Arsenal column: Gunners adjusting to Gyokeres, AFC star could leave despite new contract offer & more

Arsenal’s win at Old Trafford was a fantastic result – that’s all that matters

Did Arsenal play particularly well at Old Trafford? No. Did they get a fantastic result? Absolutely. And to be honest that’s all that matters when it comes to the opening weekend of the season.

With the start Arsenal have been handed to this campaign it was absolutely essential they got some points on the board early and they’ve done that at a stadium which has not been a happy hunting ground for them in the past.

They went to United and won and they spoiled the party. It was a fantastic result.

Of course they will have to play far better than that in the coming weeks, but I think they will. They just had an off day at Old Trafford against a team that was clearly up for it.

United played pretty well and, in the first half especially, they caused Arsenal some problems. They made them look unusually uncomfortable, especially at the back.

But they still couldn’t find a way through. Arsenal dug in and they found a way to win ugly and if they are going to achieve what they want to achieve this season they will have to do that more than once.

So personally I think it’s a good sign and I think some of the reaction to the performance has been slightly over the top. I get the sense that a lot of people wanted to see Arsenal lose this game. They wanted to be able to start pointing the finger at Mikel Arteta and putting pressure on him and the team straight away.

And to me it looks like they have been annoyed that they haven’t been able to do that. Arsenal’s win stopped them writing the headlines they really wanted to write, so they have tried to have a dig anyway.

But Arteta won’t care about that and nor will the players. Look at the way they celebrated at the full-time whistle. They knew that was a big result, even at this very early stage of the season.

Arteta accepted afterwards that Arsenal were below their usual standards and I think that was clear for anyone who was watching. Arsenal were sloppy with the ball and going forward they were wasteful when in some good positions.

The amount of times that they got through the United midfield and were running at the defence but just ended up squandering possession or making a mess of the pass was extremely frustrating.

We all know that Arsenal are not the best when it comes to playing transition football, it’s just not been their style of play over the past couple of seasons. But if that is how they are going to play now with Viktor Gyokeres up front they are going to have to get far better at making runs and picking out the final pass.

You would expect that to happen though. This is still very much a work in progress for Arsenal. This new direct style they seem to be trying to implement isn’t going to happen overnight, there will be teething problems and things will not always go smoothly.

So when that happens they have to be able to win ugly and they did that on Sunday. It was an excellent result.

No need to make sweeping changes for the Leeds game

I don’t think I would change anything ahead of next weekend’s game at Leeds.

I’m sure there will be plenty calling for some changes given the disjointed nature of the performance against United, but Saturday will be a completely different game at the Emirates.

These players need to be given time to start getting used to each other and the new system. You can’t just rip things up and change everything after one sub-par performance.

There are no midweek games at the moment so keeping players fresh doesn’t need to come into the equation. In fact, the more football some of these players get at the moment the better. So I would stick with the same team.

We saw that XI play superbly against Athletic Club a week before the trip to Old Trafford so we know they can do it. There certainly doesn’t have to be a major post-mortem or anything like that.

Victor Gyokeres had a tough time in Manchester. He was feeding off scraps all afternoon and was barely in the game.

But he needs minutes, he needs to continue to adjust to the club and his team-mates. So what good would it do taking him out of the XI this weekend? I just don’t see the point.

Give them another go and then make changes in the second half. There’s no need to rip things up after one underwhelming performance.

The latest on Leandro Trossard’s Arsenal future

I think Leandro Trossard’s situation at Arsenal at the moment falls into the same category as several players in the squad as we head towards the end of the transfer window.

Arsenal are not actively trying to push him towards the exit door, in fact we know they have offered him the chance to sign a new contract over the past 12 months.

But so far that contract has not been signed and if a good offer arrives for him between now and the end of the window the club would be open to the idea of him leaving.

But as of yet nothing appears to be close when it comes to a Trossard exit and if nothing happens then Mikel Arteta will be more than happy for the Belgium international to stick around.

He’s been an excellent signing since he arrived from Brighton and can still offer plenty when he’s on the pitch. The issue for Trossard, however, is that he might not be on the pitch this season as much as he would like, providing everyone stays fit.

We saw Noni Madueke come on ahead of him during the second half of Sunday’s win at Old Trafford and I would expect that to happen plenty of times as the season goes on, especially as Arteta looks to give his new signing the game time he needs to adjust to his new surroundings.

So Trossard, who has switched agents recently, could become a bit more of a bit part option over the coming weeks and I can’t imagine that is a role he will enjoy much.

So we’ll see what happens with him over the next fortnight.

Arsenal could do with one more signing

It is all quiet right now when it comes to incomings at Arsenal. They have got the majority of their business done, but there is still a feeling they could go back into the market if they manage to make some sales.

They haven’t stepped up their interest in Eberechi Eze, which has given Spurs a free run at the Crystal Palace playmaker and their interest in Rodrygo hasn’t gone any further as of yet.

Fans will be hoping they have something up their sleeve before the window closes, with the general consensus that a new left sided option is needed to make the attack more a threat.

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I tend to agree with that. When you look at the starting XI it is the one position that stands out as the area where an improvement could be found.

Eze was the player I really wanted, but Rodrygo would be so exciting as well. At the moment though there is no sign that Arsenal are going to make a dramatic late move for the Real Madrid winger.

The interest is there, but you feel like a lot of things would have to fall into place very quickly for something of that magnitude to happen, including some pretty high profile late departures.