Winners and losers from Arsenal's pre-season finale amid Arteta's familiar issue
Arsenal secured a 5-4 win on penalties against Monaco in the Emirates Cup - despite the absence of the injured Gabriel Jesus.
Arsene Wenger was guest of honour at the 1-1 draw following the unveiling of his statue at the Emirates, with the pre-season mood at the stadium as high as it has ever been since his departure. A 5-3 win against Barcelona in Los Angeles provided a strong finish to a United States tour that started ominously with defeat to Manchester United.
However, the homecoming of last year's surprise title challengers against a strong Monaco side highlighted the Gunners' lack of firepower, as cheap goals continue to go in at the other end - two factors Mikel Arteta will need to correct if he is to fulfil his vow to "take the club to the next level".
Here are the winners and losers from the clash...
Jesus a worrying absence
The Brazil striker has already spoken honestly about the difficulty he had getting fit again after injuring his knee at the World Cup in December. But his absence from the team-sheet caused more than a few ripples of concern.
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"Gabby Jesus misses tonight's game due to a knee issue and will be assessed," the club posted on social media. It all sounds jaunty enough but there is no mention of "precautionary" or "minor" and one wonders if his absence will become an issue to chunks of the second season in a row.
In his absence, Arteta showed faith in Eddie Nketiah by appointing him captain and although he took his goal well enough, there were a couple of half-chances where he was caught somewhat on his heels. Bukayo Saka remained on the bench throughout - perhaps wisely Arteta is keeping the bubble wrap on for now.
Eddie Nketiah impressed against Monaco (Getty Images)What did you make of Arsenal's performance against Monaco? Let us know in the comments below!
Rice showing versatility
After 41 minutes had elapsed, Declan Rice's shirt number, the £105m man pounced on a speculative pass by Takehiro Tomiyasu, burst between two defenders... only for his shot to be blocked by Chrislain Matsima.
Hitting the back of the net would have been the perfect way to start his Emirates career - as it was the former West Ham player had to content himself with a positive display that suggests he is going to find a successful home here in the long term.
It had been anticipated that he would play in the Thomas Partey position but instead he ploughed the left channel preferred by Granit Xhaka, getting further forward than he generally has so far in his career and overlapping well with Gabriel Martinelli to suggest he will be an extra attacking force for the Gunners as much as defensive cover.
If not the captain - yet - his demeanour on the pitch definitely marked him out as a leader during his 62 minutes and that huge price tag so far seems to be sitting very comfortably around his neck.
Weakness in defence
Gabriel and William Saliba seemed to be building some sort of rapport last season. Here they took it in turns to play alongside Jakub Kiwior and it was an untidy mess.
Saliba picked up an early booking and lucky not to get a second yellow before half-time when caught out in a foot race by Youssouf Fofana. Both he and Kiwior had been left looking at each other when Youssouf Fofana snuck in to head Monaco in front.
More chaos reigned from crosses early in the second half as Takumi Minamino somehow managed to hit the post with a near open goal at his mercy and the substitution did little to settle Arsenal nerves. Title success is normally built on a solid defence and Arsenal are still a long way from that.
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Arsenal's defence remains unconvincing (Getty Images)Ramsdale refusing to buckle
Despite the very public courting of Brentford’s David Raya, Ramsdale won’t be one to give up his shirt lightly and was equal to pretty much everything thrown at him past the flimsy defence in front of him.
He could not be in the least bit faulted for the goal, having been abandoned by his defence completely. But the hesitancy still in his distribution explains why Arteta is drawn to a goalkeeper in Raya, who was likened by Jurgen Klopp to a No.10.
A strong save from Ramsdale to deny Takumi Minamino in the shoot-out ultimately proved decisive to Arsenal edging the win on penalties.
Havertz's alarming consistency
Even though Kai Havertz shook hands with Declan Rice ahead of his Emirates debut for Arsenal as a second half substitute, it was a surprise to see him play as deep as the England international in a like-for-like swap.
More worrying, in the time he was given, he struggled to impose himself much on the play at all - the reason why Chelsea were happy to sacrifice him from their overblown squad in the first place.
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