Three Things We Learned ahead of Arsenal's trip to Bilbao

Here's Ian Mills with Three Things We Learned as the Gunners gear up to kick-off their Champions League campaign with a trip to Bilbao 

Arsenal are gearing up to fly to the Basque Country to take on Athletic Club Bilbao in their first match of the Champions League, league stages this week.

Here's Ian Mills with his regular series Three Things We Learned, after Arsenal dispatched Ange Postecoglu's Nottingham Forest on Saturday.  

1 - New signings shine as Big Ange gets battered again:

Huge summer window splurge pays dividends – last season if you heard that we would start a Premier League game without William Saliba, Bukayo Saka,  Declan Rice and Kai Havertz and lose Martin Odegaard early in you may well have settled for a point at best.

However, our great summer transfer business is already proving it’s worth as despite those notable absentees we dominated this game and won comfortably.

A front three of Viktor Gyokeres flanked by Eberechi Eze on the left and Noni Madueke on the right gave us a pace and mobility in attack that had been previously lacking.

Madueke was a constant menace, and his pace and trickery provided a constant threat.

Eze meanwhile displayed several of his tricks and supplied a tremendous first time assist for Gyokeres.

As for our latest ‘Super Swede’ he finished off Eze’s pass to put us 2-0 ahead in the first minute of the second half then exchanged passes with Madueke and was unlucky to see his fiercely struck effort come back off the post.

That just leaves the small matter of the man of the match, Martin Zubimendi.

The diminutive Spainard was bought primarily as a defensive midfielder however there is a lot more to his game than that. His first goal was tremendously struck from just outside the penalty area and flew past Sels in the Forest goal.

His second came from a wonderful cross from Leandro Trossard and he rose highest to head home.

2 - Mosquera magnificent at the back:

Cristhian Mosquera made his first start for the club and the highest compliment I can pay him is that William Saliba was not missed.

He has an air of calm both on the ball and in anticipation of it that belies his 21 years.

He reads the game superbly, is comfortable in possession and intercepts cleanly and with authority.

He looks set to really challenge our established order at centre back and will provide genuine competition to his more experienced colleagues.

In turn this means that we do not need to rush back the likes of Saliba which has caused us continuing injury problems in the past.

3 - A dynamic team display:

As good as the new signings were, several established Gunners also deserve a special mention.

David Raya was largely untroubled yet still made one spectacular fingertip save to deny Chris Wood.

Jurrien Timber continues to make defending an art form with the minimum of fuss, he is such a dependable full back and his battle with Ben White for the right back berth will be one to watch closely as the campaign progresses.

Riccardo Calafiori probably played in more positions than anyone else in the famous red and white throughout this game and is enjoying a stellar start to the new campaign.

He produced a sublime pass to set Eze free on the left wing which led to our second goal.

Mikel Merino was a ball of energy in midfield that demonstrated the confidence of a player with four goals in his last two international appearances.

With a trip to Bilbao to herald the start of our Champions League campaign on Tuesday, we can expect more rotation without a drop in quality as this squad now have the ability to compete on all four fronts.

Read Ian Mills in print in our current issue of the Gooner Fanzine. Buy it here