4 standout players from Arsenal’s Emirates Cup draw with AS Monaco

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<p>&mdash; Evan Cooper (@Lacazest) <a href=https://paininthearsenal.com/2023/08/03/4-standout-players-arsenal-monaco/2/"https://twitter.com/Lacazest/status/1686769417021964288?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%22>August 2, 2023</a></p></blockquote> <p><script async src=https://paininthearsenal.com/2023/08/03/4-standout-players-arsenal-monaco/2/"https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></div> <p>That is the point of pre-season, and it will take time. However, we did see some interesting combinations. Declan Rice and Gabriel Martinelli, in particular, found each other well in dangerous situations. If Rice does take up that number eight role, the left side of the Arsenal team will be incredibly threatening.</p> <p>There were some bright and worrying signs. Arteta now only has one game left to tinker before the beginning of the season. It will be interesting to see what the starting XI will be against Manchester City in the Community Shield, and that will probably be the team to start the season against Nottingham Forest.</p> <h2>4 standout players from Arsenal&#8217;s Emirates Cup draw with AS Monaco</h2> <p>Let&#8217;s now get into the four players that shone against Monaco.</p> <p>https://twitter.com/EddieNketiah9/status/1686851638340853761</p> <h2>1. Eddie Nketiah</h2> <p>With no Martin Odegaard on the pitch, Nketiah was named as captain for this game. The striker divides opinion among the Arsenal fan base, but I have been very impressed with him over the past 18 months.</p> <p>Eddie was typically industrious, pressing well and hounding the opposition&#8217;s defence. He combined effectively with his teammates and found himself in good scoring positions. His dribbling has become one of the stronger aspects of his game, and with more minutes, I&#8217;m sure he can become an integral part of the Arsenal team.</p> <p>He did superbly to find himself in space to convert Gabriel Martinelli&#8217;s corner and bring Arsenal back level. He should&#8217;ve been ready to divert a beautiful Declan Rice cross in but was a little slow to react.</p> <p>Nketiah has shown himself to be an exemplary professional, and he is likely to continue to be very useful for Mikel Arteta with <a title="Gabriel Jesus to miss start of the season with knee injury" href=https://paininthearsenal.com/2023/08/03/4-standout-players-arsenal-monaco/2/"https://paininthearsenal.com/2023/08/02/gabriel-jesus-miss-start-season-knee-injury/" rel="">Gabriel Jesus missing the start of the season</a>.</p> <p><em>Continued on the next slide&#8230;</em></p> <div class="next-slide slider"> <a class="next-slide-btn" style="background: #c01f2f" data-track="shortcode" data-track-action="next-slide-shortcode" href=https://paininthearsenal.com/2023/08/03/4-standout-players-arsenal-monaco/2/"#"> <span class="title">Next:</span>&nbsp;#2 standout performer </a> </div><!—pageview_candidate—><hr id="pagebreak"><div class="embed "> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true"> <p lang="en" dir="ltr">The Declan Rice &amp; Gabriel Martinelli link-up. &#129292; [<a href=https://paininthearsenal.com/2023/08/03/4-standout-players-arsenal-monaco/2/"https://twitter.com/TheAFCnewsroom?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%22>@TheAFCnewsroom] <a href=https://paininthearsenal.com/2023/08/03/4-standout-players-arsenal-monaco/2/"https://twitter.com/hashtag/afc?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%22>#afc</a> <a href=https://paininthearsenal.com/2023/08/03/4-standout-players-arsenal-monaco/2/"https://t.co/2fThXQA3Jp">pic.twitter.com/2fThXQA3Jp

<p>&mdash; afcstuff (@afcstuff) <a href=https://paininthearsenal.com/2023/08/03/4-standout-players-arsenal-monaco/2/"https://twitter.com/afcstuff/status/1686790901056581632?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%22>August 2, 2023</a></p></blockquote> <p><script async src=https://paininthearsenal.com/2023/08/03/4-standout-players-arsenal-monaco/2/"https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></div> <h2>2. Gabriel Martinelli</h2> <p>Martinelli looked brilliant against Monaco, causing absolute havoc in their defence. Martinelli did what is fast becoming his signature move: dribbling past his full-back, baiting him back in and sprinting past him again. This makes the centre-back hesitate just enough to create space, and I&#8217;m sure we will see many Arsenal goals this way.</p> <p>He was electric on his wing, creating energy whenever he had the ball. He&#8217;s such an exciting player, and he kept taking on Chrislain Matsima or whoever else was unlucky enough to have to defend against him.</p> <p>With Bukayo Saka so often dominant on the opposite flank (he missed this game through illness), Arsenal are lucky to have two of the best wingers on the planet, and they are both still so young. The Brazilian will keep improving, and he has all the tools to take his game to another level in 2023/24.</p> <p><em>Continued on the next slide&#8230;</em></p> <div class="next-slide slider"> <a class="next-slide-btn" style="background: #c01f2f" data-track="shortcode" data-track-action="next-slide-shortcode" href=https://paininthearsenal.com/2023/08/03/4-standout-players-arsenal-monaco/2/"#"> <span class="title">Next:</span>&nbsp;#3 standout performer </a> </div><!—pageview_candidate—><hr id="pagebreak"><div id="attachment_135616" class="wp-caption alignnone"> <img decoding="async" class="size-full wp-image-135616" src=https://paininthearsenal.com/2023/08/03/4-standout-players-arsenal-monaco/2/"https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/fetch/c_fill,g_auto,f_auto,h_1706,w_2560/https%3A%2F%2Fpaininthearsenal.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2Fgetty-images%2F2017%2F07%2F1572360027-scaled.jpeg" alt="" width="2560" height="1706" srcset="https://paininthearsenal.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2017/07/1572360027-scaled.jpeg 2560w, https://paininthearsenal.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2017/07/1572360027-768x512.jpeg 768w, https://paininthearsenal.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2017/07/1572360027-1536x1024.jpeg 1536w, https://paininthearsenal.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2017/07/1572360027-2048x1365.jpeg 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px"><p class="wp-caption-text">Partey starred on Wednesday. (Photo by GLYN KIRK/AFP via Getty Images)</p> </div> <h2>3. Thomas Partey</h2> <p>At the beginning of the summer, there were lots of rumours that Arsenal were looking to sell Thomas Partey. Based on his performance in this match, I’m glad he is still part of the squad.</p> <p>With a 95.5% pass accuracy, Partey was calm and collected in the middle of the pitch. <a title="Arsenal 1-1 AS Monaco: Player ratings as Gunners held in Emirates Cup" href=https://paininthearsenal.com/2023/08/03/4-standout-players-arsenal-monaco/2/"https://paininthearsenal.com/2023/08/02/arsenal-monaco-player-ratings/" rel="">He hardly put a foot wrong</a> and consistently got Arsenal on the attack. With the ball, he was flawless, dancing around Monaco players at will.</p> <p>Defensively, he did look a bit stretched, but I think that had more to do with Emile Smith Rowe contributing less than he should have and Rice still finding his feet in that Xhaka role. ESR was a little sluggish, although he still found space between the lines. Hopefully, he will look sharper come the first day of the season.</p> <p>Partey, though, was superb, and it looks impossible not to name him as the starting #6 against Nottingham Forest.</p> <p><em>Continued on the next slide…</em></p> <div class="next-slide slider"> <a class="next-slide-btn" style="background: #c01f2f" data-track="shortcode" data-track-action="next-slide-shortcode" href=https://paininthearsenal.com/2023/08/03/4-standout-players-arsenal-monaco/2/"#"> <span class="title">Next:</span> #4 standout performer </a> </div><!—pageview_candidate—><hr id="pagebreak"><div class="embed "> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true"> <p lang="en" dir="ltr">Trossard has to start up front whilst Jesus is out. Has been the sharpest of all our attackers in pre-season.</p> <p>&mdash; AFCAMDEN (@AFCAMDEN) <a href=https://paininthearsenal.com/2023/08/03/4-standout-players-arsenal-monaco/2/"https://twitter.com/AFCAMDEN/status/1686828475917701120?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%22>August 2, 2023</a></p></blockquote> <p><script async src=https://paininthearsenal.com/2023/08/03/4-standout-players-arsenal-monaco/2/"https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></div> <h2>4. Leandro Trossard</h2> <p>Once again, Trossard showed his quality. He only came onto the pitch with half an hour left, but he looked so sharp during his cameo.</p> <p>He created three chances and made everything look so tidy. The Belgian always looks dangerous and links up so well with his teammates. He was great in tight spaces, found teammates in threatening positions and created space for himself and others on the pitch out of nothing.</p> <p>While Nketiah stood out, I think Arteta might prefer to name Trossard as the #9 in Jesus&#8217; absence. Trossard&#8217;s profile fits better in that role, and his quality is too much to keep out of the team. The &pound;27m price tag continues to look like more and more of a bargain.</p> <div class="embed "> <blockquote class="wp-embedded-content" data-secret="lVlOHyeNdk"><p><a href=https://paininthearsenal.com/2023/08/03/4-standout-players-arsenal-monaco/2/"https://paininthearsenal.com/2023/08/02/arsenal-monaco-player-ratings/">Arsenal 1-1 AS Monaco: Player ratings as Gunners held in Emirates Cup</a></p></blockquote> <p><iframe class="wp-embedded-content" sandbox="allow-scripts" security="restricted" style="position: absolute; clip: rect(1px, 1px, 1px, 1px);" title="&#8220;Arsenal 1-1 AS Monaco: Player ratings as Gunners held in Emirates Cup&#8221; &#8212; Pain in the Arsenal" src=https://paininthearsenal.com/2023/08/03/4-standout-players-arsenal-monaco/2/"https://paininthearsenal.com/2023/08/02/arsenal-monaco-player-ratings/embed/#?secret=OEvUqWEkQs#?secret=lVlOHyeNdk" data-secret="lVlOHyeNdk" width="500" height="282" frameborder="0" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" scrolling="no"></iframe></p></div> <p>Despite not sparkling against Monaco, there were some positive signs from this Arsenal team, and I am very excited about the upcoming season.</p><!—pageview_candidate—>">