A youthful squad heads for the USA

Morning, welcome to a brand new week.

The Arsenal team left London for the US yesterday, and a 26 man squad was announced via the official website. Because of the international tournaments, it’s a real mix of senior and younger players. Last year there was just one young player with the squad, this time you can count 13, with some names a bit more familiar than others.

There’s extra room in the defensive line-up because Kieran Tierney and Takehiro Tomiyasu both have injuries. The former we know from his time at the Euros, the latter is – if not quite a surprise – not one we had heard about in the build-up to the departure. I saw James Benge report on Twitter it was a 2/3 week issue for Tomiyasu, so let’s hope that’s very much the case, and that’s all it is.

The goalkeeping roster is particularly inexperienced, with Karl Hein the senior man there … and he’s made just one first team appearance for the club. He does have 30 caps for Estonia though! Backing him up for the duration of the tour – because David Raya and Aaron Ramsdale won’t return until the team gets back to London – are new signings Tommy Setford and Lucas Nygaard, as well as 18 year old Alexei Rojas. Kai Havertz, Gabriel, and Gabriel Martinelli will join up with the squad at the Los Angeles training camp from July 25th, while Declan Rice, Bukayo Saka and William Saliba are on the same schedule as the goalkeepers.

So, it is an opportunity for some young players to play some games, and work alongside the first team right under the nose of the manager and his coaching staff. The two I keep mentioning are Ethan Nwaneri and Myles Lewis-Skelly, but it will be interesting to see if anyone else catches the eye. The reality is that Mikel Arteta is probably going to have to mix and match his team selections, pairing sufficient experience with the youth to ensure they aren’t out of their depth against Premier League opposition.

It’s part of the challenge he faces this pre-season. Ideally he’d like the full complement of first team players at his disposal to do the training ground work, but this is what you have to deal with after a tournament summer, not least when some of your players go the full distance. As pre-season goes on, most of these young players will drop away to be replaced by returning senior players and – who knows?! – a signing or two, but for now, they’ve got a chance to impress in the games against Bournemouth, Man Utd, and Liverpool.

My understanding is that there will be some time for Arteta (and perhaps Edu) to meet with journalists who are going on the tour, and no doubt there will be some questions about recruitment. I don’t think we’ll get too much detail about the plans, but there might be a bit of info there about what could happen and when. Also, given the make-up of the squad, and the ongoing stories about players like Emile Smith Rowe (Crystal Palace/Fulham), Eddie Nketiah (Marseille/Palace, and Reiss Nelson (West Ham), I’d be surprised if there any significant developments with them until the tour was over, but let’s see.

Right, I’m gonna leave it there for this morning, but James and I recorded an Arsecast Extra for you last night, discussing Smith Rowe in some detail, Riccardo Calafiori, the outcry over the probable departure of a 16 year old and wider discussion about the Academy, and lots more. All the links you need to listen/subscribe are below.

Till tomorrow.

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