So since we last spoke, Arsenal won the Community Shield quite convincingly, then opened the Premiership campaign with a 2-1 victory over Crystal Palace at the Emirates. Tomorrow, we travel to Turkey to face Besiktas in the Champions League qualification round first leg. Busy times all around but so far, so good.
I didn't get to watch the Palace game live, but I did watch it on DVR. Understandably, we looked a little sluggish & disjointed, likely due to the number of members of our squad who participated in the World Cup. That, plus Crystal Palace's blockade-style setup, made for a mostly frustrating match for the Gunners, except for our ability to get two goals just in the nick of time.
After Hangeland's opener from a corner kick for Palace gave them a 1-0 lead, Arsenal returned the favor through Laurent Koscielny in first half stoppage time. Then in the second half, Welsh Jesus scored off a rebound in stoppage time again to steal the three points for us, really. While it was disconcerting to see us concede another set piece goal, it was encouraging that we did what we had to do to get a win in the end, whether we played well or not. Cliche or not, it's more important to get wins at this stage until we work our way into form with each coming match. After Besiktas, it's Everton at Goodison Park, so we have to get better in a real hurry.
I think it's going to take us some time to regain the fluidity in our performances with our German contingent of Ozil, Mertesacker and Podolski yet to return to the lineup. Plus, our new signings are being thrown right into the starting lineup, which isn't a surprise for Alexis and Debuchy, but it still means they are getting used to playing with a whole new squad and a mostly new style of play. Another very encouraging sign is that 19-year old Calum Chambers looks the most settled and composed of the new field players we've signed (Ospina is still recovering from injury as Szczesny's backup in goal).
Even with that, I think we're still a signing or two away from fully fleshing out our squad with the obvious need for another center back and maybe even another body for the midfield. At this stage, we're probably looking at another deadline day deal if that is going to happen, but we will still be acclimating another new player into the system after the games have well and truly gotten going.
So right now, all that really matters are the results. Besiktas features a couple of familiar faces in ex-Chelsea and Newcastle striker Demba Ba, as well as former Arsenal youngster Oguzhan Ozyakup. We already face a bit of a fitness shortage at defense with Kieran Gibbs out for three weeks and Koscielny a doubt to start the match, but what else is new? Last year, we beat Fenerbahce 3-0 in the first leg so while I'm hopeful for more of the same, just to keep a clean sheet and nick a goal or two would set us up well enough for the return leg in London.
That's it for now though, until later.
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