Arteta’s Possible Starting Lineup for Barca Clash
Mikel Arteta will surely be keen to showcase the potential of Arsenal’s new recruits, with Declan Rice, Kai Havertz, and Jurrien Timber all expected to feature in some capacity during Thursday’s early moring game against Barcelona. I think all Arsenal fans will be eager to see how they perform together on the pitch now they’ve had a few more training sessions with the squad.
The central midfield duo of Rice and Partey, alongside the experienced Martin Odegaard, is likely to start in midfield with maybe Havertz coming on later. I think they can dominate the middle of the park and provide stability and creativity for the forward line.
In the goalkeeping department, first-choice shot-stopper Aaron Ramsdale is expected to retain his position, leaving Alex Runarsson or Karl Hein as the backup option.
On the defensive front, Jurrien Timber will be competing with Ben White for the right-back position. The battle for that spot promises to be intense as both players seek to impress the manager and secure a starting role.
The back four is another area where Arteta has options. Kieran Tierney, Gabriel, Tomiyasu, Jakub Kiwior, and Rob Holding will be eager to stake their claims but Zinchenko is still recovering from his injury.
Upfront, Gabriel Jesus could potentially replace Eddie Nketiah as the central striker, flanked by the dynamic duo of star wingers Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Martinelli.
So here is my preferred starting XI to face Barcelona:
Ramsdale
Timber…Gabriel…Saliba…Tierney
Partey..Rice..Odegaard
Saka..Jesus..Martinelli
What do you think Arteta will choose?
Daniel O
Good choice. Probably our strongest team right now.
That’s a good line up Daniel O, but how can you make a £65 mill sign6 on a massive salary and can’t make the first eleven.
It just don’t smell right, but I like your line up and can see where you are coming from.
I would only switch the center back to either sides
The best line-up we have isn’t necessarily the best for preseason. Saka and Martinelli started the last game, surely we should be giving others a start.
Players that didn’t start or play a full game last game should be starting to get their fitness levels up. Apart from that, it matters little who starts or finishes. And Barca have the squits flying through their squad apparently.
That’s an unpleasant thought
Arteta should be thinking about the coming season and making an informed decision on our starting line up.The backline is pretty clear save for the L.B. For me Kiwior should start in that position next season & so he should be given a run.Next is who replaces G.X,for me it’s Rice &so he should play alongside partly.Lastly it’s a decision on G.J backup,for me Nketiah has had his chance &it’s time Balogun is given an opportunity.
Partey and Rice can’t be on the pitch at the same time only if we want to play defensive game
I call BS on that
Ramsdale
B.white Gabriel Saliba Kiwior
Odegaard Partey Rice
Saka Balogun Trossard
1.Save for Kiwior,Balogun and Trossard this is arguably our starting 11.Kiwiors physicality and versatility makes me think he should be our starting L.B
2.D.Rice should gel with Partey &Odegaard ASAP hence the need to play them together more.
3.Balogun is our main case Study this pre season.Let him get a run in a strong line up &see if he can lead the line for us now that we aren’t signing another C.F
4.Trossard cuts across as a more composed player to start our matches,he seems to waste lesser chances compared to G.M who to me can give us a better output if he comes in when our opponents have tired legs.
Balogun should lead the line in our Attack this season!
Despite being young, He is tall and Aggressive.
Nicholas Anelka won the EPL golden boot @18yrs, ffs!
Arteta seems Poor in instilling Confidence into young Players!😕
See how he ditched Maitland Miles and very soon, Lokonga!😒
Arteta is unlikely to show his best hand in a pre season friendly but if he does Ben White will start as he was arguably our most consistent defender last season.Personally I would field a back four of White,Saliba,Kiwior and Tierney and I would use Timber as DM to support Rice.I would also rest Saka and Martinelli and start ESR and Trossard.If Arteta is not prepared to give all his players some game time in fairly meaningless games what is the point in strengthening our squad?
Runerson
Cedric holding Kiowi Tierney
Jorginho lokonga
Vieria havertz Tavares
Eddie
That team will certainly put our Premier League rivals off the scent but knowing our luck will wallop Barca 😂
The starting line really depends on what MA wants to achieve in this game. Your 11 is probably the best 11 with maybe arguably White is 50/50 with Timber. Timber May edge it to offset Tierney not inverting so much. That said, if MA wants to take each game as opportunity for certain players to gel, we may still start with Havartz.
Ramsdale
White Saliba Kiwior Tierney
Partey Rice
Saka Odegaardt Martinelli
Jesus
2nd half
Turner
Timber White Gabriel Tomiyasu
Havertz Jorginho
Nelson EsR Trossard
Nkethia
I would prefer Arteta to continue to test and tinker his players in meaningless friendlies. Yes, all these games are recreational and trainings. Just relax and hope the fans will calm down. The club should planning for long term success and not short term entertainment for fans. Only race mode team for EPL and CL.
It has become crystal clear that Havertz is a MISTAKE purchase from Arteta.😟
Nobody has put in on his Preferred 1st 11 line up.
Such a waste of 65million.😌
We should have kept that Money aside or go Cheaper for Wilfred Zaha or Allain St Maximim!
Statiscally in order to give an analysis on something or someone, a reasonable sample size is used to draw a conclusion. For example a pool of about a few hundred or thousand ppl, from different geographical locations, will be asked who they support in an election to determine who is favourite. Asking 2 ppl or using 2 occasions only whould make a finding unreliable & bias.
Its evidently clear some ppl are intellectually delinquent when ignoring these factors before making astute comments.
For this reason i never take such comments seriously a i view it as childish trolling and lack of intelligence.
Nice one BB.I just hope those who have joined the anti Havertz lobby will have the common decency to admit they were wrong when the talented young German produces the goods for us.
Nobody has anything against Havertz but if Partey, Rice and Odegaard take the midfield roles,
Where on Earth will he now play?😒
If you put him as a Striker, that’s worse because he is Slow, languid and can’t Press.😕
He becomes a Worse Form of Olivier Giroud.🤨
Honestly, he is a PROBLEM to the team currently.
The essence of pre-season football,in my opinion,is to get players fit,bed in the new players and to experiment because it is risky to experiment in competitive games.For this reason, I think the new players should get as many minutes as possible to help them acclimate to the team. I also think the players who didn’t get as many minutes due to injury and other reasons should get chances to prove themselves. It’s not a competitive game per se. The manager should therefore make choices that will help him achieve his objectives for pre season.
Correct, results are totally unimportant, it is all about being fit and firing for the first day of the season. Its nice to win but thats all and it means zilch. People do not understand what goes on in pre season, the results are unimportant.
I would actually give our second string a go. See whose up to par, and who doesn’t make the cut.
Goalkeeper – Hein (See if he’s good enough to be a third choice)
Now here’s a great chance to work out our back up back line.
Right back – Timber
Centre back – Tomiyasu
Centre back – Kiwior
Left Back – Tierney
Now Arteta could start Rice, Havertz and Odegaard again to get them more used to each other. But I would continue the 2nd team theme.
Now in my opinion with troussard backing up Martinelli, we should try bringing Smith Rowe into midfield.
Defensive midfield – Jorginho
Centre midfield – Smith Rowe
Centre midfield – Viera
Then the 3 up top.
Left wing – Trousaard
Striker – Balagon
Right wing – Nelson
Viera’s goal was a beauty to close the game out.
Much better looking game, not too worried about score more that we actually turned up.
Only managed to catch the first half because of work. Glad Havertz could get on the score sheet too.
The odd trend that MA seems to want to forget is that when we don’t have the majority of possession we seem to do better, we are a very good counter attack. Hopefully we learn to sit a bit deeper and draw teams out and then hit them on the attack fast.