World Cup returnees shine
It's been a difficult few weeks for Ben White. Stories surrounding the reasoning for his early departure from the England camp have made him the focus of a media spotlight that Arsenal have been keen to shelter him from. Sources at the club continue to reaffirm that he did indeed leave Qatar due to personal reasons as initially stated, and the Gunners are now keen protect him from too much further scrutiny over the coming weeks.
Instead the plan is to let him do his talking on the pitch, and on Tuesday night that was exactly what he did. In the early stages of the first half in particular, AC Milan opted for a high pressing tactic that White could easily have been forgiven for looking rusty against. Instead though he carried on with the composure and technical grace that we've been used to seeing from him in the right back role all season.
White's return has been welcomed within the Arsenal camp where he remains a popular figure. After the game Mikel Arteta was keen to continue showing him admiration. "Very pleased," the Spaniard said. "Everybody has been giving him a lot of support and love. We know the reasons he had to leave the camp. We are delighted to have him back and he looked in really good shape."
READ MORE: Every word Mikel Arteta said on Ben White return, January transfers and Thomas Partey's fitness
It is perhaps this relationship of White that has enabled Arteta to generally get the best from him. By his own admission, White is not a football obsessive who studies the game in his spare time, but when it comes to training ground dedication, it is understood that there are few who match him. Arteta has consistently stated that he "loves" the former Brighton man, and seemed slightly hurt by the stories questioning his character.
"We can’t control (stories about his character)," Arteta went on to tell football.london . "I know who Ben is, what he needs, what his character is and how happy we all are to have him at the club."
Elsewhere Thomas Partey also looked positive on his return after going out at the World Cup group stage with Ghana. The 29-year-old was at his press evading best, and was applauded off by the fans in Dubai after his cooldown before coming off at half time.
"He played a lot and he was disappointed the way he had to leave the World Cup but it happens to every nation that they are out," Arteta said of the Ghanaian. "It takes a few days to reset and to focus on the team. The good thing we have is that everybody has been showing that they are desperate to get back as quick as possible. It was really good to have those two back today playing some minutes."
Arteta hails winning mentality
It's now a preseason treble for Arsenal who added the Dubai Super Cup to the Orlando Cup and Emirates Cup on their list of silverware for this campaign. Cue all the jokes about the team rushing back to Islington Town Hall for a victory parade with the local mayor and the memes about chants that could spring from it.
In reality Arsenal won't actually be around in Dubai to pick up the trophy when it is presented at the end of the week as they'll already be back in London, so the party may have to wait somewhat. The club's social media team are reluctant to go too big on the success, particularly in the wake of the abuse Tottenham got after lauding their Audi Cup exploits a few years ago, but what it does offer Mikel Arteta is the chance to continue building the mentality that he values so highly.
Despite their table-topping first half of the campaign, the Spaniard is insistent that his side have not achieved anything yet. "We have to raise the standards," he said in his post-match press conference. "We’ve discussed about the things that we’ve been doing really well and it’s not a coincidence the way we’ve been performing. But if we want to challenge at the top we have to improve certain things."
While he is still reluctant to label Arsenal as inside a title race this early in the season, it is obvious to almost all outsiders that this is now the Gunners aim. With that in mind each and every success surely cannot be simply dismissed. Of course no one is suggesting that if Arsenal do win the Premier League that it will be down to the momentum gained from their Dubai Super Cup success, but there can be little doubting that the intensity with which they've played in these past few matches has been a massive factor.
Arteta has been delighted with how the camp has gone and is keen to refocus his squad back towards their 2023 aims now that the World Cup is close to coming to an end. "It’s trying to get everybody with the same purpose and objective," he told football.london . "They know which one that is. We have to refocus. The World Cup is a big distraction. You have to pay respect because it’s a huge competition but for us at club level we still have a lot to do in the season."
Despite Martin Odegaard's in-game protestations, Arsenal have approached these two friendlies with the importance of competitive matches. It may not seem like much, but it shows a side who are focused and determined to win.
Arsenal's new weapon
Preseason friendly competitions are always bizarre in one way or another but the Dubai Super Cup has certainly raised the bar. Three points for a win is obviously pretty standard fare in all football, but the idea of a compulsory penalty shooutout worth a fourth point, is something pretty novel.
The spotkicks haven't really told us an awful lot in terms of the takers given the variety chosen. Across both the Lyon and AC Milan games only Marquinhos and Matt Smith took penalties twice, and only the Brazilian was able to net both times. However, when it comes to the other side of the shootout, Mikel Arteta may well have discovered a new weapon.
Karl Hein has been excellent across both shootouts, saving three against Lyon and a further one against AC Milan. Even in the ones that he has been unable to stop, the Estonian has managed to guess the right way almost every time showing the knack he has for these situations.
Historically saving penalties hasn't been a strong point of Arsenal keepers. Petr Cech had an awful record from the spot, while Bernd Leno's wasn't an awful lot better. Aaron Ramsdale is yet to save a penalty himself although Bruno Fernandes did put wide in last season's clash with Manchester United, and Matt Turner is zero for one when it comes to spotkicks.
It's always unusual to see a 'keeper come on solely for a shootout, but Arteta has never been a man afraid to innovate. Hein is likely to be on the bench for Arsenal's Europa League knockout matches where they generally name two 'keepers among the subs, and if any of them do go to penalties, who's say that the Estonian couldn't be useful.
Away from the spot though, this has bean a great camp for Hein in particular. After a difficult senior debut against Brighton, the 20-year-old has bounced back to become one of the stars of the Dubai trip. While he hasn't had to make too many stellar stops, what has impressed most about him is his competence when playing out from the back. Of course it will be a different matter altogether when Hein is back under the bright lights of the Emirates Stadium instead of the far friendlier atmosphere in the Al-Maktoum Stadium, but his general play looks like he's taken his manager's advice and responded to the Brighton set back well.
Arteta has been very complimentary in general of all the youngsters he has brought with him out to the Middle East, who have all played their part in maintaining the standards he wants to keep. "We’ve been lucky because we brought a lot of kids here, but what they’ve done is they’ve not only maintained the standards, but they’ve increased the standards," he said. "Thankyou so much to them because they’ve been key in this camp to have a successful period of training and competition."
It's hard to see Hein getting too many opportunities between now and the end of the season at Arsenal, but what he has done is put himself in the manager's mind. It's tough to break through for goalkeepers, but he has already shown good character in a short space of time.
What now?
Arsenal will now fly back to London on Wednesday afternoon to complete the remainder of their preparations for the return of the Premier League. They play Juventus at the Emirates on Saturday, before a Premier League clash with West Ham on Boxing Day starts things off all over again.
It is likely that by the time they host the Serie A giants this weekend, Arteta will have close to a full squad to choose from. football.london understands that Bukayo Saka will be back with the group by the end of the week and could even fly back with them from Dubai. Takehiro Tomiyasu meanwhile has gone straight back to London but will be with the squad by that point too. Granit Xhaka and Matt Turner meanwhile are already with the group after being knocked out in the second round of the World Cup and Gabriel Martinelli and Aaron Ramsdale should be back with the team soon.
These additions to the squad will potentially be bolstered by Oleksandr Zinchenko who was pictured enjoying the game at the Al-Maktoum stadium in Dubai as he continues to recover from muscle tightness. football.london understands that Arsenal are still confident of having him back for Boxing Day however. Emile Smith Rowe was in Dubai but didn't take part in any matches although Arteta has confirmed that he is close to making his return too.
This should mean that the only major absences for Juve are of course Gabriel Jesus who is out injured for potentially three months, and William Saliba who will be in Qatar until Saturday regardless of what happens in their semi final with Morocco as they will be potentially taking part in the third-place playoff.
Jesus' absence in particular could make for an interesting January window for Arsenal. The Brazilian is positive after his knee surgery, but the plan was always to look to strengthen in the offensive areas next month. football.london understands the Gunners are waiting till the World Cup is over before totally finalising any plans, but Mykhaylo Mudryk continues to be linked heavily as a target.
Arteta has confirmed that Arsenal will be active in seeking solutions to bolster their title challenge in January. "We are looking and we are very active looking at the possibilities," he said. "If we can find the players that can strengthen the team we will try."
It promises to be a pivotal window for the Gunners as they seek to win their first Premier League since 2004. With two wins in Dubai under their belt, and the squad almost back to full strength after the World Cup, the hope will be that they can kick on.
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