Arsenal's sensation on 7/10 could be the new Zinchenko

It's been a few months, but Arsenal are finally back.

The return of the Premier League is still a few weeks away, but Mikel Arteta's side played their first official pre-season game this morning, against Bournemouth in Los Angeles.

It wasn't a great game, but the Gunners managed to win with a squad full of academy products and a number of players who really took their chances, including Oleksandr Zinchenko, who could have given Oleksandr Zinchenko trouble and given the club an unexpected run of form. Riccardo Calafiori who doesn't come and.

Arsenal's outstanding players

Considering it was their first competitive game in a long time, a number of Arsenal starters stood out against the Cherries.

One of the best players on the pitch was, surprisingly, team captain Martin Odegaard, who came on at the start of the second half for youngster Salah Oulad M'Hand – who was also looking good – and ran the show.

The Norwegian international maintained a passing accuracy of 93%, played two important passes and was given 8 / 10 for his efforts from soccer. London's Kayak Kaynak, who said the midfielder 'raised the level of Arsenal's football performance.'

Another strong performance came from the right-back position as Ben White looked calm and composed throughout the 78 minutes he played, where he won four duels, made three tackles and had 42 touches, enough to earn him 7/10. Kaynak.

However, while you might expect impressive performances from these first-team regulars, there was a youngster who started early and made a real impression in his 63-minute appearance: Myles Lewis-Skelly.

The Lewis-Skelly game and Zinchenko's concern

Despite being only 17 years old, Arteta decided to start Lewis-Skelly against Bournemouth last evening, and to his credit, it was a good decision.

He may have only played 63 minutes, but in that time he looked like a seasoned player and was not at all fazed by the prospect of playing against a Cherries side that was not far from their usual Premier League side.

Kayak was very impressed with the young star. In his half-time performance ratings, he awarded him 7/10 and described him as 'proven on the ball' and 'really impressive as a one-vs-one defender in the left-back role.'

His game numbers support this assessment. In his 63 minutes of action, he completed 33 of 33 passes, won 100% of aerial duels, completed one long ball, had 45 touches, one interception, and one turnover.

The fact that he looked comfortable in the left-back role is good news for Arteta, but could be bad news for Zinchenko.

The Ukrainian already found himself relegated to following Jakub Kiwior and Takehiro Tomiyasu towards the end of last season, and with Calafiori set to join the club and Lewis-Skelly having shown his ability to perform in his place, he could struggle. to get any game time at all in the upcoming campaign.

Taking it a step further, if the “unplayable” youngster, as Jack Wilshere is called, can maintain this form for the rest of the season, he could quickly move up the batting order and become one of Bologna's main support options. star, maybe even give him a challenge beyond what others expect.

Ultimately, although he is unlikely to play a major role in the upcoming campaign, Lewis-Skelly looks like a real talent, and his emergence, while good for the team, could be the final nail in Zinchenko's coffin.