Three Reasons To Be Cheerful after Arsenal's Asia Tour as Gunners gear up for Emirates clashes with Villarreal and Bilbao

Despite losing to the bitter enemy in Hong Kong here are three reasons to be cheerful ahead of Arsenal's return to the Emirates 

As usual, much of the online Goonersphere went into meltdown following our friendly defeat to the Spuds in Hong Kong.

Rationality and common sense appear to have become things of the past.

But it’s not all doom and gloom because here are three reasons you shouldn’t throw all your toys out the pram just yet...

It’s only pre-season!

Quite an obvious one really. Results in pre-season hold no bearing on the season itself, these are not competitive fixtures. There are no real consequences for a loss.

The important things are building up match fitness, so we are ready for the games that actually matter, giving new signings time to bed in and blooding some youngsters.

We have been able to do all three of those things to some extent and we have two more friendlies to continue that process.

Let’s all just calm down a tad.

The kids are all right

Arteta has been able to give minutes to a few youngsters, most significantly 15-year-old Max Dowman.

Pre-season has always been the time to give the academy lads a taste of men’s football in an environment where there’s next to no pressure.

This has yielded good results over the years. I remember a baby-faced Jack Wilshere stealing the show at the Emirates Cup at some point in the late 2000s.

Ethan Nwaneri and MLS impressed in America last summer. Dowman has been brought on as a substitute in all three of our games which have all been against high level opposition. He has looked incredibly confident for someone of his age; you certainly wouldn’t have been able to tell you were watching a 15-year-old.

Every time Dowman receives the ball, he looks to make something happen, whether it’s taking on his man or finding a killer pass to open the defence. He has a lot to learn but this is a great start.

New signings still to come in

We have made six signings so far this summer, which is obviously a very good thing, but only Martin Zubimendi and Christian Norgaard have played significant minutes on our travels so far.

Noni Madueke was unable to join his new teammates on the tour given his season only ended a few days before we flew out, while Mosquera and Viktor Gyokeres signed mid tour, so both have only played a few minutes. That’s three players who will all play significant roles this season that we haven’t seen yet.

The good news is we still have those two friendlies at the Emirates to come meaning those guys still have time to bed in and get to know their new teammates before we head to Old Trafford in a fortnight.

And it’s not like we’ve looked terrible.

Our three games in Asia saw two wins and a loss from a contentiously awarded goal so it’s not as if we’re relying on the newbies to rescue a bunch of numpties.

I know it’s been a while since last season ended but in case anyone forgot we are actually quite good.

The new fellas will make us even stronger.

So, there we have it. The season is in fact not over in July. There are still a minimum of 48 opportunities to throw your toys out the pram. But try to hold it until November at least once we’ve lost 1-0 away at Sunderland to a Granit Xhaka howitzer in the 96th minute on a Monday night after 74% possession and only two shots on target (both straight at the goalkeeper obviously) leaving us 12 points behind Liverpool. And don’t forget not getting in until 5:45AM because of the massive roadworks on the M1 which have plagued every away day since the dawn of time. Not long now!