Arsenal have begun their preparations for the upcoming season in America. The Gunners had been due to train at the University of Maryland, but upon arrival discovered the quality of pitch, which is understood to have had fungus growing from it, was too poor to train on.
This prompted a late change in venue to the US Naval Academy where Mikel Arteta and his team were allocated two pitches amid a vast campus where students take part in sports such as American football, rowing, sailing and lacrosse. One thing that didn't change was how hard the Spaniard had his players working.
In the beaming late afternoon sun, Arsenal's first team arrived from their hotel for a second day of intense training. football.london was granted access to view part of the session, and here are some of the things we spotted.
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Arteta gets involved
One of the highlights from the training camp in Nuremberg last week was seeing Mikel Arteta get involved in training with the first team. The Spaniard only retired from playing six years ago and showed that he's still got many of the qualities that saw him become a regular in the Arsenal side for so many years.
That was on display again as the 40-year-old joined in a pre-training session of 'keepy uppies' with Rob Holding and Reuell Walters. Arteta was more than able to hold his own against his first team players with Walters eventually being the one to allow the ball to drop.
Forgotten men return
There are several players who have travelled on this tour with Arsenal who many would have expect to be on their way this summer. Mikel Arteta has admitted his squad is too big, but keeping the outward bound players fit and in the shop window makes sense for the time being.
As the Gunners squad streamed off their coach into the dressing room, the sight of the likes of Lucas Torreira and Runar Alex Runarsson in Arsenal training gear was certainly a bizarre one to behold. How much those players feature over the coming days remains to be seen.
Several players train separately
The Arsenal squad that has arrived in America includes pretty much all of the first team names that we can expect to see starting in the Premier League next season. That means that the likes of Kieran Tierney and Takehiro Tomiyasu, who missed the end of last season through injury, have both travelled as they continue their recovery.
Interestingly, neither was part of the main group who warmed up in front of the press. Instead they were elsewhere on the US naval academy campus. New signing Fabio Vieira was another who wasn't part of the main group. All three though are in contention to feature in some form against Everton on Saturday evening as things stand.
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