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Sturm Graz 0-3 Arsenal
Sturm Graz 0-3 Arsenal
Friday, 23rd Jul 2010 12:46

Pre-season preperations continue with an undeserved clean sheet.

Considering the manager said that the main area that needs to be improved is the defence, there are few signs to suggest that we will be a better defensive unit this season.

Graz came close to scoring on a number of occasions and so far there has been no change in the formation to help protect the back four. Obviously it is hard to read too much into games like these but at this stage last year, Wenger was already playing with his new formation. Allied to these concerns is the less than impressive displays from new signing Koscielny. Hopefully he will prove us wrong but so far it looks like Emile Heskey could cause him nightmares, let alone Drogba and Rooney.

In attack we were sharp as always but we have struggled for success in recent years because the balance between attack and defence has always been wrong. We have mostly been too open and then, when this is corrected, we struggle to open up the opposition.

Hopefully this will be addressed before the season starts.

There were also plenty of positives from the second friendly of the season with Samir Nasri looking particularly dominant and proving that the world will not end if the captain does depart. Nasri plays his best football from the middle of the pitch and seems to have developed more power in his game over the summer months after his lucky escape from being included in the French squad.

Another Frenchman making the headlines this morning was Thierry Henry who added to his Arsenal history by scoring against Spurs to give his new side a 1-0 lead before departing at half time. He has declared that he would be happy to come back to the club in some capacity, even as a water boy.

One man who was denied the chance of becoming an Arsenal legend is Eduardo who has been signed by Shakhtar Donetsk for £6 million. Just as he was developing into our best striker a terrible challenge effectively ended his Arsenal career. Thankfully he can still play football but he has not been the same player since his return and he has inevitably left for a decent amount of money.

We are all desperate for Aaron Ramsey to avoid the same fate so hopefully influential pundits like Alan Hansen will be as scathing about Stoke's tactics as they were about Holland's in the World Cup final.

Photo: Action Images



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