Arsenal moments missed as Declan Rice gets new role and Jurrien Timber reality check

And just like that, pre-season is over. Arsenal will kick-off their Premier League campaign next weekend at Manchester United as they look to go one better than the last three years by finally lifting the trophy which has evaded them for two decades.

The summer so far could scarcely have gone better for the Gunners. Six signings have been made, with Arsenal finally signing a recognised No.9 in Viktor Gyokeres, while the arrivals of Martin Zubimendi and Christian Norgaard have offset the departures of Thomas Partey and Jorginho in midfield.

Elsewhere, Kepa Arrizabalaga arrived on a cut-price deal to offer genuine back-up to David Raya, while Cristhian Mosquera shores things up at centre-back and Noni Madueke adds strength in depth to attack.

There's arguably one or two more incomings which could take place, but the remaining priority before the transfer window closes will be departures of fringe players.

The Gunners took the field on Saturday evening hoping to get some valuable minutes in the legs and work on new partnerships across midfield and attack - and they managed just that.

Gyokeres opened the scoring in the first half with a powerful header before Bukayo Saka quickly added a second. Meanwhile, Kai Havertz came off the bench in the second half to add some gloss to the scoreline with an impressive solo goal.

But beyond the headline moments, there were a few things that flew under the radar as football.london explores below...

Rice the director

While Declan Rice has proven his value over the last two years from dead ball situations, he's not always the one delivering the set-piece. Currently, the 26-year-old whips the ball in from the left corner flag, and sends in any free-kicks from the same flank.

However, when it's a corner from the right-hand side, Rice is one of the Gunners tasked with mopping up if the ball is cleared long. And it was from here you can see a small part of his influence on the pitch.

In the early stages, Saka won a number of corners, and as Martin Odegaard wandered over to take the kick, Rice was stood back, pointing out to newcomer Zubimendi where he needed to be positioned on the edge of the box ahead of the inswinging corner. It was a small moment, but displayed just how important the midfielder is and the standards he sets for his teammates.

Verticality

Pre-season friendlies are not always good indicators of what is to come when the season really gets going. But if this one was, then the first half showed a new angle to Arsenal's attack.

The Gunners were keen to look long up the pitch on multiple occasions; not heaving the ball forward aimlessly, but targeted and accurate passing over long distances. It would be easy to put it down to the addition of Gyokeres, but a number of times the Arsenal midfield and central defenders looked long for Saka to really stretch the Athletic defence.

It really came to the fore with some quick play for the second goal, Gabriel's header found Gyokeres, who laid it to Odegaard before a lofted through ball met the rapid Martinelli in behind. It's another dimension that Premier League opponents will have to be wary of, with the Gunners sometimes looking a little short of ideas last season.

Timber issue

It's probably the last thing needed in pre-season: injury worries. Yet Arsenal fans would have had their hearts in their mouths in the first half as Jurrien Timber went down with a problem.

The Dutch defender sprinted to overlap into the penalty area, with Odegaard's pass just drifting out of play - though Timber did everything in his power to try and get the ball back across the face of goal, sliding in but ultimately not managing to make anything of it.

The 24-year-old was slow to get up after sliding down the slope at the end of the pitch, taking time to stretch his legs out before gingerly making his way back to his position in defence.

He was still looking a little unsure for a few minutes following the incident, before eventually getting back into the swing of things. While Ben White was introduced at the break, it was surprisingly not Timber being replaced, but left-back Riccardo Calafiori, with the Dutch star switching from right to left.

The Gunners have had rotten luck with injuries in defence in the last two years - particularly at right-back, and could really do without their main man on the right side dropping out this close to the season getting under way. In among the feel-good factors of the 3-0 win, it was a small reality check about the long season which lies ahead.

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