Arsenal’s midfield depth signals ominous warning to title rivals – and Maresca’s City | Ed Aarons

If this was a glimpse of the Premier League’s new order then the rest had better watch out. By the time Martin Ødegaard sat Gianluigi Donnarumma down to make it 3-0 to the champions, the Arsenal party was in full swing. “Can we play you every week?” their supporters gleefully taunted their counterparts in sky blue.

Those in red and white who had made the journey to south Wales could barely believe what they were watching, even if winning the Community Shield is unlikely to spark the same kind of celebrations that were seen on the streets of north London in May after ending a 22-year wait to win the title. Having been forced to settle for three successive second-place finishes before finally reaching the summit, this time it was Manchester City’s fans who had to face the reality of being humbled by their closest rivals. As Viktor Gyökeres had put it beforehand: “Against City? In a friendly? We want to win.” That much was clear from the opening whistle at the Principality Stadium.

It was fitting that the first match of the post-Pep Guardiola era should pit two of his former assistants and pretenders to his crown against each other. On this evidence Mikel Arteta’s powerful Arsenal squad, which looks deeper than this time last year after the additions of Bruno Guimarães and Christos Tzolis, will head into the new season as clear favourites to defend their crown after blowing away Enzo Maresca’s City in the space of 48 minutes.

The Italian had barely taken his seat in the dugout for his first meaningful match since replacing Guardiola when his new side found themselves trailing. Myles Lewis-Skelly was a major factor in Arsenal finally getting over the line in May after being brought into the midfield engine room for the run-in when Martín Zubimendi had run out of gas. The teenager needed little more than 20 seconds to remind Thomas Tuchel what England were missing this summer with his brilliant pass for Riccardo Calafiori’s opener.

Lewis-Skelly doesn’t turn 20 until next month but already looks a match physically for most – including City’s £116m new signing, Elliot Anderson. Lewis-Skelly’s future has been the subject of speculation this week, with reports that he had been offered to Manchester United and Chelsea. But after dominating Anderson and the veteran Mateo Kovacic in partnership with the outstanding Guimarães, Arteta will surely not allow him to depart in the next fortnight.

As for Guimarães, one typically aggressive challenge from the Brazil midfielder to dispossess Phil Foden was all it took for Arsenal’s supporters to fall in love. The chants of “Bruno, Bruno” only amplified when he sprayed a crossfield pass perfectly into the path of Noni Madueke and City will have been relieved to see the back of him at half-time.

By then, Kai Havertz had already made it 2-0 after a beautifully crafted goal involving Ødegaard and Tzolis, and City were hanging on for dear life. Seeing Declan Rice emerge for the second half was another reminder of Arsenal’s plethora of options, although the wisdom of Bukayo Saka returning so soon after England’s World Cup exploits remains to be seen in the long term. “He said it’s not done,” sang the Arsenal fans in reference to Rice’s post-match team talk at the Etihad Stadium after they were beaten in March, when he was introduced.

The re-emergence of Ødegaard as an attacking force is yet another reason for Arsenal to feel optimistic. The captain’s campaign was severely hampered by injury last season but, after excelling for Norway at the World Cup, he was at the heart of Arsenal’s best moves and capped an excellent performance with a cool finish to round off the scoring. That was also greeted with chants of “you’re getting sacked in the morning” directed towards Maresca, who was seen deep in conversation with his players and staff at the full-time whistle.

With Rodri set to depart for Barcelona, recruiting at least one more central midfielder to partner Anderson must be a priority. Lille’s Ayyoub Bouaddi would provide youthful energy, although given Arsenal’s strength in that department more experience will be required if they are going to mount a serious title challenge. Chelsea’s Enzo Fernández may fit the bill.

There was a brief moment last autumn when Maresca’s former side looked most capable of challenging Arsenal before his squabbles with the hierarchy brought an end to the Italian’s tenure. It will take some time to make his imprint on a squad that was so heavily devoted to Guardiola, although Arteta said this week that he believes his newest rival has “the personality, the character and, especially, the knowledge” to be successful. For the Arsenal manager, the question is now whether he can build a legacy that could one day rival Guardiola’s. This was a good way to start.