Szombathelyi 0 - 5 Arsenal

Despite the scoreline, it was a tougher test today than it has been so far in this pre-season campaign. Szombathelyi (from now on I will say 'the other team') were quite tough in the tackle, perhaps more so than they should have been in this stage of the season. In fact Wenger was seen on an occasion chatting to the referee, most probably to keep an eye on the tackles. The other team did start the better team but tired themselves out almost immediately. The first 4 goals all came in the first half. The first goal came about from excellent play by Armand Traore who continued to impress throughout the first half, not only offensively but also defensively. Traore's whipped cross to the near post was met by a wonderful glancing header by Nik B. More good play by Bendtner ended with a great finish by Eduardo into the bottom far corner. Eduardo's second was a nicely taken low freekick, although you would expect a premiership keeper to save it. The fourth, a lovely reverse pass by Wilshere offered Bendtner a chance to shoot from just outside the area, and he did so with aplomb, placing it around the keeper into the corner.

The second half brought many many changes. One sub who came on was van Persie, and he bagged our fifth from the spot. Throughout the game Wenger was playing a 4-3-3 formation, and I think it worked well once we settled into our game. In this particular game the stand-out players for me were Bendtner, Traore, Senderos and Ramsey. Despite looking lost in the previous game, today Senderos revelled in the defensive midfield position. He didn't do much offensively, but he was always there to cover and collect stray passes. Ramsey played with a maturity the belies his tender age. His passing range was phenemonal, his driving runs caused havoc in the opposition's defence, and the defensive aspect of his game also stood out (as this was a game in which he had less freedom than he did against SC Columbia). Honourable mentions should also go out to Eduardo, Vermaelen, Song and Szczesny. Vermaelen has an eye for the incisive pass out of defence as well as tracking runners behind Gallas superbly. A couple of his tackles were Bobby Mooreesque. He may well be the best defender in the premier league. Nothing like a bit of hyperbole. Song played a slightly more offensive version of the second half Senderos, and just as good. His anticipation was superb, as was his calmness in front of the back foor. Szczesny managed to unravel his massive frame to make a couple of wonder saves. Although he appears to be another one of those 'rush out off your line keepers' of which we have enough. It would seem that aspect of goalkeeping is very much a part of the training rota.

Arshavin was exceptionally disappointing as he has been all pre-season. To me, he looks like a big-game player, so perhaps he will be better against Hannover in two days time. That's my excuse anyway. He still looks unfit but there's plenty of time to work on that. It was also a shame and a surprise not to see Rosicky, but there's no point in rushing. It was also good to see Denilson not play the whole game for once. Although that did not seem to stop Wenger from bringing back on again in the second half after being subbed at half-time.

Well that's all for today. Only two days to Hannover where we'll get a better idea of where Arsenal are at.
'Til then Gooners.