Emirates Cup 2013 Preview

Emirates Cup 2013:

Saturday

Galatasaray v Porto (2pm)
Arsenal v Napoli (4.20pm)

Sunday:

Napoli v Porto (2pm)
Arsenal v Galatasaray (4.20pm)


Arsenal pre-season continues as Emirates Cup returns

When Arsenal defeated Newcastle on the final day of last season back in May, Arsène Wenger told Sky Sports ( http://bit.ly/17paqd0 ) straight after the game that the club would be "very pro-active" in the summer transfer market. So it's somewhat surprising - many would call it alarming - that three months later, the only addition to the Frenchman's squad has been Yaya Sanogo - a free signing from Ligue 2. On Friday afternoon, speaking at his press conference ahead of the Emirates Cup this weekend, Wenger admitted the Gunners were "working very hard" to bring in new faces ahead of the big kick-off in two weeks' time.

"If you look at many teams around us, nothing has happened until now," Wenger told reporters. "At the moment the market hasn't moved a lot. Apart from Man City, nobody has done anything." The 63-year old has a point - to an extent. Chelsea have spent, adding German forward André Schürrle (£18m), the highly-rated Dutch youngster Marco van Ginkel (£8.5m), veteran 'keeper Mark Schwarzer (free) and teenage left-back Cristián Cuevas (£3m) to their already-talented roster. And Wayne Rooney could still follow, should Manchester United (who have only purchased little-known full-back Guillermo Varela (£1m) thus far) decide to sell. City (£86.9m) & Spurs (£49.8m) have been, by far, the most active clubs in the Premier League.

Despite the lack of new players, Arsenal have enjoyed a fruitful pre-season up to now. 19 goals and 4 wins during the Asia Tour ( http://bit.ly/1460J5o ) where the squad thoroughly boosted an already-strong morale, provide a solid platform for the side as the opposition level of difficulty takes a significant increase on Saturday and Sunday.


Arsenal

Coach: Arsène Wenger (1996-)
Last season: Premier League (4th)
Captain: Thomas Vermaelen

The summer: Despite a sold-out Emirates Stadium, the natives could turn restless should performances and results against Napoli and then Galatasaray not go the Gunners' way, though Wenger insists the competition provides his men with a rare chance to play "without pressure" at home. Olivier Giroud, Bacary Sagna and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain all impressed in Asia, whilst Jack Wilshere's return to fitness is a welcome boost. Several players have departed including Andrey Arshavin, Vito Mannone, Johan Djourou and Andre Santos, whilst Gervinho's £7m transfer to Roma is imminent.

Look out for: Gedion Zelalem. The 16-year old German youth international midfielder stood out in Asia, with Wenger admitting the talented teenager is "improving very quickly." Likened to Cesc Fàbregas, Zelalem certainly feels like one who we'll be hearing a lot more of in the future.


Napoli

Coach: Rafael Benítez (2013-)
Last season: Serie A (2nd)
Captain: Paolo Cannavaro

The summer: A summer of change at Napoli started with the departure of manager Walter Mazzarri to Inter Milan after four successful years. Edinson Cavani's exit to PSG meant a summer transfer budget of over £100m, which owner Aurelio De Laurentiis has sanctioned on the likes of Gonzalo Higuaín (£32m), Dries Mertens (£8.3m) and José Callejón (£8.7m), as well as a loan for Liverpool's Pepe Reina.

Look out for: How new tactician Benítez sets up his side following a host of new arrivals will be intriguing, with Mazzarri's 3-5-2 formation unlikely to continue. Higuaín will undoubtedly be in the limelight, agreeing terms with Arsenal before Real Madrid raised their asking price by almost £10m last month.

Porto

Coach: Paulo Fonseca (2013-)
Last season: Primeira Liga (1st)
Captain: Lucho González

The summer: After two years at the helm, coach Vítor Pereira departed for Saudi Arabia with 40-year old Fonseca appointed - a reward for guiding Paços de Ferreira to a Champions League play-off place in Portugal last season. James Rodríguez and João Moutinho left the club to join Monaco for a combined £60m fee, but the pair have been replaced by the highly-rated South American duo Juan Quintero (£4.4m) and Héctor Herrera (£6.9m).

Look out for: Jackson Martínez. The Colombian forward notched 26 goals in 30 league games for the Portuguese champions last term, and has reportedly agreed terms with Napoli. However, the 26-year old - who joined Porto for just £7.7m last summer - will only depart the Dragão if his £35m release clause is activated.


Galatasaray

Coach: Fatih Terim (2011-)
Last season: Süper Lig (1st)
Captain: Selçuk İnan

The summer: The January arrivals of Didier Drogba and Wesley Sneijder have been supplemented by an £11.2m investment during the current window. Felipe Melo has made his loan move from Juventus permanent, whilst Cameroonian centre-back Aurélien Chedjou has joined for £5.5m from Lille.

Look out for: Emmanuel Eboue. The former Arsenal right-back returns to the Emirates this weekend and is sure to receive a fine reception. The Ivorian is "excited" and admits he "always" watches the Gunners' games, as well as signing a few songs to the club's TV channel ( http://bit.ly/1bTTgMH ).

tomorrow?

REWB wrote:tomorrow?

Yep

Gonzalo Higuaín will begin tomorrow's game with Arsenal on the bench, Napoli president confirms. http://bit.ly/15m2U6V

Very informative preview mate.

Wish we were playing Porto as they would have imposed a bigger challenge than Galatasaray. But Gala themselves are a CL team so it doesn't matter much. Also Eboue

Drogba back at the Emirates

Tomorrow's match should be good.

RealGunner wrote:Very informative preview mate.

Wish we were playing Porto as they would have imposed a bigger challenge than Galatasaray. But Gala themselves are a CL team so it doesn't matter much. Also Eboue

Drogba back at the Emirates

Tomorrow's match should be good.

I'm looking forward to this competition since it's the part of the pre-season where we can focus less on fitness and more on tactics and how the team will shape up before the start of the season.

With this is mind, there're a few potential points of interest. Starting from the back, we'll surely see Sagna continue to fill in at centre back and Miquel will probably get a couple more opportunities to prove he's ready to become a member of the first team squad. Sagna did well against the Asian teams but he'll be against considerably better attacks this time. Miquel didn't do so well and could be shown to be out of his depth, especially if he ends up playing left back.

Chamberlain has played centre midfield in every game so far and I think if he ends up playing there again this weekend it could be a sign that Wenger will use him in that role more often this season. If he does, he'll be up against the likes of Inler and Melo, so it'd be interesting to see how he copes.

I also wonder where Cazorla will end up playing; whether he'll continue on the left or play centrally again.

Up front, I'll be keeping a close eye on Walcott's movement. Towards the end of last season he kept taking up more central positions and leaving the right flank vacated, which hindered our build-up play. I've not seen him do that too many times during the Asia tour, and he has come out and admitted that he scores most of his goals from the right flank, so I wonder if he's dropped that habit. I hope he has, since we need him to provide width on that side.

I'll be looking forward to seeing Zelalem and Gnabry again, as well.

With the way things are right now, it'll be very beneficial to have a good tournament with some good performances. Morale is high at the moment and the last thing we need is the crowd getting on the team's back and chanting "spend some *bleep* money" when things don't go well. It'd be nice to into the Villa game with some nice momentum, too.

I think we'll take the cup, and I'm certain both Higuain and Drogba will score. It's written in the stars.

Can't wait to see Eboue back at the Emirates.

Want to see a bit more of Ryo as well. I guess we will see 2 different sides on both days. Maybe the proper 1st team tomorrow and the youth/fringe team on Sunday.

I'm just glad football is back again, feck the transfer window.

Any truth in the rumours of Leeds fans outside the stadium waiting to kick off with the Galatasaray fans?

Get in there COYG
Arsenal team to play Napoli: Fabianski, Jenkinson, Koscielny, Mertesacker, Gibbs, Ramsey, Wilshere, Rosicky, Gnabry, Podolski, Giroud

Napoli team vs Arsenal: Reina - Mesto, Cannavaro, Britos, Armero - Behrami, Inler - Callejon, Hamsik, Insigne - Pandev

When is this starting ?

10 minutes

The Running Man is at the game and received a nice reception from the crowd.

links please...

Ramsey

Boos

Wtf Jenkinson

thanks RG

lol 2-0 down

lol wow who is playing defence? why so open like this? looking bad out there

we are loosing because our fans suck lool, COME ON SHOUT cheer the team on. soo much negativity in the stadium

We are playing a trio of Ramsey-Wilshere-Rosicky

There is no one to defend in the middle

lool this is what happens when there is no arteta, but i guess we are the only ones that can see it. wenger doesnt seem to think we need a dm

is arteta injured or just not playing this half?