Charles Watts was impressed by Arsenal’s sharpness during their friendly win against Lyon.
Arsenal were thoroughly impressive in their 3-0 friendly win over Lyon following goals from Gabriel Magalhaes, Eddie Nketiah and Fabio Vieira.
The Gunners have been out in Dubai for warm weather winter training during the Premier League and World Cup break as they look to keep up the pace in the squad ahead of their return to domestic action on Boxing Day.
Despite the eye-catching result, Watts said on his YouTube channel that the most impressive aspect of the performance was the player’s sharpness as they dominated their French opponents.
(10:41) “The main thing I took away from that was, A. The quality of goals for Arsenal, certainly Vieira’s was really good.
“But I just thought they looked really, really sharp, they didn’t look rusty at all, I think that’s a big positive that it seems like they’re still pretty on it.”
TIF Thoughts on Watts’ comments…
Arsenal have a huge second half of the season in front of them, with them in pole position to win their first Premier League title since 2004.
Five points clear of Manchester City and with just one league defeat to date made it feel like the mid-season domestic break had come at the completely wrong time for Mikel Arteta’s side, with their momentum seemingly halted.
However, Watts’ view that there’s no rust amongst the squad is hugely promising and realistically the best outcome that could’ve occurred, Arsenal will need to hit the ground running upon their return if they’re to have any chance of keeping City at bay.
With their preparation for the London derby against West Ham United on Boxing Day seemingly coming along well, Arteta’s side looks set to pick up from exactly where they left off.