his game? Development isn’t always linear and can come in fits and starts, Martinelli took a big leap in 22/23 and since then has plateaued. He is a good player and he is probably becoming underrated but the chances that he can max out his potential are diminishing. His shots, key passes and dribbles were all down last season and if he is going to regain his spot he is going to need to reverse that trend. With more change on the left, it will be another chance to see if this can open up more situations for Martinelli to get into the areas where he can be dangerous from and if he can turn that into end product.
Is Trossard still bought in at Arsenal and does he have one more season in him? Trossard has been looking to get an improved contract at Arsenal, while he has also been exploring what opportunities are out there with other teams. It will be hard to see this from watching preseason but will he show any signs that he wants to be somewhere else or that he is potentially dropping off?
Will Madueke get looks from the left at all? This is going to be tough for him, because his time with the team will almost certainly be limited. He hasn’t had the offseason break due to playing with Chelsea in the Club World Cup and he should take some time off after a long season. My expectation would be that he would not participate in the Asian portion of preseason and would join up when the team returns to England. That would still leave him at least two friendlies to participate in and try and read too much into.
Left Back
This one is probably less of a battle than the others that we have covered but this is still a position that I will be watching very carefully over the coming month of friendly matches.
I think it is a pretty safe assumption that Myles Lewis-Skelly will start on the pole position here as the preferred left back. His emergence and growth last season was one of the highlights of the season. He went from “jeez I am not sure he can handle it out there” to “wow this guy is potential gamechanger” as a left back.
Riccardo Calafiori’s injuries last season opened the door for Lewis-Skelly and it also made him the player that was most impacted here. Calafiori was last season’s marquee signing and he still possess a unique profile and lots of talent. In his limited minutes he flashed his ability to change games that made him so coveted and while I am more worried about his ability to stay on the field, that hasn’t diminished my view on what he can potentially bring as a regular contributor.
The biggest wildcard here remains Calafiori’s fitness but also if MLS will stay as a left back or move into a midfield role.
What I am looking for in preseason from this battle:
For MLS one of the few things I will be curious about is if he gets minutes in midfield. I will also be watching to see if we get to see him perhaps be given more license to push forward and show off more of his final third passing.
For Calafiori it will be to see if there is any further refinement in his game, he still looked quite raw last season and it would be very positive if his game has a bit more polish on it. That would be a good step to seeing him be able to earn more playing time.
How Calafiori’s defensive reading of the game has grown as a left back? This was a major issue for him at times last season, he had trouble identifying when to get tight and when to drop off a winger, and this led to him being a bit too easy to get past. He doesn’t have the elite speed over short distances and he will have to make up for that with his reading of the game.
Prediction:
This position is Lewis-Skelly’s right now. He is a young player and we will want to be warry of throwing him too deep too early with the minutes load so there will be rotation here and opportunities for Calafiori but I do imagine it will be tough for him to dislodge him from the top spot.