CARDIFF, Wales — New season, same Mikel Arteta.
The manager with the most unreliable injury updates in the Premier League was full of confidence when quizzed on the availability of his England World Cup pairing of Declan Rice and Bukayo Saka. “They will be available,” he insisted to assembled media on Friday, “They trained with us today, they will train tomorrow, and if they are in the condition we expect them to be in, they will be involved.”
Yet, neither was deemed fit enough to make the starting XI of Sunday’s Community Shield against Manchester City. Despite Arteta’s subterfuge, that is to be expected.
Rice and Saka were starting alongside each other for England in the third-place playoff against France in the searing Miami heat just 29 days earlier. The pair only returned to training on Tuesday, and neither featured for a minute of Arsenal’s preseason friendlies thus far.
Both also struggled with various ailments during the World Cup, much to Thomas Tuchel’s vocal dismay, and may be grateful of a gentle return to club action ahead of what promises to be another grueling campaign across four competitions. Thanks to the remarkable depth at Arteta’s disposal, the absence of both didn’t leave too much of a gaping chasm in Arsenal’s lineup.
Lineups
Bruno Guimaraes Given Tough Debut Test
After making his unofficial debut in Arsenal’s friendly draw with Como in midweek, Arteta was already optimistic about Bruno Guimarães. “You sensed immediately a really strong connection and a player that is going to make us better without a doubt,” the Basque boss beamed.
That positivity translated into a (semi-)competitive debut for the $101 million summer recruit against Arsenal’s closest title challengers and last season’s FA Cup winners. Pep Guardiola openly admired Guimarães while he was at Manchester City, despite so often getting the better of the proud battler.
Guimarães was part of the Lyon side which memorably knocked City out of the Champions League quarterfinal in 2020 but proceeded to lose seven of his 11 encounters against the Sky Blues with Newcastle United. Guimarães also conspired to get booked in his opening seven Premier League meetings with a team against which the Magpies so often struggled.
“It’s the worst game,” Guimarães has previously lamented of playing against City. “I hate it. It feels like we’re all children and they’re professionals. It’s horrible.
“It feels like they’re playing with 15 players, and we’re playing with seven. You look and say, ‘Wow, there are so many blue guys.’ It’s unbelievable. And they’re all crazy good. Sometimes we talk, the coach asks: ‘Press the right side, the left side…’
“Against Manchester City, how do you play?! You go out there and let them score right away… It’s very difficult, there are so many good players.”
Guimarães will hope for a different view of City on Sunday.
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