Nurnberg (a) - Instant Reaction

Clive and Paul give their thoughts about a game that was dominated by the stunning pre-season debut from Gabriel Jesus.

Ali Ahmed, a patron himself, was at the game and provided this first-hand account:

Atmosphere: absolutely electric. 21k+ fans with a pretty big Arsenal supporter base which was quite surprising actually. Reminded me a bit of the Frankfurt Europa League game a couple of seasons ago - the one where Saka announced himself.

First half: caveating this with the obvious i.e. preseason game.. we looked off and Nürnberg came out hot, as if their life depended on it - understandable since they were playing a big global team in front of a full house of home fans. For us, Mari in particular seemed completely lost - definitely need to move him on. My impression at the time was that he was at fault for both goals. Was great to see Hector in Arsenal colors again. AMN was probably my pick for the first half - think he actually could do a job for us in the season.. can’t play right wing though. Also, something interesting was how much he (AMN) was shouting and directing on the pitch. Pepe was Pepe - too many touches as usual. ESR was trying but couldn’t do much since we couldn’t play through the middle at all. To be honest, expected more from Sambi.

Second half: we were all over them. The switch in formation with 3 at the back was interesting - maybe something we might have to revert to at times in the season. In any case.. Gabriel Jesus - what a player!! I was happy we got him and I’ve been listening to you all as to how exciting a player he is but since i haven’t watched City or him much, I wasn’t really ecstatic. That changed today. The man’s incredible.. his movement is elite to the point that I’ve never seen a striker like him before with his sharpness and constant movement! Incredibly excited that he’s our no. 9! Beyond that, Martinelli was a live wire as usual and Eddie caused problems with his movement. Balogun seemed like he was trying to impress but I feel he needs another season on loan for sure. Charlie Patino was also super impressive - knows how to find space, get away from a tackle or press and great decision making.

Oh yea, forgot to mention Tyler - fantastic player. Built like a unit, is quick, can read the game and pass well too. Excited to see how he devlops.

So yea, that my little synopsis - hope this helps. All in all, a great day in the sun with great atmosphere and some fun football.