Emmanuel-Thomas pulled to the right and toyed with his markers like a larger, left footed Thierry Henry. To think that he is only 19 years of age is quite frightening. A player like Emile Heskey could only dream of having the ability of JET

Sturm Graz 0 Arsenal 3 – Pre Season Friendly

Another pre season game finished with, another step closer to Premier League fitness for the players. I managed to miss the first 15 minutes of the game due to a disappearing train at Euston that was supposed to turn up on time so I could get back with plenty of time to spare but that train didn’t turn up, then I had to deal with traffic on a bus, so thank you to all those who kept me updated via Twitter

The players were mixed up from the Barnet game but the template was exactly the same. The same shape and system as we used last season so I do not see Arsene starting the season with two forwards alongside each other as surely we would have seen a glimpse of this so far.

Wenger started with Vermaelen alongside Djourou instead of Koscielny. Clearly the manager wants to test out his partnerships during the pre season. Johan Djourou played the second half with Laurent Koscielny.

There was little doubt about which player stole the first half. Samir Nasri looks bright, sharp and direct. He got on the scoresheet early following up miscontrol from Chamakh to dance around a challenge and fire in a snapshot past the sprawling goalkeeper. Nasri has drilled in shots into the bottom corner on a few occasions for Arsenal and is certainly capable of doing it on a more regular basis.

For a player of Nasri’s technical qualities he does not produce enough in the final third. His goals and assists last season fell well short of what he can potentially achieve. If I was a betting man then I would put my money on Arsene having told Nasri to work on that side of his game this summer. If he wants to move up from a very good player to a great then he needs to score more and created goals for others. So far so good.

Theo Walcott looked dangerous without finding the right pass or shot. Hopefully an injury free pre season will see him get his form back before the start of the season. His off the ball running from the right look very dangerous already this pre season. He showed it at Barnet and again yesterday evening. He was wrongly flagged offside at one point but the way he bent his run to stay onside was great, reminded me of Ian Wright back in his pomp. But it will be what Theo does with the ball that will matter most.

Defensively the team did not look perfect in the slightest and given the fact that the opposition did not have much of the ball I could start worrying and pulling out my hair but this is only the second game of pre season. These games are primarily about gaining fitness and testing new partnerships out. When most of the regular faces come in and we play what is closer to our first team then I will start looking closer at any weaknesses.

As soon as Wilshere got up from being fouled on the edge of the penalty area I had a feeling that Nasri would score. On first glance I must admit that I didn’t think it was a free kick and I would rather save those dodgy decisions for the season but what to do?

Nasri whipped the ball up and down the wall and past the diving keeper who perhaps could have done better with it had he covered that side of his goal a little better. Three goals in two games for super Samir Nasri.

It wasn’t quite all change for the second half. Surprisingly Wilshere stayed on even though he picked up a yellow for a rash tackle on a Graz player, something that Wilshere could well have picked up from his former Bolton team mates. I wonder if we will hear the chuckles from pundits excusing that Wilshere has never been able to tackle just as they have done for Paul Scholes all these years.

Wilshere went to the left of the attack in the second half, a position that I don’t think suits him as well. Jay Emmanuel-Thomas replaced Chamakh in attack, whilst Nordtveit, Walcott and Djourou stayed on.

JET had a fantastic second half, involved in much of the attacking play. Emmanuel-Thomas is a big lump but he is not just a big lump. He is a very talented footballer with quick feet and an eye for a pass. I expected Tomas to cut in and shoot on his left midway through the second half but he had the vision and presence of mind to slot the ball to Henri Lansbury who made a run into the box, his finish was cool and very Arsenal like.

You can see the understanding between Tomas, Wilshere and Lansbury. Years of playing together through different levels at Arsenal will put them in very good stead.

Emmanuel-Thomas pulled to the right and toyed with his markers like a larger, left footed Thierry Henry. To think that he is only 19 years of age is quite frightening. A player like Emile Heskey could only dream of having the ability of JET.

I was very impressed with the distribution of Havard Nordtveit. A center half who played mostly as a defensive midfielder during his loan spell last season at Nurnberg in the Bundesliga. He has slotted into the right back spot without any fuss, his ability to slide passes into between the opposition and float cross field passes was inch perfect. I would have loved to have seen him swing in a few crosses to either Chamakh or JET but he didn’t venture quite as far up the pitch as that.

Clearly there are many more gears to go up and this will happen as the pre season progresses. The world cup players will take part in the next outing on Tuesday against SC Neusiedl 1919.

As many Gooners have done, I would like to say thank you and good luck to Eduardo who completed his move away from Arsenal. Had circumstances been different then he could have been a true Arsenal legend. I will never forget my reaction to his miss against Burnley away in the FA Cup. I was already celebrating before he struck the ball and was totally shocked that he had missed. That is how good he was as a finisher before his awful injury.

He should have racked up hundreds of goals for Arsenal but it is not to be. Good luck to Eddie, the player and the person.

Click to follow Arsenal Vision on Twitter
Click to follow Arsenal Vision on Facebook