Mikel Arteta led the final training session ahead of Thursday’s Europa League clash with FC Zurich. The team are due to fly out to Switzerland this afternoon where the Arsenal manager will then face the media this evening.
football.london attended the opening of the morning Arsenal training session where a mix of both positive and negative surprises were in store. Mikel Arteta was out early ahead of his players, conversing with his coaching staff, who had already set the field up for the session’s exercises.
After the defeat to Manchester United, it is important that Arsenal respond quickly and the match with struggling Zurich is perhaps the best opportunity to do so. football.london rounds up all the things that were spotted at the open training session.
READ MORE: Emile Smith Rowe and three senior stars miss Arsenal training ahead of FC Zurich clash
Smith Rowe and Cedric miss out
Firstly, the big news, both Emile Smith Rowe and Cedric Soares missed out on the session. They join Mohamed Elneny and Thomas Partey on the sidelines. football.london understands Cedric has only suffered a minor knock but is unlikely to be involved tomorrow.
Meanwhile, Smith-Rowe was injured in the warm-down of the match at Old Trafford. Mikel Arteta is due to face the media this evening after arriving in Switzerland where more information will be provided on all four players.
Four youth players involved
With four senior outfield players out, Mikel Arteta included four under-21 stars of the future into the mix. Amario Cozier-Duberry, Lino Sousa, Matt Smith and Catalin Cirjan were all involved.
Smith has been on the bench in the senior matches and with Smith-Rowe and Cedric now out, there could be places on the plane for a couple more. Marquinhos and Fabio Vieira, who have played youth football this season, were also involved and expected to travel.
Holding led out the players
After Arteta, the first player to lead the side out was Rob Holding. Holding, despite not being named as a deputy captain with Granit Xhaka and Gabriel Jesus, is considered one of the key leaders in the dressing room and has worn the armband in the past.
If the aforementioned deputies and Martin Odegaard aren’t involved, Holding would be the likeliest candidate to take on the responsibility of captaincy. Since the arrival of William Saliba, Holding has found minutes even harder to come by, with the Frenchman, Ben White and Gabriel Magalhaes all ahead of him as centre-back options.
Portuguese speaking group
Just like ahead of the match on Sunday against Manchester United, the Portuguese-speaking group has been established. Marquinhos, Gabriel Jesus, Gabriel Magalhaes, Fabio Vieira and Gabriel Martinelli all walked out together, joking and laughing.
Cedric, were he there, would have likely been involved, as he was on Sunday. Edu’s influence since his arrival in 2019 can certainly be felt now with a Brazilian and Portuguese contingent growing within the side.
10 v 10 bibs vs no bibs passing exercise
After some small running exercises, Arteta split the 20 outfield players into two teams to take part in a possession exercise. Progressing the ball from one end of a grid to another, trying to avoid the ball being tackled or intercepted by the other team.
Bibs: Takehiro Tomiyasu, Gabriel Magalhaes, William Saliba, Lino Sousa, Sambi Lokonga, Granit Xhaka, Catalin Cirjan, Marquinhos, Bukayo Saka and Eddie Nketiah.
No Bibs: Oleksandr Zinchenko, Rob Holding, Ben White, Kieran Tierney, Matt Smith, Martin Odegaard, Amari Cozier-Duberry, Gabriel Martinelli, Gabriel Jesus and Fabio Vieira.
Both sets of players could make up potential teams for the game tomorrow. Rotation is expected and with Zurich having suffered an awful start to the season - they are yet to win after seven games of their Swiss Super League campaign, having drawn two and lost five of their opening seven games - opportunities for Gunners' youngsters is a real possibility.
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