For us here in the UK it’s a late night kick off for the friendly against Man United this season, but given I’m out and about today, that kind of suits me, as when I get home I’ll be able to have a little look at the score and then do a rewatch of the game.

It’ll be interesting to see what Mikel does with his selection and I think we’re likely to see yet more rotation either on, or after, halftime. That’s fine by me as it is about getting minutes in those legs. We need to fixate less on the result and more on the patterns of play and it’ll be interesting to see what Mikel does with the likes of Timber and Zinchenko. will he have both on the pitch at the same time inverting? Maybe. Or maybe they will alternate. Will he play three at the back with inverted full backs? Will he drop both Partey and Rice in together? Does Havertz get a go as a false nine? Where will Smith Rowe pick up minutes?

There are so many questions that need to be answered but as Mikel has already alluded to post the MLS All Stars game, these are questions he wants our opponents to be asking themselves every week, because it adds a layer of unpredictability and that can only be a good thing. he clearly feels like teams sussed us out last season and when they started to work out what we were doing with Zinchenko, for example, they started to deploy counter measures for us. To be fair I think it wasn’t as if we fell apart because of what other teams did; it felt more like key injuries cost us rather than tactical exposure, but Mikel has looked to address both potential challenges by bringing in strong players to deep the squad, followed by different styles of players which mean we can play in a variety of ways.

Mikel wants a Swiss army penknife of a team and tonight we get to see again whether or not he’s going to use a few of those utensils in his metaphorical penknife.

And on Mikel, I watched and read the pre match press conference interview with Zinchenko and him as they discussed tonight’s game. When you see Zinchenko talk about his boss like he did in such glowing terms, it goes to show you what sort of a guy we have in charge at the club; a man with drive, intensity, charm and a guy who players are desperate to play for. Last season Zinchenko left City for the only other club he would join in The Arsenal, this season it is Declan Rice who only ever wanted us. We are a big club and a big draw, but the weight that Arteta is having on some of these players should not be underestimated.

Arteta gave some updates himself ahead of the game against United and some of the initial good news is that Trossard is fit. That’s brilliant because he was looking sharp in pre season and to have him available will keep Mikel happy. He was also asked about Partey and he swatted aside any rumours about an exit by saying he is an important player for him. He didn’t say we definitely wouldn’t be selling him if the right offer came along, but the answer he gave was spot on, I think. We don’t want to be weakening ourselves unless silly money comes in. For me that’s north of £45million and if we get that then I suspect there’s a conversation to be had. But if you think about my Swiss Army penknife analogy and the versatility of styles that we could have, why couldn’t we go for Partey and Rice as a double pivot in midfield, for example? Arteta himself said that this idea has been in his plans and I think it’s the right stance to be taking.

He did get quite a few questions on Partey and each time it felt like to me he was becoming more and more steadfast in his response. This is good. We need that strong squad and a squad with Partey in is better than one without.

The same level of assurance wasn’t really given to Nicholas Pepe though, who Arteta said had an injury and that is why he wasn’t with the squad in the US. I do wonder if it was an “injury” type of injury; you know how Arsène used to say that players had a knock for whatever reason and as a result they would mysteriously be out for a very small period of time? Or they’d be out because they were dropped and he wanted to save face for them. I’m pretty sure when he dropped Almunia all those years ago he said it was because of an injury, then a few years later admitted that it wasn’t strictly true. That’s what I think might be going on with Pepe and when you then hear the boss saying things like “We have to see when we come back, understand what the plans are and make the right decision for him” it doesn’t exactly sound like he’s going to be first name on the team sheet when he and the squad get back to London.

I think we all know that he – and a few others that many of us have already talked about – is on borrowed time in terms of his Arsenal career. There will probably be a bit of integration in terms of training with the first team at London Colney, but I suspect it will be short lived, with Arsenal finding him a new home come 1st September. Whether that’s through a sale or just a contract termination, we’ll have to see.

Right, that’s it from me on this Saturday morn, as I have to get my carcass out in to the rain for a long and wet run. Catch you all tomorrow.